Murder on the Orient Express (Book + Movie Review)

Most of y’all should know how much I love books & reading. We have multiple bookshelves in our house that are bursting at the seems. I have hundreds of e-books on my Kindle Paperwhite. And I frequently borrow both “real” books & e-books from our local library. Since 2014 (when I started meticulously keeping up with it on Goodreads), I’ve read 235 books! If you follow me on Instagram, I often post photos of the books I’m currently reading. 

I’m “one of those” that believe the book is almost always better than the movie version, and I try to make sure I’ve read the book before seeing the movie whenever possible. So when I read a book and watched the movie version all in the same week, I decided this would be a fun “series” to start on my blog, of reviewing both the book and the movie.

Last week I read my very first Agatha Christie book – Murder On The Orient Express. I borrowed the digital copy from the Leon County Library, and read it on my Kindle Paperwhite. (If you love to read, you should absolutely be borrowing digital books. It’s the easiest thing in the world, and free, you can search & download right from your phone {or computer}, and you don’t ever have to leave your house. Seriously. Check it out here, using Overdrive.)

This is a short, fast read, at just over 250 pages. Even with my busy #momlife, I still read it in just one week. It’s a classic “locked-room mystery,” which gives it the creepy feeling of “the murderer {probably} is still on the train with you.” I really enjoyed the book, and thought Christie did a great job with all the characters & possibilities. Poirot & his amazing detective skills are very impressive, and I honestly didn’t figure it out until it was revealed. Even though I had a few interesting premonitions along the way based on the “evidence,” ultimately the twist still surprised me. 

The movie was done really well, even though it didn’t follow the book exactly. My husband & family can tell you, I’m always quick to point out the differences. If we’re watching the movie at home, I’m always like, “Well in the boooook…..” And then I want to pause the movie so I can tell you what actually happened… And they’re usually good sports and let me say my piece before continuing on with the movie. Haha!

And even with my usual “the-book-was-better” mantra, I think the movie ending was tied up a little bit neater, and I liked it that way. But other than that, I want to keep it vague, for those that haven’t read or seen it yet, so you can still enjoy it! (One of my personal pet peeves is people who spoil movies & such…)

Overall, I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and I gave the movie 8 out of 10 stars on IMDB!