I read this book after watching the series in Apple TV, and I've got to say, I really liked the TV adaptation much more than the book.

This is mainly because I feel like the series has a much more intersectional approach to feminism than the book. Harriet is the same age as Elizabeth in the show, which I think helps develop their friendship, plus it actually gives Harriet a chance to help Elizabeth through the challenges of motherhood. Since her kids are also young, it means Mad actually has some close friends besides Amanda. But the best change to Harriet's character was making her a civil rights activist, fighting brilliantly against the gentrification happening in her own neighborhood. In the show there is a fantastic scene where Elizabeth interrupts her show to help promote a protest that she will be participating in, and afterwards they show her trying to use what little privilege she has as a white woman to stop the police from brutalizing the black people at the protest. The only mildly equivalent scene in the book is one where she admits she's an atheist on TV, thus provoking a deranged woman to bring a bomb to the studio.

As you can guess, there is barely a mention of POC characters in the book, and all the main characters are white. Besides that, my main criticism of the book is that Elizabeth seems to be the only smart progressive woman in the world, where as in the series we see a lot of other brilliant women, leaders and communicators. Besides Harriet, Miss Frask is a lot more nuanced in the TV show. Yes, she is mean to Elizabeth, but only because she thinks there is an air of superiority everytime she's with her. She actively tries to have Elizabeth participate in group activities, and only feels offended after she thinks Elizabeth has disrespected all her efforts. We see Ms. Frask and Elizabeth friendship evolve much more naturally in the show, in my opinion. And making her a manager at the TV show station was a fantastic choice. In the book, Ms. Frask seems to hate Elizabeth genuinely.

Right after Calvin died she basically calls Elizabeth a whore, who is only sad because she can no longer take advantage of Calvin, rather than an actual grieving woman.

Nothing as hateful happens in the show, as long as I can remember.

I want to end this review on a positive note, so with all honestly I can say that Calvin's and Elizabeth relationship was managed beautifully in both the book and the show. I cried at least 5 times while reading,

with Calvin's death and its aftermath being able to be talked about in more detail in the book. The saddest part, in my opinion, was 6:30's internal thoughts, as he too deals with survivors guilt and grief.

If you still haven't read the book I do think it's worth giving it a try, even with all the differences to the show.