(Photo Credit: Ava DuVernay)
I am one of those fans who loves to see a book/series that I enjoyed or want to read get made into a T.V. series or movie. I know that in many cases I am setting myself up for disappointment, but I can't help it! When an adaptation is done right, it can enhance my enjoyment of the series because I will often want to do a reread of the books in preparation to watch the series/movie. I was lucky and had read the Outlander series and all but one of the A Song of Ice and Fire series before the shows started. While new to the world people got to be surprised and shocked as events unfolded in the show, I knew what was coming. That didn't spoil my enjoyment of the shows at all. It actually built my anticipation to see how the scenes and events from the books would be interpreted for the screen.
But here's where things go wrong for me. If I haven't read the book or enough of the books in the series not to get spoilers when I watch the show it drives me crazy! And that is exactly what happened with the Midnight, Texas series. I only read book one ahead of watching episode one of the T.V. show. I thought that I was safe, that surely if I only watched one episode it would be alright. WRONG! Because I had not read the whole series, I witnessed some serious spoilers that aren't even revealed completely in book two, Day Shift. I was so mad ya'll, I could have spit nails! After I threw my mental hissy fit, I stopped to think why I was so annoyed. I don't mind watching a movie/T.V. show already knowing what should happen. So why did getting spoilers for the book make me so mad? I don't even have a good reason other than I want to experience things for the first time while reading. Whatever the reason, the feeling is real, and I won't be watching Midnight, Texas again until I have finished all three books. I just can't take it. It's mostly my fault that I got spoiled though. If I had done even a cursory search I would have known that things would get revealed that I didn't know about. For example, this article on Bustle would have given me fair warning!
There are a few more adaptations coming out that I am really excited about, but I am going to have to get the books read before they make their debut. I can't risk not knowing what I am going into. I've had a copy of Lillith's Brood on my shelf for a little while. I was already planning on reading it this fall/winter, but with the Xenogenesis series being adapted by Ava DuVernay, I am even more excited to dive into this famous series. You can read an article about it here. I've already read A Wrinklin In Time, but I have not read the entire series, so I'll need to get on that soon too. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor is also being adapted into a series for HBO. You can read about that exciting project here. I've read and enjoyed Okorafor's Binti books one and two, and I own a copy of Who Fears Death, so no more excuses on that one either! Finally, joy of joys, one of my all time favorite book series is also being adapted into a T.V. series! The Broken Earth series by the fabulous N.K. Jemisin is going to be a series for TNT. I'm both excited and nervous. They better not mess this up! You can read that announcement here and my review of book one, The Fifth Season here.
So how about you? Do you need to read the book before seeing the adaptation or can you enjoy the series or movie for what it is? Will you still read a book once you have already watched the movie?
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