I know, what a harsh thing to say. But I’m about to get my rant on, so get ready.
I am just so tired of people comparing books to their movie adaptions. I am sososososososososososososo done with this. Yes, movie adaptions are based on the overall plot of the book, but they are completely different pieces. Things that work well in a book, (metaphors, description, ect) don’t exactly work well in movie narration. Movies are visual, so things sometimes need to be omitted. Also, things get tweaked or taken out to make a movie flow better, or make it more exciting. I’m sorry, but if you believe that movie has to have every line of dialogue and every single scene from the book, you’re going to live a sad and disappointed life. THERE IS NO MOVIE LIKE THAT, AND THERE NEVER WILL BE. (Yes, I know that there are plenty of us book nerds out there who would go see 10 hr movie adaptions, but no director or producer would ever go for that. I’m sorry).
Now having said this, movie adaptions don’t always give a movie justice (we’re all looking at you Percy Jackson). Sometimes they are okay (in my opinion, Divergent and The Hunger Games fall into this category). Sometimes, they are amazing (Catching Fire, The Giver).
In my opinion, really good book to movie adaptions capture the feel for the book, not neccsarily all of the parts. I felt that way particularly with The Giver. For those of you who have read the book and also seen the movie, you most likely noticed that there were some noticeable changes in the storyline. But, did they detract from the movie? In my opinion, not at all. All of the major plot points were there, and they really captured the vibe of the book. This is the best movie adaption that I have seen in a long time.
I also mentioned the Catching Fire movie above. I’m being honest here, I loved that movie. I thought that it was amazing. However, I couldn’t stand the book. The ratio of set up to games time was off kilter in the book, but worked perfectly in a movie setting, (the different ratio in The Hunger Games is why I prefer the book to movie). In my opinion, I like the movie, better than the book. Here I am, full blown book hoarder, lover, reader, reviewer, giant nerd, saying that I liked a movie adaption better. Whaaaaaaaa?
So, to conclude, stop walking around claiming that the book is always better. There are some awesome book to movie adaptions, some suck, and sometimes the plot works better on screen. That’s all I have to say. 
Interesting topic! That being said, of course it’ll be hard for us readers NOT to compare the book to the movie–I would do that regardless of whether I hated/loved the book/movie. The point I’m agreeing with is that the book isn’t ALWAYS better, like you said. (Although Catching Fire is one of my favorite books of all-time…) Back to the point! Personally, I did enjoy the TFIOS movie a lot more than I enjoyed the book. I LOVED the Harry Potter movies and only LIKED the books.
As for the changes, I’m fine with them. I know that they can’t fit everything into the movie, but if they’re cutting out parts/characters who are actually RELEVANT to the story… that’s when I’ll rage. But normally, I wouldn’t even notice the changes.
Awesome post, Mary!
You’re right, it is hard not to compare the book to the movie! 😀 And yes, when relevant characters and plot points are cut out it’s rough. (Beautiful Creatures comes to mind).
Anyway, I’m glad that you liked the post! Thanks for stopping by Aimee.