A good book, and we mean a REALLY good book, is a rare find.

When you reach the last page of a really gripping novel, it’s always a little bit devastating that you’ll never read it again for the first time. That’s why it can be really exciting when you find out your favourite book is being turned into a film. 

Some book-to-film adaptations are spot-on: great movies in their own right but also totally faithful to the original material. Others… not so good. Cringey accents *cough* PS I Love You *cough*, giant plot holes and, the worst of all, changed endings. NO.

Here are some of the movies that got it right, thank God…

1. The Harry Potter series
J.K. Rowling’s creation became one of the publishing world’s biggest success stories, so it’s understandable that the Harry Potter series would become the most talked about movie franchise of all time. We admit that the earlier films don’t QUITE hit the mark but from The Prisoner of Azkaban onward, we were hooked. We challenge you not to cry for 90% of the last two films. Just the word “Dobby” is still enough to bring a lump to our throat…

2. The Notebook
Call it cringey, call it cheesy, but The Notebook is still our go-to love story! The book itself is quite short, so nothing is cut out in the film which we love. And let’s face it, the addition of Ryan Gosling didn’t do any harm either!

3. The Fault In Our Stars
This young adult novel had a huge cult following among readers of all ages, so the film was definitely put under heavy scrutiny when it was released. But author John Green was so happy with how the screenwriters adapted his work, that he asked them to work with him on upcoming adaptations of his other books, Paper Towns and Looking For Alaska. The film is a total tearjerker and really does remain faithful to Green’s writing.

4. Bridget Jones’ Diary
Just like the book, the film version of Bridget Jones was funny, realistic and a little bit tongue-in-cheek. Renée Witherspoon was a controversial choice for singleton Bridget but she definitely made the part her own, gaining over two stone for the film . As for Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, they were already well used to the rom-com genre!

5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Author Stieg Larsson died when his books were still unpublished, so he never knew of their success, let alone of a film adaptation. A Swedish movie version of the first book in the three-part series was released in 2009, with a higher-budget English version following in  2011. Both get the thumbs up from us – dark, sinister thrillers that totally capture the essence of the book.