4 August 2021
This book starts off very, very slowly.
One of the main reasons for picking up this book was because I was interested in the film of the same name. I think it's better to read the book beforehand so you don't accidentally fix an actor to a role in your mind. For instance, I didn't think of Ian McKellen when I read about Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings books, but if I saw the film first I absolutely would.
That said, sometimes books don't really pace well, and this one suffers from it. The first half of the book is a pretty dull read, probably because it's heavy on exposition and light on moving the story along. Later on it does get better - though you may quit partway through. The ending is fine, but I think overall this is a novel that had a short story or two worth of content. 3/5