Better than Killing Eve ｜ Villanelle book review

There are so many TV shows based on actual books. We are talking about the show Killing Eve and the book series. So keep watching, and we'll get right into it. Hey y'all, it's Kyla Danagno and today we are talking all about a book adaptation. These three books became four seasons of the show Killing Eve. The first book is Code Name Villanelle. The second book is called No Tomorrow, and the third and final book is called Die For Me. The author of these books is Luke Jennings. The genre of the book is fiction. The themes of the book are suspense thriller. So I got to tell you that No Tomorrow is my absolute favorite. This one is so so good. That's when you really get to see the flirting and the love story between Villanelle and Eve. 

Were the Villanelle books better than the show Killing Eve? Yes. Well, it depends.

What really surprised me about these books is for one, no one told me to watch the show Killing Eve. I remember when Sandra Oh left Grey's Anatomy and I was like, oh well, you know, wonder what she's going do next. But I was never a big suspense thriller murder mystery type viewer. I didn't enjoy consuming the books. I didn't enjoy reading about it, and didn't enjoy any of it. So it's probably why no one told me, but I stumbled upon the show. Blew my mind.

It was so phenomenal. So there's a couple of big things in the books that are very, very different from the show. So that's what we're going to talk about. The first one is Nico. Nico is Eve's husband. He is a complete pushover in the show. He has a couple of moments where he kinda like gives her a little snarky comment. The books, especially this one. Nico brings home two goats, and he tells Eve, I want a quiet life. I want a chill life. We are not doing all of this. That does not happen in the show. In the show, he kind of laughs about, oh, are you cheating on me or are you an assassin or spy? Well, you know, she was a spy. She is a completely absent spouse in the books. Completely.

Now you are reading the books from her perspective, you see her like, "Oh I'm so sorry Nico," but I really don't think that Eve called that much. She was intrigued by Villanelle which explains why she had such a great career as an investigator/ops person. You see the remorse that she feels, but it doesn't come across. In the actual show, she feels guilty for being a spy. She feels guilty because she loves her job a little more than marriage. In the show Killing Eve, Eve feels guilty for the fact that Nico does the cooking and takes care of the house. Yeah, Nico has his little quirks, but she loves being with Nico in the show.

She loves watching the little habits and hobbies that he has. In the book she is like this is my world, it's all mine. Yes I'm married, but that's because I was bored at the time and so I got married. There's even a quote, and I don't remember it exactly, but she basically says like that was what we were supposed to do so we got married.

I would say that the description of the relationship between Eve and Villanelle is stronger in the show because you really get to see the longing and yearning of the two. Well, mostly from Villanelle's side. Eve is intrigued by Villanelle's brain more than she understood that she was attracted to Villanelle. The relationship between Eve and Villanelle in the books is so sweet. In the show, it's more of a cat and mouse type game where Villanelle is like, oh, can I string her along? Oh, she seems interesting. Oh, she has this thick beautiful hair and I'm attracted to women with that. The book Code Name Villanelle is really like she's bragging about Eve to her girlfriend. Like, she's basically telling her, ‘Yeah, we're together, we're sleeping together, but that's my girl.’ 

That's the person I love. I break into her house, I smell her pillows, I give her a necklace.  

That's the person I love. I break into her house, I smell her pillows, I give her a necklace. I'm playing and hiding all these little clues so that she can't find me so that we can stretch out the romantic period and the flirtation. Now, I think, because the written word is a lot different than watching a TV show, you do get to see the looks Villanelle gives Eve and how she's longing for her, and that cute little, oh, you're so sweet, little smile she has for her.

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It's really prevalent in the books. It's very prevalent in a really cute way. If you're enjoying the book review, I talk about books every single week. I often enjoy talking about book adaptations because there are so many great shows and movies based on books. But if you're having a great time, consider subscribing. And let's get into the number one biggest thing that is different in the books from the show. The book has so much more history, and I think they could have included it in the show. 

The book has so much more history, and I think they could have included it in the show.

And I would be curious to see if maybe they did record it, but they, like, had to cut it because they needed to keep an episode at a certain length or whatever. Like, the show takes us down this weird tailspin where Villanelle goes to see her mom and family and all this stuff, which is cool. Absolutely phenomenal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0n5kMioPVM

The books are so different from the actual show, but let me tell you about a book that was spot-on from the book adaptation to the film: Where the Crawdads Sing. 

So take a look at this review here, and I'll see you on the next blog.

Kyla