I’ve been obsessed with The Deal by Elle Kennedy, which sent me on a deep, blind plunge into the Briar U universe. So I was fully ready to hyperfixate when Off Campus dropped on Amazon Prime.
It’s pretty good for a TV adaptation, especially for anyone coming into the series cold. The casting department did a PERFECT job. Every member of the cast fits their role, and I’m so excited they’ll grace us on the screen for a few more seasons.
The show is fun, exciting, and a good time. It gives perfect early 2000s CW show vibes, which us millennials are starving for. Garrett “you show me and I’ll show you” Graham and Dean “consent is key” DiLaurentis ARE PERFECT.
But, and that’s a big but, I’d say the show took inspiration from the book rather than being a true-to-page adaptation. Some changes made sense for a TV audience. Some of them really annoyed me as a devoted Elle Kennedy reader.
Read every single change the Off Campus TV show made to The Deal and the Off Campus series in general. This post contains spoilers.
Hannah Doesn’t Have Multiple Jobs
In the book, Hannah works two jobs: one at Della’s, the café, and one at Malone’s, the hockey bar. Off Campus show combines them, so Della runs Malone’s morning and night and Hannah just works there. She also doesn’t work in the hockey rink in the book.
Justin Is a Football Player, Not a Musician
Hannah agrees to tutor Garrett in exchange for getting a date with Justin Kohl. In the book, Justin is a football player, not a musician. I actually like that the show made him a musician instead. It gives Hannah and Justin an obvious thing in common, but in the book he plays football.
Hannah’s Showcase Storyline Is Different
Justin doesn’t work with Hannah on the showcase. In the book, Hannah works on it with a guy named Cass for a duet competition. The scholarship isn’t as front and center in the Off Campus Season 1 showcase. It’s just a winter showcase everyone goes to. It still ends with Hannah breaking up with Cass and performing solo.
No Writer’s Block in the Book
Hannah doesn’t have writer’s block the way she does in the show. The show leaned a lot harder into Hannah’s trauma, which I thought was a good call. In the book she just wants to work on pop music, and she’s not a clarinet player either, which was kind of weird. She plays piano and guitar.
Daveed is also a show addition whom I loved.
They Don’t Get Together After One Hookup
In the book, it’s not one hookup and then they’re suddenly a thing. Hannah and Garrett start spending a lot of time together first. Hannah gets drunk at karaoke and makes a move on Garrett. They hook up a little, but Garrett stops it because she’s drunk.
The next morning Hannah tells him what happened to her. Garrett thinks about it and agrees to help her through it, but they go through multiple hookups before Hannah even considers doing anything with Justin.
Hannah Never Breaks Things Off With Justin
In the book, Hannah and Justin plan a date either way. Hannah never breaks things off with Justin the way she does in the show. In the third act she still agrees to go on a date with him and completely forgets about it because she’s been spending so much time with Garrett.
The Kiss Scene Happens Somewhere Else
In the book the kiss happens in Garrett’s bedroom, not the weight room. Garrett taunts Hannah that he bets she’s not a good kisser, which is why she’s “approved.” This is before he finds out about her trauma. In the show, Logan walks in on them and Hannah kisses Logan. In the book, Dean walks in and Hannah kisses Dean. Dean’s a ladies’ man, not into Hannah, but his eyes glaze and he’s clearly affected by it.
Their Relationship Is More Organic in the Book
In the book, Hannah and Garrett’s relationship builds a lot more naturally. There’s no big hockey arena gesture, no Hannah playing the keys. They just gradually get together.
I didn’t like that the show gave Hannah that big gesture. The whole point is that Garrett falls hard first, and I think the show took away from that.
Allie Already Knows About Hannah’s Past
In the show, Allie doesn’t know what happened to Hannah. In the book she’s known the whole time. I liked that in the book because it meant Hannah had someone she could trust to tell after the events at Ransom, Indiana.
That said, the show gives Hannah and Allie a real conversation about it, and it’s a good girls’ moment between them. So even though it’s a change, I’m pretty neutral on this one.
The Duos Party Never Happens
The Duos party never happens in the book. I loved any chance we got to see Beau and Dean’s friendship, and that moment between Hannah and Garrett, but it’s not in the book. It’s one of the changes I welcome, because I was giddy the whole time.
Beau himself is also different. In the book he isn’t this psychic foil to Dean and they’re not childhood friends. He’s just the star of the football team and they hang out a lot. They’re good friends. In the Off Campus adaptation Beau has way more presence, and they made us fall in love with him.
Dean and Allie’s Story Is Mostly Untouched So Far But Already Done~ish??
Dean and Allie’s story in the books is already about 70% covered in the show, so I’m not sure what the show will do. In the books, Hannah and Garrett are together a while before Allie and Dean even start hooking up. It happens after she and Sean break up for the nth time.
They start hooking up in secret, but Allie says no after the first one-night stand. She calls it a one-time mistake, and Dean becomes obsessed with her. The New York scene is basically 70% of their book in The Score, so I really don’t know where the show is taking this.
Hannah Breaks Up With Garrett, and the Hands-Off Rule
Garrett doesn’t break up with Hannah in the book. Hannah breaks up with him. Phil Graham blackmails her by threatening to take Garrett’s money away if she doesn’t, because he sees her as a distraction. The reason for the breakup gets a different reason in the book: Hannah realizes how into Garrett she is and didn’t expect to get involved with someone this fast, so she breaks it off in case she has a better connection with someone else, which is still a super stupid reason to break up.
In the book, Garrett just understands. He never doubts the relationship and he doesn’t have this big hangup about turning into Phil. He thinks about it sometimes, but he’s pretty confident about where he is in life. He has a trust fund from his grandparents, so he never has to deal with that.
The hands-off bit also comes from the book. Garrett puts a hands-off rule on Hannah campus-wide and people actually back off, and it’s corny and hilarious. It’s childish and kind of a comedy bit. I have no idea why the show changed it. It’s really weird.
The Pastor’s Son Isn’t a Hockey Player
Aaron Delaney is the pastor and the mayor’s son back in Indiana in the books. He isn’t a hockey player, so Garrett and Aaron never get into a fight and Garrett never gets suspended.
Garrett and Logan’s Tension Is Made Up for TV
There’s never this much tension between Logan and Garrett in the books. This is purely TV drama and I don’t like it. The Garrett and Logan bromance has been front and center this whole series, and the show put way too much tension between them. Logan does have a bit of a crush on Hannah, but it’s mostly because he just wants a relationship, not Hannah specifically, which we’ll see in his season.
Allie Is Blonde in the Books
Kind of random, but Allie is blonde in the books. It matters for vanity reasons, since Dean and Allie become the golden couple.
Tucker Is the Oldest
In the books, Tucker is the oldest and the most mature. He has a southern accent and he’s a bit of a ginger.
Jules Doesn’t Exist in the Book
There’s no Jules in the books. Logan has an older brother named Jeff, and he did have an alcoholic dad, but the mom and Jules storyline doesn’t exist.
I have mixed feelings about Jules. They’re fine. They kind of work as a campus gossip character, but honestly I don’t think we needed them.
Drunk Shakespeare Never Happens
Drunk Shakespeare isn’t in the book and I have no idea why it’s in the show. It turns it into more of a love triangle between Garrett, Justin, and Hannah, which doesn’t really exist in the book. Garrett gets into Hannah, Hannah gets into Garrett, and it just goes from there.
It also opens the way for the Allie and Dean angle, which again doesn’t happen this way in the books. I don’t really mind it. They’re doing different stuff and it gives us a different read on where the series goes. It’s almost like different literature at this point, because I’ve read Off Campus so many times. So it’s fine that it’s different. I’m just really curious what they’ll do.
Allie and Hunter’s Weird Past
Allie never hooks up with Hunter in the book, and Hunter and Dean don’t have this tense history. Side bar, I didn’t care for the actor they cast for Hunter.
Hannah Controls Who Knows About Her Past
In the book, Hannah gives Garrett permission to tell his coach and a couple of close friends about her past. She tells him to tell them. So there’s never that strain between them over it.
The Shower Scene Doesn’t Happen
In the book, Hannah never walks in on Garrett naked in the shower. When she does see him naked for the first time, she’s very cute about how flabbergasted she is.
Hannah Had a Long-Term Ex Before Garrett
In the book, Hannah had a long-term boyfriend named Devon before Garrett who tried really hard to help her work through her sexual trauma. It just never worked out. They didn’t have good chemistry.
So did I eat up Off Campus in the span of a few days? YES. Did I love everything about it? Sort of. In a “if this was only a TV adaptation I probably would’ve loved this” kind of way. Will I continue watching? Hell yes, mostly because I don’t know what they’re doing with Dean and Allie and I HAVE TO KNOW.
What did you think of Off Campus? Whose season are you most excited for? Tell us in the comments! We’ll be talking about Off Campus for MONTHS to come I’m sure, with Bad Idea releasing November 3rd.
If you’re looking for an Elle Kennedy Briar U reading order after today, and let’s face it you’re dying to dive in, you can check out our Elle Kennedy Briar U reading order!
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