Book vs Show: What did Jenny Han say about this?

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Here!

[paulvdb]

On 6/22/2022 at 1:00 AM, norcalgal said:

This is the 'ship I root for....but oh well, we gotta have the love triangle with the brothers!

And I posted previously in this forum that I read the books years ago, but can't recall details.  Even with that, I think Cameron never existed in the books.  (someone correct me if wrong)  He was created just for this series  (which improved the series to me, but we know he's not Endgame so I don't expect he'll return in S2).  ☹️

Taking this here because it's about the books. I had not read the books before watching this, but just started. Cam Cameron is in the book.

[Panopticon]

I watched the series on a whim and thought it was fine in a mindless, pretty, don’t pay much attention sort of way. 

Then I read the books to get through full experience and was surprised at how little the show took from the books. Character names and relationships, location… and that’s about it.

I was pleasantly surprised that in written form I understood why Belly was drawn to Conrad and why Belly remained best friends with Taylor (two things that baffled me in the television version).

I was neutrally surprised that the whole debutante plot and most of the other teen characters just don’t exist.

And I was disappointed-surprised that while the friendship between Laurel/Susannah remained the backbone of the story’s universe, they did not have the POV they got in the series. Which makes sense in teen literature I suppose. 

[choclatechip45]

I think the book did a better job showing why Belly was drawn to Conrad. I did like all the extra teenage characters, fleshing out the moms especially Laurel and Steven in the show. I also liked Taylor better in the show. Overall I think they did a good job with the tv adaption. 

[Riplet68]

Gotta ask, who does she end up with?  I don’t like show Conrad, and I feel like the 2 actors playing Belly and Jere have way better chemistry (plus he’s just hot!)

[choclatechip45]

11 hours ago, Riplet68 said:

Gotta ask, who does she end up with?  I don’t like show Conrad, and I feel like the 2 actors playing Belly and Jere have way better chemistry (plus he’s just hot!)

Conrad.

 

I do have to say I really like the changes they made in season 2 since I did not like the second book. I'm curious how the rest of the season will turn out. 

[Whimsy]

2 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

Conrad.

 

I do have to say I really like the changes they made in season 2 since I did not like the second book. I'm curious how the rest of the season will turn out. 

Conrad in the very end, but she's with Jeremiah for 3 years first. 

[RachelKM]

3 minutes ago, Whimsy said:

Conrad in the very end, but she's with Jeremiah for 3 years first. 

Can't decided whether or not that is worse.

Maybe there is more nuance. But reads a little like dating Jere until Conrad got his shit together.   Who knows?  Maybe they will find away to finesse this such that I don't end up disliking Belly and Conra, at minimum, if not all three of them. 

[RachelKM]

From the Episode thread:

Quote

 From the mini synopsis I read on wikipedia about the 3rd book's plot, I wonder 

  Hide contents

why Jere does what he does and ends up losing Belly(not sure if I worded that right without giving away too much info)

 

Oh no... I should not have read that wikipedia stuff... It seems to have answered my question in the above post.... it's worse... so much worse.  Since I haven't read the books, I don't know if Conrad is as toxic as he is in the show.

But I'm wondering if they did Jere so dirty to justify the waffling instead of just accepting that Conrad was not a good person to date until he had serious therapy.  It's also unclear if Jere was as likeable as he's been on the show such that it was necessary.

[shoregirl]

I haven't read any of the books but I'm curious about I wonder how much different the brothers are in the book than the show. Is conrad this much of a drip in the books or is it acting choices. I don't think Christopher Briney is a particularly good actor and is not very charismatic were Gavin Casalengo has a ton of charisma .

I went on Reddits subreddit for (I believe) both the show and the books and they seem hardcore Conrad stans for the most part.

I haven't really seen any reason on the show I should be rooting for Conrad and Belly (other these self absorbed twits away from other people)

[gator12]

On 8/7/2023 at 1:08 PM, RachelKM said:

Can't decided whether or not that is worse.

Maybe there is more nuance. But reads a little like dating Jere until Conrad got his shit together.   Who knows?  Maybe they will find away to finesse this such that I don't end up disliking Belly and Conra, at minimum, if not all three of them. 

I haven't read the books but from what some book readers say Jeremiah was always the most likable brother, Conrad was worse in the books than in the show. 

This TikTok user have some post where she would bring up pages from the books to talk about the characters. She doesn't like Conrad

https://www.tiktok.com/@corinnieeeee

ETA: The books sounds terrible and I don't know if I should bother with season 3 

 

Edited August 19, 2023 by gator12

[tired and hungry]

17 hours ago, RachelKM said:

But I'm wondering if they did Jere so dirty to justify the waffling instead of just accepting that Conrad was not a good person to date until he had serious therapy.  It's also unclear if Jere was as likeable as he's been on the show such that it was necessary.

I wondered this too. Seems like the author didn't know how to make Belly end up with Conrad so made Jere the bad guy so it could somewhat justify her choice. 

It is kinda hard to believe that point especially since Jere is so much in love with Belly so I was shocked when I read that synopsis. I knew the author was going to make Conrad as endgame but didn't know she would trample all over Jere to get there. But as others suggested maybe their characters have much more stuff going on which we don't see in the show

[choclatechip45]

Belly was also a virgin in the books. So it will be interesting how they handle that in the show. I have to say they have made Taylor much more likable in the show vs the books. I've been fine with all the changes they have made.

[Jessyjessy]

So this series got me HOOKED!! I’ve been team jere all the way through! But I’m just so disappointed with the ending! We all knew Conrad would be endgame but mahn my heart breaks for Jere and why leave it until the day of the wedding for their relationship to end! 

[RachelKM]

So, I just read a quote from Jenny Han that gives me some (possibly futile) hope. It wasn't about this show, but rather XO, Kitty, the To All the Boys spinoff on Netflix.  She mentioned wanting to move away from the One True Pairing. She said something how your first love is can be important and who you're meant for in the time you're together but they are also help you move forward. 

Both To All the Boys and this series stuck to the OTP thing. And, weirdly, she decided the emotional sinkhole that is Conrad was the OTP for Belly, ugh.

But considering the new medium and her desire to show growth instead of just grand loves discovered at 16, maybe this show will depart from the books... maybe?  Or maybe i'm just grasping at straws.