Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Divergent

This is a weekly meme that I am hosting here at Reviews from a Bookworm. All you have to do is share a movie review once a week and link back to here.

This week I have been at London Book Fair, and I have one more day to go. It is absolutely huge and completely intimidating, especially when you go by yourself and have no clue what you are doing. I have got the hang of things finally and can't wait till tomorrow. There is an author talk with Malorie Blackman and then a discussion on YA later in the day, I am very excited.

This weeks movie review will be for: Divergent

Confession: I took a friends advice and didn't reread the book the day before going to see it, which is what I usually do with all adaptations. This is something that I actually recommend because, my friend was right, it allowed me to enjoy the movie more and not constantly get worked up about every little thing they left out. And there was a lot. 

I honestly believe that I wouldn't have enjoyed this as much if I reread the book just before going to see it. I would have noticed the things that they left out a lot more and it would have really gotten to me. But, as my memory is pretty bad and I forget the little details sometimes, the things they left out didn't seem like such a big deal for me - for the most part at least. 

I actually ended up absolutely loving this movie, it was a really good film. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that it was a great adaptation of the book but it was a great film. I felt disappointed by the second book in this series and hated the third, so I must say that I didn't care if the movie disappointed me. I kind of wanted it to suck because I know what will be coming after it, and I don't really want to fall in love with a film series only to be let down at the end of it. But Divergent was an amazing movie and now my hopes are super high for the next instalment. 

Before seeing the movie, I wasn't the greatest fan of the casting. I love Shailene Woodley as an actress, but she didn't exactly seem like the perfect fit for Tris Prior. For one thing she is pretty tall and Tris is supposed to be absolutely tiny. It was nice to have a strong female heroine who was also short, but then they go and ruin it by casting a tall person. Theo James was someone that I questioned as well, I had never heard of him before and didn't see the appeal. I just loved Four as a character and he became an instant book boyfriend, and then they cast a guy that I find in no way attractive; so of course I was disappointed. My opinions on both casting choices completely changed once I watched the film.

Yup, my thoughts exactly! 

Shailene was an amazing Tris, to me she was better than book Tris. She had all the kick-ass aspects that I loved about Tris and absolutely none of the constant internal whining, PERFECTION! She totally took on the role and I absolutely loved her portrayal of Tris. Theo James made a rather amazing Four too, the minute I saw him in character it just clicked for me, and then he suddenly became irresistible. I am not joking, I felt bad for my boyfriend as he had to sit next to me and witness my less than subtle ogling when he started removing clothing. 

Let's get to the things that were left out, because I know lovers of the books will care. Vulture.com actually compiled a great list so feel free to go read that. I wasn't really all that bothered by most of what was left out because in terms of the movie, they didn't really matter or need to be there. I didn't completely get why they left out Edward's eye being knifed by Peter, but it was probably to do with keeping the 12A rating. I really hope Uriah makes an appearance in Allegiant, I was sad they missed him out. But, to be honest, this movie was all about Tris and a lot about Four, and then not at all about the friends Tris makes or their relationships. Four's utterly adorable 'I might be in love with you' was left out, which I thought would bum me out as it's such a great line from the book, but it didn't. It doesn't really go with the Four that we see in the film, it might make more sense if he says it in movie two, but at the moment it doesn't. 

This had action and the pacing was perfect. This movie is over two hours long but it really didn't feel it. I was never once bored or tempted to check the time to see how much was left. It worked very well and they brought the book to screen and managed to actually pull it off. I finally managed to accept that an adaptation is not going to follow the book point by point, and if it did it probably wouldn't work as well. This worked for me. Harry Potter left A TON out, stuff that I loved and really wanted kept in and yet I still enjoyed the films. That was exactly how I felt about Divergent, they kept the important stuff and made a good film.

This movie centres on Tris and it's more about her development as a character than anything else. It also concentrates on the growing attraction between her and Four and doesn't rush straight into that one, very much like the book. It does mean that we don't really get to see much from the other characters, especially Christina and Peter; I really wanted him to come across as a lot more evil than he did. All in all, it was a really great movie and I left the cinema satisfied, I just wish I didn't know what a train wreck the third book was because I am not looking forward to that movie.

As a film

This had action, romance and a fast-moving plot. I wasn't bored once and my boyfriend said he really enjoyed it, more than the first Hunger Games film. He hasn't read the book and he is really fussy when it comes to movies, so this is always a good sign. 

As an adaptation.

They missed things out, I didn't completely understand why certain parts weren't included. I really enjoyed Tris and Four and the actors portrayals were brilliant, but I was sad that all other characters weren't that well developed. 

I have been meaning to take part in both of the following memes for a while now, so it's nice to finally be able to get them done. I will be taking part in Reading is Fun Again's Thoughtful Thursday Feature & Okay, Let's Read's Thursday Thoughts feature. 

So  today's topics:

This is the topic over at Okay, Let's Read. If you know a book is sad does it make you want to read it, deter you from reading it or not effect you at all? Do you enjoy sad books? Are you someone who cries easily at books? What books have you read that made you cry?

I love a happy ending so of course I hate it when a book ends badly or an author kills off a character that I love. But, I love sad books. I love a book that can actually get to me so much that I cry. Some of my all time favourite books are ones that left me in floods of hideous, ugly tears.

Some of the books that made me cry:

Deathly Hallows, My Sister's Keeper, Forbidden, The Time Traveller's Wife & Noughts & Crosses

All these books did this to me: 



And now for Reading is Fun Again's topic:


What do you do with the books that you have read? Do you keep them? Donate them? Gift them? Return them to the library? Throw them away? Make them into arts & crafts projects? Has this changed during the years? Have you noticed a change in your perspective regarding read books?

I usually keep them, unless I really hated them. But, this is becoming a problem now because I am running out of space. I have over 500 books, probably a ton of which I will never read again. I am considering going through and getting rid of some. I probably have about 100-200 I will never read again, I want to get rid of them but it's just working out what to do with them all. I will probably give them away or take them to work and put them into stock. I've changed my attitude towards read books now that I've started blogging, I'm buying more books now and reading less of the ones I own. It's really time to get rid of the ones I am not going to ever get to or ever going to reread.

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