I never read the books, and this was my first introduction to the story at all. Plotlines were muddled. Character relationships developed too quickly or too clumsily. Dialogue was riddled with cliches and cheesiness. It started off well, but I got lost in things very quickly and lost all interest. The person who excitedly asked me to watch this with them fell asleep, and I ended up watching the movie by myself in the same trancelike disinterest you would watch a dumpster fire with. The entertainment came from watching it implode on itself, and nothing more.