Can anything ever be as good as the book?

There is a phrase I use so often that it will probably appear on my grave stone: 'That wasn't as good as the book.' 

I say it a lot and am always met with an eye roll but to be fair, I am right. 

But I put myself through films and TV shows that have come from brilliant books in the hope that I am proved wrong but I rarely am. 

When I heard the The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson had been commissioned I was thrilled. It was probably my favourite book of 2010. 

I've loved her books for years. Koomson's writing style is amazing. The story is always a real roller coaster of emotions with a huge twist at the end. 

The Ice Cream Girls follows teens Poppy and Serena who are having an abusive relationship with an older man who is a teacher. 

When he is murdered Poppy is sent to prison for his death though she always maintains her innocence. When she is released after 17 years she hunts Serena down, convinced that she is to blame…

The story goes between the two girls who both claim they are innocent and you are gripped until the truth is revealed. 

I thought ITV would do a good job as they already had a brilliant story and for the first two weeks I did enjoy it. The casting especially was brilliant. 

But then came the finale. I sat down in anticipation of the huge twist that I hadn't seen coming… 

And I really didn't see this ending coming either. ITV had completely changed the ending - and not for the better either. It wasn't believable. It wasn't a better ending. They'd just ruined it. 

I actually switched off before the final part. I didn't want to see their ending play out when the original ending was so, so, SO much better. 

I was annoyed. The book was brilliant and TV producers must have thought so - otherwise why commission it in the first place?

I'm sure I am being a little unfair. A lot of people must have really enjoyed the show (and if they did they should also read the book to compare!) but I know from the reaction on twitter that many didn't. 

Why mess with an already fantastic ending? 

Also what was interesting was what the author, Dorothy Koomson, had to say. You can read that here.

So I've learnt a lesson. Next time a TV show or film is made based on a favourite book I will just refuse to watch. After all, I'm not sure if I've said this already, but TV shows and films are never as good as the book...

Did you enjoy the show? Or hate it as much as I did?