There’s no hiding my respect for the writing abilities of Ruta Sepetys. Every book she publishes is one to be cherished. And as much as I try to go slow, they always end too soon. 

Her first book was Between Shades of Gray, published in 2011 and seven years later, a movie was released based on the book though using a different name, Ashes in the Snow. 

I’ll say that I’m not an avid moviegoer. The last few movies I’ve seen in the theater were accompanying my young sons’ to LEGO movie releases and watching movies at home are often what’s available on streaming services while I’m working out. However, I made an exception for Ashes in the Snow when I discovered it was on Hoopla. In the two years since it’s release, I haven’t sought it out because I generally try not to watch the movies based on beloved books. Yet I’m not against it especially after a tweet by Angie Thomas years ago that compared a book to its movie as twins: genetic makeup may be the same but they are distinct and individual entities. 

Needless to say, I was finally ready to sit by myself in the dark and watch the movie based on Sepetys’ book directed by Marius Markevicius featuring Bel Powley as Lina with a bevy of superbly cast actors for the full character list. Five minutes in I knew that this movie would move me. And every last moment did because the cinematography captured the mood as well as Sepetys words do on the page. It’s pacing with plenty of quiet played against the starkness of the situation. The motifs reappeared at opportune moments. And the ending. I was breathless. 

But once I caught it, I texted a fellow book lover, Sepetys fan, and friend that she needed to watch it with her mother who was suffering from a bout of drought of Sepetys material. We’re all pre-orderers of her books and it’s been almost a year since the release of The Fountains of Silence rocked us to our core. 

For others who have seen it, what did you think?