So this is a bit of a Book V Movie: FIGHT! post as much as a review of the book. Or whatever these things I write up are. Reviews seem much more…thoughtful, than what I do. Anyway.

I went to see the movie Beautiful Creatures primarily because I like Emmy Rossum (whose part wasn’t large, but who chewed scenery when she had the chance). To my surprise and delight, I found the young man who played the lead quite charming, and unlike certain other films made from YA novels, I rather thought the leads had chemistry. So I was happy with it. (Apparently no one else was. It was a huge flop.)

There was, however, one major problem. In a nutshell, the movie’s plot is “Boy meets magic girl who must choose between good and evil on her 16th birthday.” The entire movie she clearly wants nothing more than to be good, so I spent the whole movie going, “…so what’s the problem here…?”

The book makes it clear that she is *chosen*, rather than gets to choose, which is a rather significant difference.

More behind the cut, because this goes into spoiler territory for both book and film.