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A review by danchuchie
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
3.0
BookClub: Me, Myself & I *
Month: December, 2022
Theme: Read a Book-To-Movie Adaptation
* BookClub Me, Myself & I is just a "book club" where I pick up a prompt each month and I have to "force" myself to read a book that fits that prompt.
Have you ever read a book from which the movie is inspired but the stories are lowkey so different?
Synopsis:
This story follows Hiccup, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of one of the Norse tribes, as he tries to pass the Viking initiation by catching and training a dragon. If he fails, he’ll be exiled from the tribe and deemed a stranger.
Review:
If you’re reading this, you mostly likely liked/loved the DreamWorks animated movie and want to know how the book is.
Well, I’m glad you assist you in your quest, my friend.
Without comparing to the movie, the book stands on its own. It’s really good, cosy and brings a level of comfort most middle grade’s books do. Some moments are funny, making you crack a smile, especially because of Toothless.
I really liked how the worldbuilding, especially the dragons and such, were created. Throughout the book, you have a few pages here and there explaining the dragons to you (similar to what we see in the movie).
However, it is when we start comparing the book to the movie that everything turns dull. The animated movie – one of my favourites – has taken inspiration from the book, clearly, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
In the book, Hiccup is quiet but not clumsy; he is still the son of the chief and has a huge responsibility on his shoulders – people are actually rooting for him. Completely different from the clumsy, outcast and misunderstood movie!Hiccup. He doesn’t have friends, aside from his father’s best friend whereas, in the book, he quickly befriends another boy who seems to have served as inspiration to movie!Hiccup.
In the book, dragons actually talk which stunned the hell out of me. Hiccup has the ability to understand dragonese (the language of dragons) and that’s how he communicates with Toothless and the other dragons in the final battle. He is also sent to talk to the big dragon that will soon terrorize the town.
The differences are 85/90% of the story, if not more, and it really stunned me because I was not expecting such a difference between the two materials. Does this make this book bad? Not at all. As I said, the book’s story is cosier and incredibly funny while maintaining a profoundly children mentality.
The movie relies on heavier, deeper themes (even though underneath) and, therefore, if you’re an adult, you might relate more to the movie. The book was not created to rely on heavy theme but for the entertainment of the reader (main target: children) and provide those readers a cosy, funny and light reading.
That being said, one advise: If you’re going to read this book because of the movie, forget everything you know and love about the movie because you won’t find it here. It is not a replica, not even half inspired, therefore you will find yourself disappointed.
Reviews of books from the 2022 ‘Me, Myself & I’ bookclub:
✨ Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
✨ The Song of Achilles
✨ All Rhodes Lead Here
✨ Caraval
✨ Daughter Of The Deep
✨ After The Kiss
✨ Ninth House
✨ The Lies of Locke Lamora
✨ Belladonna
✨ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
✨ Clockwork Boys
Month: December, 2022
Theme: Read a Book-To-Movie Adaptation
* BookClub Me, Myself & I is just a "book club" where I pick up a prompt each month and I have to "force" myself to read a book that fits that prompt.
Have you ever read a book from which the movie is inspired but the stories are lowkey so different?
Synopsis:
This story follows Hiccup, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of one of the Norse tribes, as he tries to pass the Viking initiation by catching and training a dragon. If he fails, he’ll be exiled from the tribe and deemed a stranger.
Review:
If you’re reading this, you mostly likely liked/loved the DreamWorks animated movie and want to know how the book is.
Well, I’m glad you assist you in your quest, my friend.
Without comparing to the movie, the book stands on its own. It’s really good, cosy and brings a level of comfort most middle grade’s books do. Some moments are funny, making you crack a smile, especially because of Toothless.
I really liked how the worldbuilding, especially the dragons and such, were created. Throughout the book, you have a few pages here and there explaining the dragons to you (similar to what we see in the movie).
However, it is when we start comparing the book to the movie that everything turns dull. The animated movie – one of my favourites – has taken inspiration from the book, clearly, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
In the book, Hiccup is quiet but not clumsy; he is still the son of the chief and has a huge responsibility on his shoulders – people are actually rooting for him. Completely different from the clumsy, outcast and misunderstood movie!Hiccup. He doesn’t have friends, aside from his father’s best friend whereas, in the book, he quickly befriends another boy who seems to have served as inspiration to movie!Hiccup.
In the book, dragons actually talk which stunned the hell out of me. Hiccup has the ability to understand dragonese (the language of dragons) and that’s how he communicates with Toothless and the other dragons in the final battle. He is also sent to talk to the big dragon that will soon terrorize the town.
The differences are 85/90% of the story, if not more, and it really stunned me because I was not expecting such a difference between the two materials. Does this make this book bad? Not at all. As I said, the book’s story is cosier and incredibly funny while maintaining a profoundly children mentality.
The movie relies on heavier, deeper themes (even though underneath) and, therefore, if you’re an adult, you might relate more to the movie. The book was not created to rely on heavy theme but for the entertainment of the reader (main target: children) and provide those readers a cosy, funny and light reading.
That being said, one advise: If you’re going to read this book because of the movie, forget everything you know and love about the movie because you won’t find it here. It is not a replica, not even half inspired, therefore you will find yourself disappointed.
Reviews of books from the 2022 ‘Me, Myself & I’ bookclub:
✨ Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
✨ The Song of Achilles
✨ All Rhodes Lead Here
✨ Caraval
✨ Daughter Of The Deep
✨ After The Kiss
✨ Ninth House
✨ The Lies of Locke Lamora
✨ Belladonna
✨ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
✨ Clockwork Boys