I was a fan and reader of the books, which are awesome. This movie is great- for a Disney movie, a typical Disney movie. It is funny and cute, but that isn't like the books. I could go on and on with comparing- my sister's already heard all I thought as we watched this one and the second movie, and as I'm finishing up the series (going on the 10th book). If they made a movie or three or four (or how many it takes) to go along the books, then I'd like that. Not Disney though.. Heck, even a mini-series if done properly might be okay. But this movie is just not the same as the books. I hate the chant-phrase "It's your birthday, It's your birthday", and so I don't like when they say that. Personally, that's just lame. Tia and Tamara are getting older, but are great actresses but I liked and still like Sister, Sister... but although there acting isn't so bad (though it annoys me when they look at each other and scream... if I'm that scared enough to scream like that, I'm not going to look at my sister then scream...) this isn't their best acting. Sister, Sister to me is more real. So though its a funny, cute and magical movie (though not a lot of magic), I'd read the series that it is based off of if you haven't already. (And the sequel... well I like it more but still, like most sequels based off books, like The Cheetah Girls 2, falls even more away from the books then this first one).