Transferring a story from page to screen is no easy feat, but there's no denying that some of the best TV shows and films are actually adaptations of books. That doesn't mean the shows stick strictly to what was written in the books, though.
Take Netflix's recently released series Pieces of Her, a bingeworthy thriller that follows a young woman's (Bella Heathcote) quest for answers about her mother's (Toni Collette) dark past. Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Based on Karin Slaughter's novel of the same name, the show manages to keep the integrity of the story intact while also introducing new characters, plotlines and most notably, a twist ending that may or may not set the stage for a second season—which Bella exclusively told E! News she'd "love" to do."
"Dear God, please," she said, revealing that Karin's "written a sequel already."
Toni also hopes to keep the momentum going. "I mean, the opportunities [are] definitely built into the end of the show," the actress explained. "It feels very much like it could go on, but we'll see!"
In the meantime, we'll be rewatching and rereading Pieces of Her.
Scroll through the below gallery to find out how many other TV shows completely ditched their book's ending. Major spoilers ahead!
There are several noticeable differences between Netflix's Pieces of Her adaptation and Karin Slaughter's novel of the same name, but the overarching plot of the show stays true to the book's for the most part. One big exception? The ending. Slaughter's novel gives mother-daughter duo Laura (Toni Collette) and Andrea (Bella Heathcote) the ability to move on with their lives, while the series presents them—Laura in particular—an entirely new reason to keep looking over their shoulders.
Both versions of Defending Jacob end with a shocking accident, but the outcomes are different. The Apple+ series—starring Chris Evans, Jaeden Martell and Michelle Dockery—sees both Laurie and her accused murderer son Jacob survive, while he dies in the book penned by William Landay.
The question "Is Jonathan a murderer?" is the crux of HBO's entire series The Undoing, whereas in the book its based on, You Should Have Known, the answer is clear from the start: yes.
Not only is Carmel not Masha's shooter in the Liane Moriarty book—a huge twist that's dropped on the show's viewers toward the end of the season—but Masha's also never threatened by the calls and texts that exist in the Nine Perfect Strangers series. What is in the novel though? Frances and Tony getting married and Jessica and Ben breaking up.
When a TV adaptation gets the multi-season treatment, it makes sense for new plots, characters and backstories to pop up. However, season one of Netflix's 13 Reasons Why stayed somewhat true to the novel of the same name by Jay Asher—that is, until the end. After listening to the tapes left behind by Hannah Baker, who died by suicide, book-Clay mailed them to the next person meant to listen and that's it, we never heard what happened next. On the show, Clay bypassed Bryce—a rapist in both versions—and handed the tapes over to the school counselor. Several new stories played out from there, and the season finale ended with Clay peacefully driving around with Tony and his childhood friend Skye, who, in the book, he doesn't reconnect with until the very end, once he realizes she's showing signs of being suicidal.
George R.R. Martin has yet to release the final two books of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, but he's publicly stated that they'll feature a different ending than the Game of Thrones TV series that had its finale in 2019.
Eleanor has a tragic ending on Mike Flanagan's adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House, but in Shirley Jackson's book—which is significantly different and much darker than the Netflix series—all of the main characters have bleak endings.
There are too many differences between the OG Gossip Girl and the book series to count, but perhaps the most egregious is that Gossip Girl's true identity is never fully revealed in Cecily von Ziegesar's novels, while Dan Humphrey of all people is behind the blog on the show.
The Richardson home burns to the ground in both the novel by Celeste NG and Hulu's adaptation, but while Izzy lights the little fires in everyone's rooms in the book, it's her three siblings that do it on the show. Additionally, the source material doesn't include the series' plot line of Mia taking Pearl to meet her maternal grandparents.
Both HBO and Stephen King's versions of The Outsider end with the entity known as El Cuco being destroyed—at least, that's what you think happened on the show until a mid-credits scene implies that El Cuco may be inhabiting Holly's body.