In the book, there is no Aunt Shira. Mickey stays with his Uncle Myron. There is even a series of books with Myron Bolitar as the protagonist. Why delete his character and create a fake Aunt?
Also, his mom struggled with drug addiction in the books. In the series, she does not. She has depression so severe it requires her to stay in a posh inpatient facility. With addiction being such a real and believable problem in America, why change it?
My guess is because they've also changed the race of the characters as well. Mickey is no longer a white boy who plays pick up games of basketball in the 'bad side of town.' He's mixed race and for some unknown reason his mom appears to be black but only speaks to him in Spanish. I can see why they didn't want to make the black/Spanish speaking mother a drug addict, but his mother IS a drug addict.
Ema is supposed to be obese, yet here she is another scrawny goth. Spoon's character is true to the book- an unrealistic over-the-top nerd who feels more at home in an 80s summer camp movie. Both are annoying. Mickey is chasing this hard after a girl he only met for half a day in the TV series. In the book she is his gf and they have a relationship, so it makes sense that he's trying to find her.
It's a shame. I usually like Harlan Coben, but this isn't one I would have chosen to make into a series. You can LISTEN to the whole audiobook in under 7 hours but it takes 8 episodes.
Also... is it ends like the book, it ends on a cliffhanger. So frustrating after all that time.
Also, his mom struggled with drug addiction in the books. In the series, she does not. She has depression so severe it requires her to stay in a posh inpatient facility. With addiction being such a real and believable problem in America, why change it?
My guess is because they've also changed the race of the characters as well. Mickey is no longer a white boy who plays pick up games of basketball in the 'bad side of town.' He's mixed race and for some unknown reason his mom appears to be black but only speaks to him in Spanish. I can see why they didn't want to make the black/Spanish speaking mother a drug addict, but his mother IS a drug addict.
Ema is supposed to be obese, yet here she is another scrawny goth. Spoon's character is true to the book- an unrealistic over-the-top nerd who feels more at home in an 80s summer camp movie. Both are annoying. Mickey is chasing this hard after a girl he only met for half a day in the TV series. In the book she is his gf and they have a relationship, so it makes sense that he's trying to find her.
It's a shame. I usually like Harlan Coben, but this isn't one I would have chosen to make into a series. You can LISTEN to the whole audiobook in under 7 hours but it takes 8 episodes.
Also... is it ends like the book, it ends on a cliffhanger. So frustrating after all that time.