Save Me by Mona Kasten

5/5 stars

SPOILERS AHEAD

I have to start by saying that this might be a bit of a biased review, because the Maxton Hall universe has a very special place in my heart. My sister and I are both entirely obsessed with the show, and to be so transparent, I've probably watched the entire first season all the way through at least 6 times. I would turn into a puddle on the ground if I saw Damian Hardung in real life. I adore it so much, and my sister bought me the book for my birthday this year since it's finally been released in English, so there's this strange sense of nostalgia I feel for it, even though it's so new. It's like the same comforted, cozy feeling I get when my sister and I rewatch Harry Potter during Christmas every year. 

That being said, I actually think this is just a really fun book as well. I anticipated only liking it because of how much I like the show and the (short) history that I have with it, because that's what happened when I tried to read the My Fault books (so, so bad but I love the movies even though they're also so, so bad), but I just genuinely enjoyed reading this.

The show did a fantastic job of bringing the book to life. It was so true to the relationships in the book and the actors did such a fantastic job bringing them off the pages. Whoever was the casting director for this show just really blew it out of the water. There were some differences in timing or order of events and small little changes that obviously were made to adapt the book to the show, but the overall show really didn't stray much.

I love the relationship between Lin and Ruby in the book. They're shown to be much closer as friends than they are in the show. I love the scene when Lin came over to Ruby's house to play board games with her family after her birthday party. That was one of the biggest differences between the book at the show. In the show, Ruby spends they day chasing birds around the Maxton Hall campus trying to get everything prepped for the gala, and in the book she's surprised by her extended family on her birthday and spends the day with them all opening gifts and playing games. I think both are really sweet, and I obviously loved the developments of Ruby and James' relationship during the scene in the show, but I liked getting a bigger picture of Ruby's family in the book as well. 

I also love that we got to see some of James' point of view in the book. Damian Hardung did such a good job acting out how James was feeling throughout the book, but it was fun actually getting to read through his conflicted emotions. 

The only other real changes that stood out to me were that Ruby doesn't ask Lexington for a recommendation in the book and is instead on the rugby pitch because she's reporting for the school, and she keeps Graham's recommendation letter instead. They changed the theme to just a Victorian gala instead of a Victorian Halloween gala, which honestly isn't that different because it's dressing up either way. There was no "twin swap" situation in the book, where James chose to see Ruby instead of attend a Beaufort event and Lydia took his place, though Mortimer did still catch him and Ruby together because both of James' parents were in attendance at the gala. The scene at Beaufort's was a little different as well, and Ruby actually ended up meeting James' mother there and not just Mortimer. I don't think they ever met in the show. Kieran's crush on Ruby was much more prevalent in the book as well, and I know that's going to play into the next season and book more as well, same with the Oxford guy. I want to see more jealous James. There is also some secret past relationship between Cyril and Lin that's mentioned throughout the book that we don't see in the show, we only see Cyril's crush on Lydia hinted at in the show. Cyril was also a way bigger dick in the books, despite how much of a dick he is in the show too. 

All I can really say is that I think this series will maybe always have a strange sense of nostalgia for me and will always make me think of my sister, so I can't imagine the next season or the next book being any kind of letdown to me. I know it's going to hurt though, because the book ended with James' cheating on Ruby with Elaine right in front of her, and they ended the show before that scene. So I just know watching that play out early in the new season is going to be devastating. And I can't wait.