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Warning: This post mentions rape, domestic violence, and child abuse.
Since Off-Campus premiered on Prime Video in mid-May, it's been trending among the top shows on the streaming service. So, it's no surprise that that The Deal by Elle Kennedy — the first book in the series that the show is based on — has literally been flying off the shelves. I had to go to three different stores (and I checked two more online from the parking lot) to find a copy in stock!
While watching Season 1, I noticed quite a few differences between the book and the series. Other fans have certainly had a lot to say about these changes, too. So, without further ado, here are 90 major differences between the Off-Campus TV show and the book (obviously, spoilers ahead!):
A small note before we begin: this list is going to be focused specifically on differences from The Deal, which is the only one I've read so far. If you noticed something from a different book in the series, let me know in the comments!
1. In the book, the reader knows that Hannah was raped five years ago from page one. In the show, it's not made clear until Episode 4, when she tells Garrett.
2. On the show, Hannah has two jobs that we see — she works at the hockey arena, and she's a server at Malone's, a diner and bar. In the book, she's a server at Della's, a diner that's a five-minute drive or a ten-minute bus ride from the Briar campus. Instead of her '50s-style Della's uniform, she wears a Malone's t-shirt.
3. Garrett's tattoos have been changed. In the book, he has flame tattoos simply because he likes them. In the show, he has a back tattoo that says "NULLUM GRATUITUM PRANDIUM," which means "there is no free lunch" in Latin.
4. This episode opens with Hannah accidentally seeing Garrett naked in the locker room showers. The book opens with her crushing on Justin Kohl in Professor Tolbert's philosophy class. Justin nods at her for the first time.
5. Their meet-cute is also different in the book. On the way out of philosophy class, Hannah trips and drops her books. As Garrett helps her pick up her things, he notices that she aced the midterm, so he asks her to tutor him. She, of course, refuses.
6. On the show, Hannah sits next to her friend Dexter in philosophy class. In the book, she sits next to a girl named Nell, who's not in the show.
7. Nell isn't the only character who's been cut out of the show. In the book, Hannah and Allie have several other friends from the music and drama departments — Stella, Megan, and Megan's annoying boyfriend, Jeremy.
8. In the book, their midterm is a written essay, whereas on the show, it's an oral presentation.
9. On the show, Hannah has a bike, but in the book, she has a deal with her hallmate Tracy, who lets her borrow her car when she's not using it. Hannah just has to return it with a full tank of gas.
10. In the book, Hannah is a singer studying music, and she's getting ready for the Winter Showcase. She needs to win the scholarship so that she can decrease the financial burden on her parents by paying the expenses her scholarship doesn't cover. On the show, she's instead a clarinet player studying classical composition, and she's at risk of not being able to return to Briar next semester because her scholarship has been canceled due to budget cuts. So, she decides to enter the Pop Showcase to win the money she needs.
11. The change from the Winter Showcase to the Pop Showcase also cut two minor antagonists. In the book, Hannah is rehearsing a duet with Cass, an egotistical pretty boy who wants to make their performance a major production where he's the big star. They're singing a song written by MJ, a meek songwriting major. Cass asks MJ out to get her to go along with his ideas, then he dumps her before the showcase.
12. The show somewhat combines Justin and Cass into one character. In the book, Justin is a football player who recently transferred to Briar. On the show, he's a musician from Australia.
13. Kendall and Garrett's hookup scene is a lot different as well. In the book, he arrives home after Logan has drunkenly texted him about a "surprise" waiting for him. The surprise turns out to be Kendall waiting on his bed in lingerie. Additionally, their conversation where he asks her why she wants to be his girlfriend doesn't happen until Beau's party.
14. In the book, Garrett gets Hannah's phone number from the sign-up sheet for the philosophy study group. He texts her a shirtless selfie to try to convince her to tutor him.
15. On the show, Hannah doesn't like hockey for reasons she reveals in a later episode. In the book, she's indifferent towards hockey and used to watch Chicago Blackhawks games with her dad.
16. On the show, Garrett's dad, Phil, shows up at his house to tell him that he's getting married to Cindy, his girlfriend of six months, and she wants to meet him. In the book, Phil and Cindy have been together for a year, but Garrett doesn't know about her until Phil demands that he come home for Thanksgiving because she wants to meet him. Additionally, in the book, Cindy is only Phil's girlfriend, not his fiancé.
17. The scene where Garrett overhears Hannah singing and playing piano in the green room doesn't happen in the book.
18. In the book, Allie knows that Hannah was raped. When she goes to parties with Hannah, she doesn't drink to help her feel safe. On the show, Hannah tells her that it happened to a friend in high school, which is what Hannah initially tells Garrett in the book.
19. On the show, Garrett's late mom and Hannah share a love of Dirty Dancing. In the book, his mom's favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd song holds significance.
20. Hannah doesn't get a drink spilled on her at the party in the book.
21. Additionally, she and Garrett don't start fake dating at the party. He gives her a ride home, and they make their deal in the car. In exchange for her tutoring him, he promises to take her as his date to Beau Maxwell's party the next Saturday because being seen with him will make her popular, which will in turn get Justin's attention.
22. The show misses a styling detail that Garrett really likes about Hannah in the book — she usually wears one unexpected pop of color in her outfits, like a brightly colored hair clip.
Episode 2: "The Practice"
23. On the show, Hannah wants to be a film composer, but in the book, she wants to be a singer or a songwriter.
24. Their fake dating is amped up for the show. Instead of one date, they're trying to get relationship rumors onto Fifth Line, the Briar gossip account.
25. Speaking of Fifth Line, it's run by Jules, Logan's younger sibling, a character who's been added for the show.
26. The text that Hannah sends to Justin's puck bunny hookup is different in the book. On the show, she tells her, "This is Garrett's tutor. Please leave him alone. He'll fuck you later." In the book, she writes, "This is Garrett's tutor. You're annoying me. We're done in 30 minutes. I'm confident you can keep your pants zipped until then."
27. The show added a bigger storyline for Allie and Sean. In the book, he's not much more than her fratboy boyfriend. Allie's discontentment in their relationship isn't part of The Deal.
28. Again, in the book, Hannah and Garrett are just supposed to go on one date to Beau's party. On the show, however, they decide to hard-launch their fake relationship at Beau and Dean's joint costume party. The party is also a much more lavish affair, with everyone traveling out to Cape Cod for the night.
29. In the book, they don't tell Allie the truth about their relationship, but on the show, she helps them.
30. On the show, Garrett doesn't want good grades handed to him because he wants to earn his way. In the book, however, he needs Hannah's help because Briar doesn't give athletes special treatment when it comes to grades.
31. In the book, their kissing practice scene happens in Garrett's bedroom, not the weight room. Additionally, to prove she's not into Garrett, she kisses Dean, not Logan.
32. In the book, Hannah spends that night with Garrett a few days before the party. After studying, they binge-watch Breaking Bad together, and because it's so late, she agrees to stay the night. They share his bed. On the show, however, they share a room at the party house, but they both sleep on opposite sides of the floor. Additionally, in the book, she plays guitar and sings for him in his room, but on the show, he watches her old Instagram videos.
33. Dean and Allie's romantic storyline is not part of The Deal. However, the third book in the series, The Score, focuses on their love story.
34. Garrett doesn't suggest that Hannah ask Justin for help writing her song in the book. Additionally, the storyline about her not being able to write lyrics since high school has been added for the show.
35. In the book, Justin asks Hannah out to dinner after Beau's party, and they agree on next Sunday. On the show, they spend time together while working on her song for the showcase.
36. Aside from being a product placement, the Liquid IV sponsorship storyline wouldn't have been possible in the book because college athletes weren't allowed to receive NIL compensation (Name, Image, and Likeness) until 2020. The Deal was published in 2015.
37. Another example of Allie getting a bigger storyline on the show than in the book is her signing with Joanna Maxwell's agent.
38. Logan also gets a bigger storyline on the show than in the book. For example, his handyman business and his fixing Hannah's old Subaru aren't in The Deal.
39. In the book, Garrett is turning 21 on January 1st, when he'll finally have access to the trust that his maternal grandparents left him. He plans to cut his dad off after his birthday.
40. In the book, they go to Malone's for Dean's birthday, and it happens to also be karaoke night, whereas on the show, they go for karoke night.
41. On the show, Hannah's karaoke song is "Cherry Pie" by Warrant, but in the book, she sings "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga.
42. In the book, "Tuesday's Gone" by Lynyrd Skynrd comes on the jukebox at Malone's, and Garrett uncharacteristically asks Hannah to dance with him. He tells her that his was his mom's favorite song.
43. Another character who's missing from the show is Devon, Hannah's ex-boyfriend. She runs into him and his new girlfriend, Emily, at Malone's. Hannah and Devon broke up because she wasn't able to orgasm with him.
44. On the show, Hannah and Allie crash at the boys' house because they accidentally left their keys at the bar. In the book, Garrett asks Hannah to sleep off her drunkness at his place because he's worried that, if he takes her back to her dorm, she'll go out again and get in trouble.
45. In the book, Hannah drunkenly tells Garrett, "I might be broken, but I can still have fun" before she falls asleep.
46. In the book, Hannah asks Garrett, "Will you have sex with me?" but in the show, she says, "I need you to give me an orgasm."
47. Like Logan, Dean, and Allie, Tucker was also given a bigger storyline in the show. His pledging Siga Tau and having to take care of a "fruit baby" was added.
48. Hannah's music advisor also has a bigger role on the show. Their conversation about how songs make you feel wasn't in the book.
49. Allie doesn't break up with Sean in The Deal.
50. In the book, Garrett seeks sex advice from Birdie, whom he recognizes as the team's true leader. On the show, he has this conversation with Dean instead.
51. The entire Drunk Shakespeare sequence wasn't in the book, nor was Kendall and Garrett reaching a truce.
52. The show skips two of Garrett and Hannah's sex scenes. The second time they hook up, they have oral sex, and he's the first man to make her orgasm. Afterward, she makes lasagna for all the boys while they're at practice. The third time they hook up is on Halloween. Hannah ditches her dorm drinking crawl to hang out with Garrett, who refuses to celebrate Halloween. She confides in him about the fallout from her lawsuit against Aaron, the boy who raped her, and he tells her that the first time his dad hit him was on Halloween. Then, in a bid to replace a bad memory with a good one, they go all the way.
53. Additionally, in the book, Garrett doesn't know that Hannah has an upcoming date with Justin until Logan tells him that he heard about it at a Halloween party. So, Garrett goes to Hannah's dorm to confront her. He tries to tell her she can't go, and they argue. He storms out, but she follows him out and tells him that she canceled on Justin. She apologizes for not telling him about the date but admonishes him for not giving her time to process his feelings for her. They agree to be a couple. On the show, they get together after Hannah rejects Justin's invitation to go back to his place, and she does a grand romantic gesture for Garrett at the hockey rink.
Episode 5: "The Cold Turkey"
54. The show adds more sweet moments between Garrett and Hannah, like their adorable moment on the ice and him meeting her parents over FaceTime.
55. In the book, Hannah and her parents meet at her aunt and uncle's house in Philadelphia for the holidays, but on the show, she spends Thanksgiving in Brooklyn with Allie.
56. Justin has a more fleshed-out role on the show, continuing to help Hannah write lyrics for her showcase song.
57. The show added the detail that Aaron was a hockey player whose team rallied around him. In the book, he's just the mayor's son, and his friends lied in court to protect him. One rare time Hannah went home to visit, she and her dad ran into the father of Rob, one of Aaron's lying friends, at the hardware store. After Rob's dad taunted them, Hannah's dad beat him up.
58. Tucker's Friendsgiving storyline and Logan's storyline about his mom being in rehab were added for the show.
59. In the book, Phil, Garrett's dad, is straightforwardly unpleasant to be around, and he lectures Garrett about Hannah being a distraction and a "liability." On the show, however, he's pretending to be trying to be a better person.
60. On the show, Garrett begs Cindy to leave Phil, but in the book, he offers to help her leave.
61. Garrett tells Hannah about being abused by his father on Halloween in the book, but on the show, he doesn't tell her until they leave his dad's house on Thanksgiving. He cries in her arms.
62. The show skips another sex scene here. In the book, after assuring Garrett that he's nothing like his father, Hannah has Garrett pull the car over so she can kiss him. Then, they have sex in the backseat and say, "I love you" for the first time.
Episode 6: "The Breakaway"
63. This episode heavily centers around Dean and Allie, who are not interested in each other in The Deal. At the end of this book, Dean is hooking up with Stella, Allie and Hannah's friend who's not in the show.
64. On the show, Allie talks to Beau about his sister, Joanna, being a Broadway star. In the book, Hannah has a similar conversation with Beau at a party.
65. Hannah sings her new song to Garrett in person on the show, but in the book, she sings to him over the phone. On the show, this is also when they say, "I love you for the first time," but in the book, they say it after hooking up in the car on the way home from Thanksgiving.
66. On the show, Allie's mom has been sick, but in the book, she went to college close to NYC because her dad has Multiple Sclerosis.
67. The Hurricanes youth hockey fundraiser event is not part of The Deal, nor is Logan and Garrett's argument about Logan reaching out to Phil to get a signed jersey for the silent auction.
68. On the show, Justin performs his and Hannah's song at the fundraiser, which makes her realize she can't perform it at the showcase. She asks him if they can start over, but he tells her that he's done. In the book, however, Cass, her duet partner, kicks her out of their performance two weeks before the showcase so that he can perform solo.
69. There's a small easter egg in the fundraiser scene! Dean calls out the name Grace Ivers. She's Logan's love interest in the second book in the series, The Mistake.
70. Aaron is only mentioned by name in the book, but on the show, he's the new center for the rival hockey team, St. Andrew's.
71. Cindy doesn't accompany Phil to the game in the book because she left him a week after Thanksgiving.
72. Joanna Maxwell is only mentioned by name in The Deal, but on the show, Beau introduces her to Allie.
73. In the book, Hannah is late to the big game against St. Andrew's because she's been rehearsing for the showcase with her cellist friend, Jae. On the show, she's late because she doesn't want to face Aaron. She goes to the rehearsal room to say goodbye to her advisor, whose wise words convince her to go to the game.
74. In the book, Dean takes a hit on the ice, not Birdie, but he's fine.
75. Allie doesn't meet "Carter St. James" in The Deal.
76. Garrett's fight with Aaron doesn't happen in The Deal. Instead, Hannah accidentally bumps into Rob, Aaron's best friend, on the way to the locker rooms after the game. After Hannah tells Garrett who she saw, he goes to confront Rob. Then, Rob calls Hannah a slut, so Garrett snaps. Logan pulls him off Rob, and Garrett accidentally hits Logan in the process.
77. On the show, Garrett receives a four-game suspension for fighting on the ice. However, in the book, the coaches give him a very lenient one-game suspension after, with Hannah's permission, he tells them who Rob is and what he did to her.
78. In the book, Hannah and Garrett don't break up after the St. Andrew's game. He asks her why she isn't angrier about people like Aaron and Rob not facing consequences, but she tells him that the best revenge is being happy and living well. It's a very healing conversation for Garrett.
79. On the show, Garrett breaks up with Hannah because he's afraid of turning into his father one day. However, in the book, Hannah breaks up with Garrett, claiming that they're moving too fast, and she wants to date around and see if there's anything "better" out there. In actuality, his dad visited her at work and manipulated her into breaking up with Garrett by threatening to cut him off if they kept dating.
Episode 8: "The Line Change"
80. In the book, Hannah goes up to Justin, planning to ask him out, before she realizes she can't do it. She tells Justin that she used to have a crush on him, and they agree to be friends. However, he doesn't appear in the final episode of the show.
81. On the show, Sean tells Hannah that Garrett supposedly issued a campus-wide "hands-off law," threatening to come for any guy who dates her. However, when she confronts Garrett about it in the locker room, he denies it, and his teammates admit to spreading the rumor. When Hannah tells Allie about it later, they acknowledge how problematic a "hands-off law" would be. But in the book, Garrett actually issues a campus-wide "hands-off law" because Hannah told him she wants to date other people. He knows she's lying to him, so he issues it to protect her from the potential regret.
82. When Hannah confronts Garrett about the hands-off law in the book, he's naked in the locker room showers. When she won't tell the truth about why she dumped him, he kisses her, then she finally tells him about his dad's threat. Afterward, they talk it out in her room. He tells her about the trust fund from his grandparents that enabled him to cut his dad out of his life for good. Hannah and Garrett get back together.
83. On the show, Briar is dead last in their conference after being forced to forfeit all the games that Garrett played as an ineligible player. This storyline, alongside Logan wanting to recruit Dean's nemsis, Hunter Davenport, isn't part of the book.
84. In this episode, Hannah tells Allie about being raped, though Allie already had a feeling that the "friend" Hannah told her about was really her. In the book, Allie has known since the beginning.
85. On the show, Hannah drops out of the showcase, but she re-enters at the last minute. In the book, however, she does her solo performance before the winter break. Garrett attends, and he goes to see her backstage afterward. This is when they get back together on the show (with Allie and Dean's help), but not in the book.
86. On the show, Garrett is initially unsure about his love for hockey, but in the book, he has no doubts about his love for being on the ice.
87. Garrett's heart-to-heart with Logan was added for the show. In the book, he tells the entire team about being abused by his dad, and they all collectively begin giving Phil the cold shoulder.
88. Hannah wins the Winter Showcase scholarship in the book, but on the show, she comes in second. Her parents have already vowed to figure out financials to help her stay at Briar next semester.
89. As previously mentioned, Dean and Allie's relationship isn't part of The Deal, but neither is the reveal that "Carter St. James" is actually Hunter Davenport.
90. The book includes a few ending scenes that the show doesn't cover. In the first one, which takes place in March, Justin is hanging out at the boys' house because he's friends with Hannah. Then, in the epilogue, Briar wins the Frozen Four championship game. The edition of the book I have (the TV tie-in edition) also includes a bonus scene where Garrett muses that Logan will get over his crush on Hannah.
What were the biggest book-to-adaptation changes?
The biggest change is that, in the book, Hannah breaks up with Garrett because his abusive father threatens to cut him off financially if she doesn't. On the show, Garrett breaks up with Hannah because he's afraid of turning into his father and hurting her one day.
The second biggest change is that Garrett beats up Aaron, who raped Hannah, instead of Rob, Aaron's best friend, at the St. Andrew's game. He also faces harsher consequences on the show, being suspended from four games instead of one.
Another major change is the "hands-off law" that Garrett issues in the book. On the show, he says he'd never do something like that, and Hannah and Allie acknowledge how problematic it would be.
In the book, Allie is a music major and singer competing in the Winter Showcase to win a scholarship. On the show, she's a classical composition major and clarinet player who takes a risk by entering the Pop Showcase to win a scholarship.
The show cut several minor book characters, such as Cass, MJ, Stella, Meg, and Rob. However, it expanded storylines for important characters like Allie, Justin, Dean, Logan, and Tucker.
And finally, the ending of the show, where it's revealed that Allie's hookup "Carter" is actually Dean's nemesis, Hunter Davenport, differs greatly from The Deal.
Where the changes in the show good?
In my opinion, most of the changes made sense, especially retconning the "hands-off law." Expanding the other characters' storylines made it more enjoyable, and it has me invested enough for another season (or four, hopefully). I also think that Garrett is a much better boyfriend in the show.
However, I didn't like that the show flipped the breakup. It made the last episode feel like things were just happening to Hannah rather than her actively being involved in most of the story. In the book, she breaks up with Garrett so that he won't have to sacrifice the other love of his life, hockey. It's a decision made out of love rather than fear, which is what Hannah's chacter arc is all about.
What are fans saying about the changes?
Here's what fans are saying on Reddit:
Note: Some responses have been edited for length/clarity.
"Seven episodes deep, and the show is definitely doing its own thing. It's good TV, but it's strayed so far from the book's biggest moments that calling it an 'adaptation' feels like a stretch. Am I the only one seeing these deviations?"
"As someone who read the original ab cover books (back when they were falling asleep to DVDs of Breaking Bad, lol), I have to say my brain picked apart every single deviation from the books. However, for me personally, who has aged out of college romances, I was just so excited to be back in the Briar universe. This was just so fun to watch, seeing those characters come to life on screen. It was never going to be shown the way I read it, but that feels okay. The books were my happy place for so long, and this felt like a nice dip back in to see old friends."
"I've definitely had to compartmentalize and separate the show from the book in my mind already. The fact [that] they changed everything surrounding her showcase performance, not starting with her partner and getting fucked over, and made it seem like she's not even a singer, when in the book that's one of the biggest plot devices, really frustrated me."
"Some changes I don't approve of, such as I hate show Logan vs. book Logan. Show Logan seems way more brooding, pessimistic, and like a bad friend. For example, when Garret doesn't want to admit why he beat up Delaney (to protect Hannah's secret), Logan doesn’t give him any benefit of the doubt at all. And then also, when Tucker, Dean, and Jules don't want Hunter Davenport to join the team (hinting that something happened with Dean's sister, Summer), Logan completely disregards it and wants to steamroll ahead with Davenport anyway."
And finally: "I liked the first few episodes. At the end, I felt it was just okay. There were some big deviations from the books that were frustrating, particularly Ally and Dean's storyline. I don't love how they ended that one; it feels very rushed."
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger as a result of domestic violence, call 911. For anonymous, confidential help, you can call the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or chat with an advocate via the website.
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