Book vs. TV Show: Famous in Love

The latest tv show to hit Freeform this year is Famous In Love, which is based off of Rebecca Serle’s two book series. After I binge-watched this new show (cough guilty pleasure cough), I knew I needed to read the books. However, as I read through the books, I noticed several key changes.

First, the characters are aged up. In the books, Paige is 17 years old and still in high school as are her two best friends Cassie and Jake. In the show, they all attend college in LA, where they met and became best friends. I actually liked this change because it allows Cassie and Jake to take on bigger roles in the show. It also just makes more sense for Paige to be an adult.

Another major change, maybe the biggest of all, is the love triangle. Both the show and books have a love triangle in it, but the triangle contains different characters. In the show, the triangle is with Rainer and Jake. The books, on the other hand, have the triangle starring Rainer and Jordan. This is an especially interesting change since *spoiler alert* Paige ends up with Jordan in the books. I actually preferred the triangle in the show more because it seems a little more plausible. It makes more sense that her best friend and her new costar are both falling for her, instead of two major Hollywood stars she just met. I also liked Jordan and Tangey together on the show, which wouldn’t happen if he was interested in Paige.

These two major changes lead to many of the smaller ones. For one, the book takes place in Hawaii where the movie is being filmed. Actually, the movie they are filming just seems to be different from the one in the book with some kind of time travel storyline instead of being stuck on an island. In the show, all the filming takes place in a studio and several locations in LA. Since they’re in LA, Cassie and Jake play more important roles on the show. They have they’re own storylines, and they are actually pretty different from their characters in the book. The really only similarity between them is that they’re best friends with Paige.

There are also a couple new characters to the show. We have Nina, Rainer’s single mother and head producer of Locked. During the show, Rainer finds out who is real father is, who is none other than the head of the studio making Locked. In the books, Rainer’s father is the producer and is parents are happily married, until a twist is revealed. This twist is deals with Rainer’s ex-girlfriend Brittany, who is Tangey on the show. The show goes with the storyline that Tangey and Rainer broke up because she cheated on him with Jordan, which was the cover-up story in the books. Another character who has a bigger role on the show is Alexis. She is only in the second book in the series, but her character is very different than who she is on the show. In the book she is a British star who becomes a close friend to Paige. On the show, she is Paige’s rival for the main role and dates Jake among other people.

Well, I think that about sums the differences all up! Overall, the show is very different from the books. Both are enjoyable if you are looking for glamorously fun, drama-filled Hollywood stories!

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    • I like my real life to be drama-free, which is probably why I like drama-filled stories haha And I understand wanting movies/shows to be the same, but I also want it to be the best it can be and that usually means changing things since it is a different medium of entertainment/storytelling.

  • I honestly think the show did it better. The drama is more intense and when I hears Jordan and Paige got together my heart kinda died but i understand in the book they have more chemistry but all the way #Raige
    Anyway I preferred the love triangle in the show it has the element of which you would choose your best friend from your old life or the hunky gorgeous guy from your new life. Yet I think having Jake being her best friend since 5 years old gave a greater depth between the love triangle it makes more drama and a harder decision for Paige. I liked that Rainer is kinda broken with the whole drinking thing I don’t think it is a big deal in the book but all in all I believe that the show is better

    • I agree with you. I think the love triangle on the show definitely ups the stakes and makes more sense! Plus, all of the drama on the show is so addicting and fun. I was sad when it was cancelled as I enjoyed watching it.

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