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Writing a compelling book is difficult enough, but transferring the magic to the screen is a challenge of its own. When a beloved book makes the leap between mediums, the results can be divisive. However, it is possible for a screen adaptation to surpass the original source material.
UK printing service Aura Print revealed which book-to-screen adaptations were most well-received by audiences by comparing the Goodreads ratings of 55 popular books to their movie and television adaptation ratings on IMDb. Here’s what they found.
From Page to Screen
According to the study, these 10 screen adaptations are regarded better than their print counterparts. The TV series The Haunting of Hill House (2018) reigns supreme. The chilling ghost story, originally written by Shirley Jackson, received a rating of 3.8 out of 5 on Goodreads but scored an 8.5 out of 10 on IMDb. That’s a relative difference of about 11.5 percent between the ratings. Other versions of the story include The Haunting (1963 and 1999), which both received lower scores.
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The 2020 series Normal People follows close behind. Sally Rooney published the romance drama novel it's based on in 2018. It received a rating of 3.7 out of 5 on Goodreads, roughly a 10.2 percent relative difference from the IMDb rating of 8.4 out of 10.
In Forever… two teenagers fall head over heels for each other and experience what love is like. The book was initially released by Judy Blume in 1975, and it caused much controversy at the time because of its explicit sexual content. Today, the book has a 3.6 out of 5 on Goodreads. Netflix released a TV series based on Forever… in 2025, which earned an IMDb rating of 7.7 out of 10 (a 6.4 percent difference).
Check out the complete list below:
10 Book-to-Movie Adaptations That Won Over Viewers
Rank | Book Name | Author | Goodreads score out of 5 | IMDb score out of 10 | Screen adaptation rated higher by (percent) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Haunting of Hill House | Shirley Jackson | 3.8 | 8.5 | 11.5 |
2 | Normal People | Sally Rooney | 3.8 | 8.4 | 10.2 |
3 | Forever... | Judy Blume | 3.6 | 7.7 | 6.4 |
4 | Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West | Gregory Maguire | 3.5 | 7.4 | 5.4 |
5 | Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption | Stephen King | 4.5 | 9.3 | 3.6 |
=6 | A Game of Thrones | George R. R. Martin | 4.5 | 9.2 | 3.4 |
=6 | One Day | David Nicholls | 3.9 | 8 | 3.4 |
8 | The Fall of the House of Usher | Edgar Allan Poe | 3.9 | 7.9 | 2.6 |
9 | Fire & Blood | George R. R. Martin | 4.1 | 8.3 | 2.5 |
10 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | J. R. R. Tolkien | 4.4 | 8.9 | 1.1 |
While the titles above are closely associated with the books they’re based on, the original source material of some other famous films is less obvious. Some surprising examples include Mean Girls (2004) and Clueless (1995).