A Book That Became a Movie

When I saw this category on the reading challenge list, I knew exactly which book I wanted to read. I knew the movie was based on a book and I wanted to read the book before the movie comes out next month (I'm a nerd.)

If Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence weren't enough to draw me into seeing this movie, the book sealed the deal.

I'm very interested to see how this one plays out on the big screen. 

As far as the book, I thought I would get bogged down in it and would need all three weeks the library gave me to read it. However, I finished it in less than week. 

At times it seemed to drag, yet it didn't. 

Serena and Pemberton are in control of their timber empire, and are willing to take down anyone that attempts to get in the way of what they want. 

Over the course of the book, you can see that Pemberton seems to grow concerned by Serena's intense focus on nobody coming between them. Once he suspects that Serena is going to have his illegitimate son and his mother killed, he sends money via the Sheriff (who despises them) to help them escape. 

Serena learns of this and sees it as a betrayal. She then makes a plan to kill Pemberton. The way she kills him is quite cunning and brilliant, and while I suspected she would eventually kill him, I did not see it happening in that fashion. 

I couldn't tell if the "shocking reckoning" promised on the cover of the book was how Serena Pemberton was murdered or if it was something else. 

I'm looking forward to seeing this movie. I'm usually skeptical of seeing movies based on books when they are in the theater. I usually don't feel they were near as good and then feel bad for spending money on it. I may go to a matinee of this one, but we'll see. 

B Star Rating: