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ahomelibrary's review against another edition
This is my first review of 2021! Today’s book is Broadchurch by Erin Kelly, published in 2014 by Minotaur Books. It is based off the UK television series Broadchurch, which ran for 3 seasons a few years ago. It was a total hit, but I didn’t get ’round to watching it until 2020’s quarantine brought opportunities to blow through that endless To Be Watched list. Immediately, I knew I had come across an awesome show. I am already a fan of Tennant and Colman, so I cannot believe that it took so long for me to watch this show; however, there are so many other movies and series out there that I haven’t watched yet, knowing darn well they’re probably just as good.
When I found out that there was a book version of the show, I was curious to know how it translated. Earlier this year, I also watched “The Stranger” on Netflix, a UK rendition of a Harlan Coben book of the same name. The show and the book were dissimilar but kept the major premises; so, I wanted to see how the book interpreted the show.
It’s interesting to see how books and media are related. Books are made into shows or films, and sometimes shows are turned into books. So, in this instance, I’m sort of talking about both the show and the book because they are almost identical in all ways that matter.
Summary
In an idyllic coastal English town, the murder of an 11-year old boy shocks the small, tight-knit community. We are introduced to detective Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman in the show), recently returned from a transatlantic vacation hoping for the good news of a promotion; however, she is gutted when she finds out she’s been usurped by an infamous cop from a botched high-profile case, Alec Hardy (David Tennant in the show). Career tensions are however set aside momentarily when the body of a teenage boy is found on the beach of Broadchurch, and Ellie and Alec are tasked with finding out what happened.
Ellie discovers quickly that the deceased is Daniel (Danny) Latimer, the son of her close friends Beth and Mark Latimer and the best friend of her own pre-teen boy. The story spends time developing Ellie as a detective — this is her first big murder case, she is so close to the family and community that it is hard to put those biases aside). Whereas, Alec’s hardened nature, while frustrating to Ellie, guides her during the investigation. The storyline is similar to that of the “small-town community has secrets unveiled during investigation of a crime” trope. Characters have motives that are hidden under layers of secrets. Each of these secrets are suspicious in their own right.
Ultimately, the investigation takes its course, and they do figure out who killed Danny. This book only covers the first season of the show, so if you’ve watched the show, then you know who it is and what happens after during the trial. However, as just a book, you’ll only know the killer and assume that it is over.
Review
First, let me say that I loved the Broadchurch television series (season 1 is great, 2 is good but I could do without the Lee Ashworth storyline, 3 is okay). For the purposes of this review, I’ll just be taking the book into consideration, but I will preface this section by saying that the book is a pretty solid rendition of the show. It stays true to the dialogue, nature, premises, and actions of the characters. If you’ve seen the show, you know what happens in this book.
This is my first book by the author, Erin Kelly. Immediately after finishing Broadchurch, I picked up another of her books (I got several when checking out at the library), The Burning Air. So, really, I can say this: Kelly has a straightforward way of writing. She does not spend extra pages talking about the beauty of someone’s frown lines. In the case of this book, her interpretation of the show is straightforward and true to the plot. In several cases, I think it’s pretty much exactly the same dialogue and timeline.
So, let’s approach this as if you hadn’t seen the show and it was just a book you found at the library. First, the writing is straightforward. There is a litany of characters, all intertwined in this intimate small-town, which means that you have to either keep track of them all or only focus on Ellie or Beth. You may find it difficult to form any attachment or allegiance to the characters in the book, whereas the series is the exact opposite (I think I was rooting for Ellie and Alec, as well as the Latimer’s from Day 1, with blind allegiance!). The book moves quite quickly, and since there is a lot to digest without any significant amount of time spent with one character or POV, it may all feel rushed. Yet, at the end of the reading, these are my key takeaways:
The book and show’s entertainment value came from two areas for me. The first is the relationships of the town’s citizens.
There are a lot of characters to get to know in this book. You have Ellie and Alec as the two lead detectives. They each have their own backstory, with Ellie having Joe and her sons involved in the plot; Alec has a brooding backstory but it doesn’t come up hot until later in the show. He does however bring baggage and journalist Karen. You also have the Latimer family (Mark, Beth, Chloe, Liz, and Danny). They are all part of the plot and have some sort of development as characters. Then you have the attractive Australian pub owner, Becca Fisher, and the creepy news agent, Jack Marshall. Oh, and don’t forget the cute and modern vicar Paul. The gambler Aunt (Ellie’s sister) and her son, Olly, the journalist, who works with Maggie at the Broadchurch Echo. There’s also Nigel, Mark’s best friend and co-worker, and his side story with the creepy misanthrope Susan. There’s a lot to cover here… but it all weaves together quite concisely in the end.
The second factor contributing to the value of this book’s entertainment value is the revelations and secrets that serve as sort of red herrings during the typical “small town” uncovering during the investigation of a high profile crime shtick. The best part in Broadchurch is how all of these secrets and revelations actually turn out to harm the pursuit of justice (see: second series, you won’t know that in the book). In the book’s view, the killer is found out not due to the revelation of all these secrets and twists, but rather due to the perpetrator just giving up the ruse. As a result it seems like all of this was done for a waste — so many lives were touched by the killer, some more than others in terms of harm…. but this, in my opinion, is an example of how a “happy ending” is not really happy in all cases. It’s just an ending, it’s the best you can get in this situation.
This novelization would not be as impactful if you didn’t know the show’s plot or ending before you read it. The value of this storyline is best exhibited through its media portrayal, with excellent acting from household names. Yet, if you are a fan of reading and a fan of reading interpretations of tv shows you like (some reviews I have seen are like me: I like to see what others see in the show, how they convey the same story I watched) then this will be a good read for you.
Book gets 3.5/4 stars, MILLAHHHH!!!!
TV Show gets 4/5 stars for me for the first season, the rest gets 3.
Content: Murder, death of child and related grief processes, PTSD, cursing, sexual references, inappropriate sexual relationships (adultery and adult-child). They say that there is not any sexual relationship between the killer and Danny, but there is grooming and inappropriate relations regardless. Suicide.
When I found out that there was a book version of the show, I was curious to know how it translated. Earlier this year, I also watched “The Stranger” on Netflix, a UK rendition of a Harlan Coben book of the same name. The show and the book were dissimilar but kept the major premises; so, I wanted to see how the book interpreted the show.
It’s interesting to see how books and media are related. Books are made into shows or films, and sometimes shows are turned into books. So, in this instance, I’m sort of talking about both the show and the book because they are almost identical in all ways that matter.
Summary
In an idyllic coastal English town, the murder of an 11-year old boy shocks the small, tight-knit community. We are introduced to detective Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman in the show), recently returned from a transatlantic vacation hoping for the good news of a promotion; however, she is gutted when she finds out she’s been usurped by an infamous cop from a botched high-profile case, Alec Hardy (David Tennant in the show). Career tensions are however set aside momentarily when the body of a teenage boy is found on the beach of Broadchurch, and Ellie and Alec are tasked with finding out what happened.
Ellie discovers quickly that the deceased is Daniel (Danny) Latimer, the son of her close friends Beth and Mark Latimer and the best friend of her own pre-teen boy. The story spends time developing Ellie as a detective — this is her first big murder case, she is so close to the family and community that it is hard to put those biases aside). Whereas, Alec’s hardened nature, while frustrating to Ellie, guides her during the investigation. The storyline is similar to that of the “small-town community has secrets unveiled during investigation of a crime” trope. Characters have motives that are hidden under layers of secrets. Each of these secrets are suspicious in their own right.
Ultimately, the investigation takes its course, and they do figure out who killed Danny. This book only covers the first season of the show, so if you’ve watched the show, then you know who it is and what happens after during the trial. However, as just a book, you’ll only know the killer and assume that it is over.
Review
First, let me say that I loved the Broadchurch television series (season 1 is great, 2 is good but I could do without the Lee Ashworth storyline, 3 is okay). For the purposes of this review, I’ll just be taking the book into consideration, but I will preface this section by saying that the book is a pretty solid rendition of the show. It stays true to the dialogue, nature, premises, and actions of the characters. If you’ve seen the show, you know what happens in this book.
This is my first book by the author, Erin Kelly. Immediately after finishing Broadchurch, I picked up another of her books (I got several when checking out at the library), The Burning Air. So, really, I can say this: Kelly has a straightforward way of writing. She does not spend extra pages talking about the beauty of someone’s frown lines. In the case of this book, her interpretation of the show is straightforward and true to the plot. In several cases, I think it’s pretty much exactly the same dialogue and timeline.
So, let’s approach this as if you hadn’t seen the show and it was just a book you found at the library. First, the writing is straightforward. There is a litany of characters, all intertwined in this intimate small-town, which means that you have to either keep track of them all or only focus on Ellie or Beth. You may find it difficult to form any attachment or allegiance to the characters in the book, whereas the series is the exact opposite (I think I was rooting for Ellie and Alec, as well as the Latimer’s from Day 1, with blind allegiance!). The book moves quite quickly, and since there is a lot to digest without any significant amount of time spent with one character or POV, it may all feel rushed. Yet, at the end of the reading, these are my key takeaways:
The book and show’s entertainment value came from two areas for me. The first is the relationships of the town’s citizens.
There are a lot of characters to get to know in this book. You have Ellie and Alec as the two lead detectives. They each have their own backstory, with Ellie having Joe and her sons involved in the plot; Alec has a brooding backstory but it doesn’t come up hot until later in the show. He does however bring baggage and journalist Karen. You also have the Latimer family (Mark, Beth, Chloe, Liz, and Danny). They are all part of the plot and have some sort of development as characters. Then you have the attractive Australian pub owner, Becca Fisher, and the creepy news agent, Jack Marshall. Oh, and don’t forget the cute and modern vicar Paul. The gambler Aunt (Ellie’s sister) and her son, Olly, the journalist, who works with Maggie at the Broadchurch Echo. There’s also Nigel, Mark’s best friend and co-worker, and his side story with the creepy misanthrope Susan. There’s a lot to cover here… but it all weaves together quite concisely in the end.
The second factor contributing to the value of this book’s entertainment value is the revelations and secrets that serve as sort of red herrings during the typical “small town” uncovering during the investigation of a high profile crime shtick. The best part in Broadchurch is how all of these secrets and revelations actually turn out to harm the pursuit of justice (see: second series, you won’t know that in the book). In the book’s view, the killer is found out not due to the revelation of all these secrets and twists, but rather due to the perpetrator just giving up the ruse. As a result it seems like all of this was done for a waste — so many lives were touched by the killer, some more than others in terms of harm…. but this, in my opinion, is an example of how a “happy ending” is not really happy in all cases. It’s just an ending, it’s the best you can get in this situation.
This novelization would not be as impactful if you didn’t know the show’s plot or ending before you read it. The value of this storyline is best exhibited through its media portrayal, with excellent acting from household names. Yet, if you are a fan of reading and a fan of reading interpretations of tv shows you like (some reviews I have seen are like me: I like to see what others see in the show, how they convey the same story I watched) then this will be a good read for you.
Book gets 3.5/4 stars, MILLAHHHH!!!!
TV Show gets 4/5 stars for me for the first season, the rest gets 3.
Content: Murder, death of child and related grief processes, PTSD, cursing, sexual references, inappropriate sexual relationships (adultery and adult-child). They say that there is not any sexual relationship between the killer and Danny, but there is grooming and inappropriate relations regardless. Suicide.
sjruskin's review against another edition
4.0
I ended up really enjoying this mystery. I thought I knew who did it from chapter to chapter and still never figured it out. I had a hard time getting into it because most of the characters are kind of hard to like, but I trudged on and it was worth it.
ant_i_dot's review
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
reddyrat's review against another edition
4.0
I don't usually read screen-to-book adaptations. At least not since devouring the book adaptation of My Girl fifty times when I was about 11 and had a crush on Macaulay Culkin. I loved the British television series Broadchurch - now remade in the US as Gracepoint. I came to it because I will watch anything with David Tennant in it, but I stayed for the riveting story. Despite knowing who-dunnit, I have gone back and watched the series twice and will probably do it again. It is layered and beautiful and the acting is superb.
I came to this book adaptation with understandable skepticism. Could it capture the intangible "it" factor of the television show? To my surprise, it did. In fact, it made me love the television series even more. I rewatched the show as I was reading the book, because I just had to "see" while I read.
First question: Can you read this without watching the show? I'd say no. Having the visual and auditory memories of the show in my head as I read it clarified a lot of the emotions of the prose, which felt a little flat on its own. On the other hand, I've read numerous reviews of people who read the book without watching the show and loved it.
The best part of this book is that it added things to the TV show. Not major scenes, although there are a few that weren't in the TV show. It allowed me to understand the characters' thoughts better. Most notably, a few of the killer's motivations that weren't spelled out in the show. The book follows the show very closely, but a few things are said at different times or happen in different order. It's not so much that the book has more time to explore things - in fact, I thought the book was a little rushed as opposed to the show. More of the differences in how things work on screen versus the page.
If you loved Broadchurch, you must read the novelized version. The book makes the show so much better and the show makes the book so much better. On its own, I'd say it's an okay book, but with the show, it becomes something special.
I came to this book adaptation with understandable skepticism. Could it capture the intangible "it" factor of the television show? To my surprise, it did. In fact, it made me love the television series even more. I rewatched the show as I was reading the book, because I just had to "see" while I read.
First question: Can you read this without watching the show? I'd say no. Having the visual and auditory memories of the show in my head as I read it clarified a lot of the emotions of the prose, which felt a little flat on its own. On the other hand, I've read numerous reviews of people who read the book without watching the show and loved it.
The best part of this book is that it added things to the TV show. Not major scenes, although there are a few that weren't in the TV show. It allowed me to understand the characters' thoughts better. Most notably, a few of the killer's motivations that weren't spelled out in the show. The book follows the show very closely, but a few things are said at different times or happen in different order. It's not so much that the book has more time to explore things - in fact, I thought the book was a little rushed as opposed to the show. More of the differences in how things work on screen versus the page.
If you loved Broadchurch, you must read the novelized version. The book makes the show so much better and the show makes the book so much better. On its own, I'd say it's an okay book, but with the show, it becomes something special.
priorglass's review against another edition
5.0
i love the additional information and scenes that were never shown in the tv series plus the map of broadchurch is lovely.
krobart's review against another edition
3.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/day-821-broadchurch/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/day-821-broadchurch/
izziebianchi's review against another edition
just for fun bc i <3 alec hardy…no rating bc this was a guilty pleasure read
antoniawg's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
marilynw's review against another edition
4.0
My husband and I watched the series Broadchurch and had to use closed caption because we could barely understand a word anyone was saying, especially the character that David Tennant played. I'm a Texan and don't seem to handle Irish accents well or very fast speaking speed. (Correction: David Tennant is Scottish, another accent I need to work on. Thanks for the correction Alison). Even with the closed caption, I felt like I missed a lot of what the characters were saying, because the closed caption apparently didn't understand some of the dialogue either. :-)
For this reason I borrowed the book from the library. It served the purpose of allowing me to know what was being said in the TV program and allowing me to catch things I had missed by watching the show. The book basically was the same as the program and I can't really say how I would have felt about it if I hadn't already seen the program but I wonder if I would have liked it less. I could picture the people and the places because I'd seen them on TV and I'm not sure there was enough description to allow me to picture everything adequately without having seen the series. I may look into more Erin Kelly books that aren't based on a TV series, to see how I like her writing style, just based on the book.
Published September 16th 2014 by Minotaur Books
For this reason I borrowed the book from the library. It served the purpose of allowing me to know what was being said in the TV program and allowing me to catch things I had missed by watching the show. The book basically was the same as the program and I can't really say how I would have felt about it if I hadn't already seen the program but I wonder if I would have liked it less. I could picture the people and the places because I'd seen them on TV and I'm not sure there was enough description to allow me to picture everything adequately without having seen the series. I may look into more Erin Kelly books that aren't based on a TV series, to see how I like her writing style, just based on the book.
Published September 16th 2014 by Minotaur Books
amysbrittain's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 for me. I thought the whodunit reveal was disappointing, and the police seemed to leave some key elements oddly unexamined, but the story, setting, and characters made for a quick, entertaining read.
Kirkus Reviews: Against all odds, Kelly's novelization of the eponymous British TV series, now being remade for U.S. television as Gracepoint, works as both a classic puzzle and an unnerving portrait of a little English town wracked by a young boy's murder.
Kirkus Reviews: Against all odds, Kelly's novelization of the eponymous British TV series, now being remade for U.S. television as Gracepoint, works as both a classic puzzle and an unnerving portrait of a little English town wracked by a young boy's murder.