5 Books to Read Before You See the (Upcoming) Movie

Teenage angst! Seventeenth-century Dutch painters! Saving humanity from extinction! There’s much to be celebrated at the movies this summer. But before you spend all your money on popcorn, read these five books on which the film adaptations were based.

Nicola Yoon’s 2015 smash-hit YA debut is about a 17-year-old girl with a medical condition that forces her to stay in her house at all times…that is, until she develops a relationship with the boy who moves in next door. Read the book for a quick, sweet story about young love and see the movie for an excellent performance by up-and-comer Amandla Stenberg.

Well, this looks terrifying. Melanie Joosten’s 2011 novel is about a young Australian woman who meets and falls in love with a man…who has no intention of letting her leave. Read the book first so you won’t scream in the movie theater at every creepy twist and turn.

Daphne du Maurier’s 1951 dark romance is about an enigmatic woman named Rachel (played in the film by Rachel Weisz) who seems to be surrounded by mystery, drama and death. The movie is jam-packed with stunning shots of the English countryside; beautiful, brooding people with accents; and lots of lace veils and corsets—basically period piece porn. 

Stephen King has called his eight-book Dark Tower series (written between 1998 and 2004) his masterpiece. The movie version picks up where the books leave off, with protagonist Roland Deschain on a quest to reach an actual Dark Tower in an effort to save humanity from extinction. You could, of course, enjoy the action-packed, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat movie without reading the books (ahem, Roland is played by Idris Elba), but don’t you want to know why King holds them in such high regard?