Codename Villanelle (Killing Eve) book review

There are so many TV shows based on actual books. Today, we're talking about the show Killing Eve and the book series that inspired it.

These three books became four seasons of the show Killing Eve. The first book is Codename Villanelle. The second book is No Tomorrow, and the third and final book is Die for Me. The author of these books is Luke Jennings. The genre is fiction, and the themes are suspense and thriller.

I've 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, I wonder what she's going to do next."

But I was never a big suspense, thriller, murder mystery type of viewer. I didn't enjoy consuming the books. I didn't enjoy reading about it. I didn't enjoy any of it.

So that's probably why no one told me about it, but I stumbled upon the show.

Blew my mind.

It was so phenomenal.

There are 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 gives her a little snarky comment.

In the books, especially No Tomorrow, 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, 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 thinking, "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 and ops person.

You see the remorse that she feels, but it doesn't come across the same way.

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 about 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, so I got married."

There's even a quote, and I don't remember it exactly, but she basically says that was what they were supposed to do, so they 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 understands that she is attracted to Villanelle.

But 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."

In Codename Villanelle, it's really like she's bragging about Eve to her girlfriend. 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."

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 in the show. You get that cute little, "Oh, you're so sweet," smile she has for her.

But it's really prevalent in the books. It's very prevalent in a really cute way.

The books give us so much more history.

The number one biggest thing that is different in the books from the show is that the books have so much more history.

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

I would be curious to see if maybe they did record it, but they had to cut it because they needed to keep an episode at a certain length or whatever.

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.

But the books are so different from the actual show.

Overall, there are things I love about both versions. The show lets you see the longing and chemistry between Eve and Villanelle, while the books give you more history and a different look at these characters and their relationships.

And No Tomorrow is still my absolute favorite of the three.

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https://youtu.be/Q0n5kMioPVM

Until the next book review,

Kyla