(warning this post may contain some spoilers)
When Netflix first came out with the series My Life with the Walter Boys, By Ali Novak I instantly fell in love with the diverse characters and found myself wanting more content between seasons. With the recent announcement of the second season, I thought it would be the perfect time to read the books to fulfill what I needed in the meantime. Overall, there are a lot of similarities. At the same time, they made some drastic changes between the book to the series to make it more dramatic and entertaining.
The biggest thing that stood out to me between the book and the show is that the tone of both is completely different. The book is very innocent and focuses on Jakie as she finds her way through the trauma and recurring thoughts about her family. While in the show, it is a little more focused on the drama and darkness of the relationships between Jackie and the Walter boys. I noticed that there were also some major switches in Jackie’s relationships with Cole and Alex. In the book, the relationship between Alex and Jackie sort of just falls into place one random day while Cole is fighting to be seen. While in the show, they did a decent job showing how Jackie brings out the soft side of Cole, the book hits that soft spot for all my Cole girlies.
In conclusion, personally, I prefer the book version solely for the fact that I am a Cole girl. In some way, the series and the book seem completely different. For example, in the book, the breakup between Alex and Jackie is completely mutual because he feels like he is using her. And the scene where Alex takes Jackie to watch the sunset is Cole in the book (which warmed my heart). Although, as I read into the second book, My Return To The Walter Boys, I am very excited to see where they take the series. I feel as if the second season is going to completely differ from the second book, which is sort of a great way to keep people interested and wanting to come back.
