I read the book by Suzy Cox when I was 10, and it completely inspired my writing for months afterwards. So naturally, when I saw that it had been turned into a TV show of sorts, I was extremely excited. Unfortunately, it was a major disappointment. The entire plot line was made so much more shallow - for example, making the "Rules" book an easily accessible app. They also completely got rid of a rich and well written character from the book, instead combining her plotline with Lorna's. The ending itself was extremely unsatisfying, as they completely changed who the killer was. The way they revealed who it was and why they did it was unsatisfactory and majorly disappointing. The person who they made the murderer was not at all close to the true killer, in the book. Of course, when attempting to bring a book to the screen, some changes must be made. But the amount of deviations from the book are Percy Jackson-level disappointing. So many cliché tropes have been worked in, predictable and overused scenarios that perhaps would have been funny the first time around, but are not any longer. The characters are written to be more shallow and uninteresting than in the book, and the whole show altogether is just a major letdown. Perhaps if the characters weren't hurled into mundane and unoriginal scenes and if the series stayed closer to the setting of the book, the show would be remarkably improved. The actors are not by any means bad, but with stronger writing and directing, the show could be much better. All in all, I was extremely excited to see an important novel of my childhood played out on screen, and so incredibly crestfallen at the disaster that ensued.
