Library Love: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Grabbed this book from my local library. Almost forgot to post my thoughts on it. Whoops! :)

 

When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone…

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. Featuring a cast of remarkable characters, this is epic, adventure-packed storytelling at its very best. 

Goodreads

My Thoughts: I saw the film first and was enthralled by it. I cannot wait to buy the DVD and watch it as many times as I want. However, I was hesitant to read the screenplay version of it because I am not too fond of reading scripts. Reading this reminded me of my feelings towards screenplays: I am not a fan. 

Don't get me wrong, this was a wonderful story. Rowling's magical writing and imagination was still there. Though she tweaked her writing style to conform to the rules of a script, her charm was still there. But...descriptions were cut because it was a script (I miss Rowling's novel writing). Instead, the book contained dialogue and directions on how the actors were to act/say and what the different angles of the camera were. It was great to be able to read how the film was created from the script, but again...I am not a huge fan of reading screenplays (Man, I'm a broken record!)

What also bothered me was that this was exactly like the film. There weren't any extra scenes. I guess I was expecting the screenplay to have some sort of variation from the movie. I mean, how many movies actually stick to the script word by word? Because the screenplay was exactly like the film, I was not surprised nor felt any sort of suspense while reading this. I simply knew what was going to happen. 

Now, don't think that I hate this book. On the contrary, I thought it was cute. Like I mentioned before, Rowling's charm was still there. I very much enjoyed the story of Newt in New York as well as learn about the different beasts. I also had fun reading the parts with Queenie and Jacob. These two were my favorite characters. I especially loved the way the screenplay (and the movie) ended. I thought it was adorable!

As a whole, this was a decent book. I was glad that there was still a touch of Rowling's magic on there though it was in script form. Now, I am going to get my hands on the actual Fantastic Beasts book and read it. I rate this screenplay:

This book counts for the Library Love Challenge.