Books vs. Movies
In this podcast we set out to answer the age old question: is the book really always better than the movie?
Books vs. Movies
Ep. 30 Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman vs. Noughts + Crosses (2020)
What if you could step into a world where the balance of power is reversed? Discover the fascinating contrasts between Mallory Blackman's novel "Noughts and Crosses" and its TV miniseries adaptation, as we dissect the intricate changes and the impact they have on the story. Join me, Lluvia, in exploring the alternate universe where Black people (Crosses) hold power, and white people (Noughts) face discrimination, through the lens of Sephy and Callum's forbidden love story. Hear how the TV adaptation's introduction of new characters and plot twists adds fresh dimensions to the narrative, and learn about Malorie Blackman's involvement in these creative decisions.
Dive into the details of Sephy and Callum's relationship as we contrast the book's slow-burn romance with the TV series' accelerated pace, driven by their older age in the show. We'll also shed light on the introduction of Yaro, Kamal's son, and how the different family dynamics play out in each version. Discover how Callum's father's involvement with the Liberation Militia unfolds differently, influencing the core motivations and progression of the plot.
In our final discussion, we delve into the expanded role of Kamal in the TV series and its implications for Sephy's character development. From Callum's intense experiences at Mercy Point military academy to the dramatic festival incident that reshapes his life, we'll compare the key moments of family betrayal and acts of terrorism by the Liberation Militia. Stay tuned for insights into upcoming changes to our podcast release schedule and heartfelt gratitude for your ongoing support. Don't miss this engaging and thought-provoking episode that bridges the gap between literature and television!
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Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set out to answer the age-old question is the book really always better than the movie? I'm Yuvia, an actress and book lover based out of New York City, and this week we will be talking about Knots and Crosses by Mallory Blackmon and its TV series adaptation Knots and Crosses. I have my first re-record today. I recorded this episode last week and I was getting ready to edit it this week, and then the sound was just so. It was just not good. So I have to do this again, but it's fine. So let's go ahead and get into it, because last time I recorded this it was a really long episode. So let's see if I get some of it down, because I feel like I can. But anyway, as I said, today we will be talking about Knots and Crosses by Mallory Blackman.
Speaker 1:Now, this is a series that was first published in 2001, and it was really popular in the UK, but it never picked up here in the US. It never took off over here. I've seen a lot of kids from the UK say that Harry Potter, as well as this series series, is what got them to love reading, which is always great. But yeah, I had never heard about this series until it was Dua Lipa's book of the month pick for her book club for July. So that's why I ended up hearing about it and reading it. And yeah, let's get started, because the reason this episode was so long when I initially recorded it is because this is about as different and an adaptation you can get. It is so, so, so different.
Speaker 1:So Knots and Crosses by Mallory Blackman, as I said, was first published in 2001 and it follows the story of Sefi, who is a cross, and Callum, who is a knot. Now this takes place in an alternate world in which Black people, or crosses, are the ruling class and knots, aka white people, are the minors. So everything is reversed. The crosses, way back in history, colonized what is in our world England, and colonized Albion, which is the equivalent of England, and so same thing. The Knott's were the ones that were enslaved at one point and now they're no longer enslaved, but they still face a lot of discrimination. Basically, what Black people experience in our world is what the Knott's experience in this alternate world. Sephi is a cross, callum is a knot, and it is very much inspired by Romeo and Juliet. They end up following for each other and it follows their forbidden romance. The TV miniseries came out back in 2020 and it follows Sephi a cross Callum aott as they navigate their forbidden romance.
Speaker 1:So it does sound pretty faithful, but it is such a different adaptation. They are so different from each other and it's one of those things where Mallory Blackman has said that she's very fortunate, because a lot of times when you sell the rights of your book, you have no say in what happens in terms of the adaptation. You kind of just have to hope that they bring your book to life the way you intended it to. Mallory Blackman did not have that experience in terms of she was consulted every step of the way. She got to offer input into the series and how it should be brought to life, and she's very aware that the adaptation had to be different to accommodate the medium in which it was being presented. So, because we are going from a book to a miniseries, there had to be a lot of changes and she was okay with that and she was aware of them and she gives her seal of approval. So all these changes, all these differences Mallory Blackman was okay with. So let's get started, because there is a lot we need to cover.
Speaker 1:So first things first. Sefi and Callum never stopped being friends in the book. So Maggie, who is Callum's mom, works at the Hadley household, which is Sefi's household, and so she and Callum grew up together. Whenever Maggie would go to work, she would take Callum with her and Sefi and Callum would play with each other and they never stopped being friends. The series first episode has Callum and Sefi reconnecting after many years of not seeing each other. So they grew apart, like his mom stopped taking him to work with her. They grew apart, they stopped seeing each other, they stopped. There was no reason for them to communicate to each other. So they stopped seeing each other and they stopped being friends. But it was just one of those they grew apart kind of situations. It wasn't anything odd about it. So that's what happened and yeah, so they're reuniting, they're reconnecting in the first episode, when in the book they never stopping in contact with each other, they never stopping in each other's lives, they never stopping friends In this series as well, which adds a bit of complication to Sefi and Callum's relationship, which I don't know how I feel about, because it is just such a trope to have like love triangle trope.
Speaker 1:But it's a trope. You know, I'm just kind of tired of that trope. But Sefi does have a boyfriend named Lacan in the series. Lacan does not exist in the book, at least not in the first book. So this series is now nine books long. It's funny. Mallory Blackman mentioned that she meant this to be a trilogy and then something would happen in the world and she felt compelled to write another book, to the point where now there's nine books in the series. So I don't know if Lacan exists somewhere in the series, but at least in the first book he does not exist. So yeah, so Sefi does not have a boyfriend in the book, she just has this boyfriend in the series. And again we have a kind of unrequited love triangle. So that's a little bit different, because usually the main character has to choose between the two people that like them, in this case Sephi very much. Once she reconnects with Callum she does not want to be with Lacan.
Speaker 1:The characters are also in the miniseries, are also a lot older than they are in the books. In the books they start like the prologue. They're about 11 and 12, and then we, after the prologue, we jump forward two years. So they're 13 going on 14 and 14, going on 15. And then we jump forward two more years by the end of the book. So by the end of the book they're about 16 and 18. But in the TV series, definitely like 17, 18 from the get-go in the TV series. So they're already much older than they are in the books.
Speaker 1:Since in this world the Knott's are segregated. Callum in the book is one of five Knott's who has been chosen to integrate into Heathcrop High School, which is the high school that Sefi goes to. So he is one of five students chosen based on his grade point average and all of that to be one of the first Knotts students at Heathcroft High School. So it's a very big deal that he's going to this school. In the miniseries, though, his aspiration is to get into Mercy Point, which is this military academy, and so he's one of the first knots to integrate Mercy Point. But in the books he's getting into Heathcroft, which is just a regular high school. In the TV series he gets into Mercy Point, the military academy, and this is to add some more drama to the series which I will get into.
Speaker 1:In the TV series there is a character that does not exist again in the first book, but he's the one that's the catalyst for the race wars that start occurring and this character dies as, or people are led the public is led to believe that this kid has died as a result of police brutality. So there is a protest and this is all in the miniseries. In case I haven't clarified, all of this that I'm currently talking about happens in the miniseries. So this kid dies and he's one of Callum's close friends, and because he died, or people are led to believe he died as a result of police brutality, there is a protest outside of the hospital. It is a peaceful protest, but the cops show up to break up this protest and Sefi shows up.
Speaker 1:She is the only cross to show up and show solidarity with the knots that are there protesting, and so when the cops show up, she and Callum run away and they end up in an alley. Where they are, they start to get attacked by other knots that are like oh, what are you doing with this cross? She doesn't actually care about you. And they start like getting attacked by this group of knots and as they're getting attacked, sephi says let go of me, you blanker and in this world blanker is the equivalent to the n-word. So Callum hears Sephi say that and of course it's like this huge shock and just kind of like I can't believe you would say that and knowing you know like you would use such a discriminatory word. So that kind of ruins things like the friendship a little bit, because obviously he's very, very hurt by that language In the book. What leads Sephi to use that word is there's a like a group of crosses and their parents protesting outside the school on the first day Protesting the fact that five knots are allowed into Heathcraw. So they're protesting the knots acceptance. And Sephi gets out of the car and she says you know, all of you stop it Like you're acting like a bunch of blankers. And Callum overhears and both instances Sepi sees Callum's face and she realizes that she screwed up really, really bad by using blanker and she does try to excuse it saying like well, I didn't mean you. And she does try to excuse it saying like well, I didn't mean you. But obviously Calum educates her on the word blinker and why she shouldn't be using that language In the tv series.
Speaker 1:The leader of the liberation militia, which is the and it's a terrorist group that that says that they're committing these acts of terrorism. You know for the good of all knots, because this is what's going to get them to be treated better by the crosses. And in the TV series the leader of the Liberation Militia is named Jack Dorn. In the books his name is Andrew Dorn. I'm not sure why they changed his name, but in the TV series it's Jack, in the books it's Andrew. And there is no indication in the books that Andrew is part of the Liberation Militia. He is a part of the Liberation Militia but he is working undercover for Sefi's dad. So he's infiltrated the Liberation Militia. He has quite a high ranking within the LM, so he's there to infiltrate and pass insider information on to Sefi's dad. So Sefi's mom, yasmin, is having an affair in both the book and the TV series, so she's having an affair.
Speaker 1:It plays out a little bit differently though, because in the prologue Maggie again Maggie is Callum's mom. She gets fired, and the reason she gets fired is because Kamal Hadley, sefi's dad, shows up and is like oh, what did you do last night? And Maggie says oh, you know, I just did X, y and Z. And he's like oh okay, were you hanging out with anyone in particular when you were doing that? And she sees Sefi's mom, jasmine, like give her a look. And Maggie doesn't catch on as to what that look means. So she's like no, it was just me. So then Kamal says thank you. He slaps Jasmine and he walks away. And when Maggie goes to check on Jasmine, jasmine fires her on the spot. And then, as she gets fired on the spot, she realizes that her mistake was not lying. I'm saying that she, she realizes at that point what Jasmine was trying to communicate. So that's how she loses her job in the books. And again this happens in the prologue. So it's like immediate the rest of the book. She's no longer working for the Hadleys In the TV series.
Speaker 1:She works for the Hadleys for most of the series. I want to say she worked for at least half the series until she gets fired in either the third or fourth episode. And the reason she gets fired is because you know she tells Kamal like you need to pay more attention to your wife, like you're neglecting her. And so he she means it more as like Jasmine's an alcoholic. So she's like she means it more, as like stop neglecting your wife and maybe like she can start curing her alcoholism kind of situation. But Kamal just sees he's a politician, he just sees how powerful he can be. So he goes to Jasmine and he says you know, I know that you're cheating on me and I'm okay with that. I think it's good that you're getting your needs from someone else, since I know that I'm not the one providing them for you. And then he leaves. And then Jasmine fires Maggie Because she thinks that Maggie revealed the affair to Kamal. But Kamal knew already. So that's how Maggie loses her job In the TV series versus Kamal.
Speaker 1:So in the TV series, jude, who is Callum's older brother. He's pretty much radicalized from the beginning because of the way that the knots are treated. So there isn't really anything that makes him join or want to join the Liberation Militia or anything like that. He just wants to join them because he believes in what they're doing and he's tired of being treated like garbage. So he wants to do something about it and he sees the liberation militia as a way to fix that. So in the tv series that he's just like a rebel child who is tired of the way he's treated by the crosses. So but there isn't anything like outside of that in the book what actually causes him to start radicalizing and changing and leaning more towards the liberation militia is that after Maggie is fired, they can no longer afford to send him to school, so he actually has to drop out of school and he had dreams of like continuing his education and maybe going to university. So he has to drop that, he has to give up on that dream, since he can no longer go to school, since there's no money for school, and so that also causes a lot of tension between him and Callum, because Callum because of his grades and his grades really, and how smart he is that allows him to get into Heathcraft, and Jude does not have that option anymore because he's too old. So that's kind of the main reason that he starts getting really, really radicalized in the book.
Speaker 1:So the romance between Callum and Sefi does happen a lot sooner in the TV series than it does in the book, which makes a little bit of sense, I think, or makes a lot of sense, since they are older. They in the TV, in the books, I mean, they do crush on each other, but they are at least. Sefi is very, very young and I'm not saying that she can't want to have a boyfriend at that age, obviously at 13,. I knew girls that had boyfriends at 13. But even then I remember there was this one girl that I went to high school with and she had boyfriends in middle school and she was like I don't even view them as real boyfriends because I was so young, like what even was dating in middle school. So that's kind of what I mean Like yeah, sefi is definitely old enough to have a boyfriend, but she's also so young that it's like would she, considering it all, really consider that a boyfriend, if that makes sense, if she were to look back on it at that point? So it does make sense. They are a lot older, they know more about their feelings and what they want, and yeah. So and I mean in yeah, so it does make a lot more sense for the and we're. I mean we need to establish this relationship a lot sooner in the book than in the TV series, than we do in the book, since we need to root for this couple from the moment they get together until the end of the series. So it does make sense for that to happen. And, yeah, in the book it's definitely more of a slow burn, they don't. They like each other a lot but they don't really get together until after last two year time jump, which happens towards the end of the book.
Speaker 1:So in the TV series we meet Yarrow, who is Kamal's son. Yarrow is half, not half, us and obviously Kamal does not. Well, in the TV series Kamal does not claim him. I was going to say obviously Kamal does not claim him, but that's only accurate in the TV series. He did want to claim him in the book and I will go into a little bit more detail later. But that was one of the things that did annoy me about the book was that Yarrow was introduced and we actually don't know his name or anything. A mysterious brother to Sephi is introduced and like she tries to figure out who he is and then that plot line is kind of just dropped. And I was looking into this and it seems like there is a mention of Yarrow in one of the later books, but even then it's just like a newspaper clipping. That's included in the book but not really like he. It's just mentioned, but beyond that he doesn't play a major role in the books, which I I just found that really frustrating that we get introduced to such a huge, pivotal thing for seffy and her family and she looks into it and doesn't find anything and then it just gets dropped. That's just really. I just found that really frustrating because it's like if you're introduced like this son, please do something with him. But anyway, that was fixed in the TV series.
Speaker 1:Yarrow does play a prominent role in the series. He comes back, kamal tries to keep him quiet, comes back, kamal tries to keep him quiet like he tries to buy his silence. And then Yarrow goes to the press and says I am Kamal Hadley's son. And then Kamal bribes or uses his financial influence to get a hit piece written on his son in which no one ends up believing Yarrow. And so Yarrow ends up leaving London, albion and going back to Africa and they did say Africa, not Africa. So I just want to make that clear. So I am glad that Yarrow it does have such a prominent role in the TV series, because that was just so frustrating to me that we find out like there's a son and then nothing. Nothing happens with that information. So that was just really frustrating. But as I mentioned in the book, kamal does try to have a relationship with his son. He wants Yaro to come live with him and his family and Jasmine is the one that says there's no way that this kid you had with someone else is going to live under my roof and there's no way that I am going to raise him. So send your kid. She's like, yeah, she sends him away essentially, and so that's one of the things that causes tension in Jasmine and Kamal's relationship. In the book, in the TV series, jasmine has no idea that Yarrow exists until Maggie tells her. And or, yeah, sefi, minnie, who is Sefi's sister, and Jasmine all find out that Yarrow exists, and in this series only Jasmine does know who the son is and Sefi and Minnie end up finding out after they eavesdrop. But it's not a bombshell to the mom in the books the way it is in the series.
Speaker 1:In this series, callum's father used to be a part of the Liberation Militia mysteries. Callum's father used to be a part of the liberation militia and then he stopped, agreeing with their tactics of how they were going to stop being the oppressed class. So the only reason he ends up joining is because he loses his job and the liberation militia pays. So he does join the LM again out of desperation, so they have some income coming in. This is, of course, after Maggie loses her job. But he does tell Jack, you cannot involve my son, jude. Jude at this time has joined the liberation militia and is a part of it. But Callum's dad says you need, my son is not allowed to be a part of this and you're not allowed to use him for anything liberation militia related. And so obviously this pisses Jude off because he wants to be a part of the LM. But in the book Talon's dad, ryan and Jude, are both a part of the Liberation Militia and Ryan has absolutely no issue with Jude being a part of the LM, like it's a fun father and son activity in the book for them. So yeah, in the TV series he does try to make sure that Jude is not part of the Liberation Militia. Jasmine does try to kill herself in both the book and the miniseries but in the book Minnie and Sefi are the ones that find their mom after her suicide attempt and in the TV series it's Maggie.
Speaker 1:And one thing that I found really interesting, or a change that I found really interesting, is that in the TV series, like Kamal is very much a present, loving father. His family might not be his priority but he is there and he does love his children, especially Sefi. Sefi is very clearly his favorite and in the books he is nothing like that, like he is very much an absentee, abusive father. He doesn't abuse his daughters, but he does physically abuse their mother and but otherwise he is very much an absentee father like there reaches a point in which he doesn't even live with them. The only times he ends up coming home is when there's like anything political coming up in which he needs his family there to make him look like a loving, devoted, devoted dad and husband, but otherwise it's like he's not there. He's not there, he cares only about his career and he could give two craps about his family. So I liked that change actually, because I felt like, like you can still see that Kamal is a horrible person, but I felt like it added a depth to him other than just being like a bad dad and a bad husband and an even worse politician. So, yeah, I liked that change actually.
Speaker 1:So one of the reasons I think that they made Callum join Mercy Point as opposed to a regular high school is because obviously this adds tension, because not only is he one of the first not students integrated into this military academy, it's also a military academy, so he's seen as a traitor by a lot of the knots because he's one of the ones enforcing the rules and the laws that are oppressing them. And so at one point in the series he and the other students are, there's like this festival this is some sort of pagan festival that's going on ever since the, the death of that one kid and the liberation militia kind of using his death as a catalyst to really get their acts of terrorism going even more. This raises, this puts everyone on high alert, especially since this is a pagan festival celebrated by the knots. So it's like there's just a lot of like tension. They think that there might be some sort of terrorism act that occurs, or you know, it's one of those things where there's going to be a lot of knots present and they have to make sure that they don't get rowdy or anything. So at one point, callum and his group, the group he's with from Mercy Point, end up getting cornered by some knots that are there to be like you guys are a-holes for even being here. We're just trying to celebrate our holiday. There's no reason for you to be here, reason for you to be here. And then, of course, for the knots that are present there, they take that opportunity to call them traitors and harass them for being a part of the military that is enforcing this oppression.
Speaker 1:And at one point Callum is instructed to point his gun at Jude, his own brother, because there's a high threat according to the officers officers that they are going to get attacked. Now Lacan is Callum's military leader and they were only supposed to put blanks in their guns. But Lacan switched Callum's bullets blanks with actual bullets, and so Callum is pointing his gun at his brother and he's ordered to shoot and he does, but Callum purposefully misses. And that's when he realizes like, oh crap, like there was real bullets in my gun. Had I not, like, purposefully missed, I could have killed my brother right now. And so that is what leads them to quit Mercy Point. Everything that he has experienced just doesn't sit right with him. The fact that he almost killed his brother just really really affects him, so he drops out of Mercy Point after that, what leads Callum to dropping out of Heathcroft is obviously very, very different in the books, and I will get into that when we get to one of the other differences, and that is that in the book, one of the acts of terrorism that the Liberation Militia commits is that they plant a bomb in a mall and obviously it injures a ton of people, and in the TV series it's a hospital that they target and that's actually the hospital where Jasmine is after her suicide attack.
Speaker 1:In both instances Ryan, who's the father, takes the blame. Jude is the one that plants the bomb, but Ryan is the one that takes the blame. In the TV series he takes the blame again because he didn't want Jude to be involved in the liberation militia in the first place. Jude, of course, goes behind his father's back and is like, despite what my father says, let me prove to you that I should be a part of the liberation militia. So Jack Dorn's like okay, plant this bomb at this hospital. And so he does. And so Ryan, obviously not wanting his son to have been a part of the Liberation Militia in the first place, he takes the blame and says you know, I'm the one that planted In the book. He just he does still take the blame, but he does it more so because he doesn't want anything bad to happen to his son. So he tells Jude to run away and he takes the blame and he ends up in prison.
Speaker 1:And while he is in prison Callum also ends up in trouble, like Callum gets accused of knowing about the bomb, which he does, but he had nothing to do with the planning of it. So what ends up happening is that Sefi invites Callum to meet her at the mall and, as he's leaving, his family's like oh, you know where are you going. And he's like oh, I'm going to the mall. And Jude's like no, no, no, like you can't go to the mall. And he's like what do you mean? I can't go to the mall. Jude's like you just can't go to the mall. And he's like oh, my know, sefi's at that mall right now. So he like runs to the mall and he gets Sefi out with minutes to spare before the bomb goes off, and so he's captured on CCTV footage doing that. Government is like well, you know, we spot you on CCTV footage leading Sefi out of the mall, coincidentally before the bomb went off. So that means you know about it. And I mean your dad was involved. So like, just admit that you know about it. And I mean your dad was involved. So like, just admit that you knew about it. And he's like no, I didn't know about it. I was just there to see seffy and I wanted to show her something really cool, and that's what happened. But with all the controversy surrounding his dad, with all the controversy surrounding him and everything that took place surrounding this terrorist attack, callumum drops out of Heathcroft at that point Because it's like I'm not being treated well at this school and it's not going to improve now that everyone thinks that I was involved in this bomb. So there's no point in going back to school, and so that's how he ends up dropping out of Heathcroft.
Speaker 1:In the TV series, once Ryan McGregor has taken the blame for the bomb, sefi and Jasmine team up and decide to help him and or help the McGregor family pay for the absolute best lawyer. So they're the ones that pay for the lawyer to help get Ryan acquitted. In the book, callum thinks that Sefi paid for the lawyer, but it's actually Jasmine. Jasmine still has a soft spot for Maggie and feels incredibly guilty for firing her, so Jasmine is the one in secret to hire the best lawyer for Ryan.
Speaker 1:And in the book, ryan does get sentenced to death. He's actually about to like he has the noose over his neck, noose around his neck, and they're just about to pull the lever to the noose over his neck, noose around his neck and they're just about to pull the lever to drop the platform from underneath him. When the lawyer is like shows up and is, like you are not sentencing this man to death. We, I have worked out a plea deal where he just has to stay in prison and that's what is gonna happen. Instead, in the tv series, he's never sentenced to death the lawyer. It doesn't fully, it doesn't equate him, but he is able to get ryan to not be sentenced to death. Instead, he's sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Speaker 1:However, in the book, ryan like in the tv series, this is seen as such a celebration, as like, yes, only 30 years in prison. That's like so merciful and all might be able to get out sooner due to good behavior and all that stuff. But in the book, ryan does not want to be in prison. He sees that as worse than death, like he would much rather die because the way the prisoners are treated is horrible off. And so he's like especially since they already think that he's the one that planted bomb. It's like you just sentenced me for an even worse death and he does end up dying in prison. In the book it's attributed to him trying to escape from prison, but as he was escaping he ran into the electric fence. Of course, that's what the family is told, and so the family's not quite sure if that's the whole truth. In the TV series he dies as well. However, one of the other prisoners beats him to death and the guards just turned a blind eye to that, but the family is told that he committed suicide.
Speaker 1:In the TV series, after Ryan has died, kamal ends up finding like a bank statement that shows that a lot of his money was used on Ryan McGregor and he's like what the hell? And so he confronts his wife and he's like you better hope no one finds out about this, because this can really screw up my political ambitions, if people even think that I had anything to do with the fact that Ryan McGregor wasn't sentenced to death. But in the book he doesn't find out that Jasmine paid for the lawyer. One thing I did find really funny is just it's this forbidden romance, and Callum and Sepi seem to tell almost everyone about their romance in the TV series. In the books they don't tell anyone, like they don't tell anyone that they're crushing on each other or anything like that. And yeah, in the TV series it's just like Callum's entire family finds out or knows because Callum tells them, or they're just really bad at hiding their romance. And then Jasmine also ends up finding out. So like it just seems like way too many people know about Callum and Sephi in the TV series.
Speaker 1:So in the book, as I said, there's a two-year time jump. That kind of serves as the transition between the second third and the last third of the book. So what happens is that Sefi decides to go to Chivers, which is a boarding school, and she writes a note to Callum and she says run away with me. If you want to run away with me, meet me by this time. If you don't meet me by this time, I'm going to assume that you don't want to be with me and I'm going to head off to boarding school. And Callum reads a note too late so he doesn't show up. So Sefi leaves to Chivers and then we get a two-year time jump and she's back from Chivers. She does not go to Chivers.
Speaker 1:In the TV series she and Callum do talk about running away but nothing actually happens until the end. But she doesn't leave for Chivers and the reason Callum reads the note too late is because he is on his way to where the Liberation Militia told him to go. So he joins the Liberation Militia because the way he was treated at Heathcroft that kind of radicalizes him. What happens to his father just radicalizes him even more. So he joins the Liberation Militia and he's on his way to where he's supposed to go. But in the TV series he does join the Liberation Militia and that's kind of what leads him to stop talking to Sefi and break up what they have going on. But yeah, he just like ghosts her, he stops talking to her and joins the Liberation Militia and Sefi's kind of just heartbroken about that. So I guess this is like a big, big, big spoiler. So spoiler alert.
Speaker 1:But Sefi ends up pregnant and again, because the romance happens a lot sooner in the TV series, sefi and Callum start having sex with each other a lot sooner. So Sephi ends up pregnant at some point after they get together and she is pregnant by the time that Callum has joined the Liberation Militia and Ryan has died. But in the book she doesn't end up pregnant until after she is held hostage. So yes, what happens is that Callum joins the Liberation Militia and in the book, when they find out that Sephi's back, and both of these instances are kind of to test Callum's loyalty to the Liberation Militia. So when Sephi comes back, they're like we need to kidnap Sephi and they're going to hold her hostage and make some demands of Kamal before they release her. In order to release her, I guess you should say so in the book. When she gets back from Chivers, callum sends her a message and is like hey, I heard you just got back, meet up with me. And then she meets up with him and she gets kidnapped.
Speaker 1:In the TV series they're originally planning on kidnapping Jasmine, but then they remember that, or Jude remembers it might be easier to kidnap Sefi than it is to kidnap Jasmine, because it'll be easy to lure her out because of Callum and Callum's like uh, yeah, yeah, I'll lure her out, and he does and she gets kidnapped. So while she's being held hostage in the book she and Callum have sex for the first and only time and that leads her to get pregnant, which I'm glad they changed this in the tv series too, if I'm being honest, because they are legitimately dating and they have feelings for each other in the tv series and we see them like we see the start of their relationship and we're rooting for this relationship and there's no reason for them to not sleep together. In the tv series, in the book, it's kind of awkward because like she's being held hostage and Callum's like I'm so sorry, like he realizes that his heart is not in the liberation militia after he sees Sefi being held hostage and she's crying and he's like this isn't the life for me, I'm sorry, sefi. And then they have sex and so it's kind of just like you haven't seen each other in two years, especially as a teenager. A lot can happen in two years and I don't know that I necessarily believe that like they haven't seen each other in two years, the first time she sees him since she gets back leads to her getting kidnapped and then she's being held hostage. She doesn't know what's going to happen to her, and then Callum comes in and is like I'm so sorry, and then they sleep. I just don't. It doesn't make sense to me that she would sleep with him. Like I just I don't see that connection still being there after being out of contact with him and him being the reason she's kidnapped in the first place. Like it just doesn't make any sense to me. I don't. I'm glad they changed that. I'm glad she was pregnant before she ended up. A hostage Like that, just it just makes a lot more sense because they're like legitimately dating.
Speaker 1:In the TV series and in the book they have moments in which, like they steal kisses, they spend a night with each other in Sefi's room and then Callum has to leave very abruptly in the morning obviously. But beyond that they're not officially dating and I don't believe that they felt anything other than like a crush for each other. And then they're reunited under these traumatizing circumstances and that's when they realized they love each other. I don't know, but anyway, in the book Minerva is the one that figures out that Sefi's pregnant because she shares a wall with Sefi's bathroom wall. So she hears Sefi throwing up a lot and she's like are you pregnant? And Sephi's like I think so, but don't tell anyone until I figure out what I'm gonna do. And of course Minerva does not respect that wish and she tells her parents. And in the TV series Maggie figures out what's going on. And then, because again, sephi gets abruptly sick while she's over at Maggie's house.
Speaker 1:But yeah, in in the book Sefi escapes on her own. Callum helps her out a little bit once she's in the woods, because they're like in a bunker in the middle of nowhere. So then Sefi escapes after she goes out to the woods and Callum is the one that finds her and he says this is how you go in this direction. And then when you get to the road, turn this way and then follow that road until you hit the town. And then he says I see her, she's running that way. And then, like he leads everyone to run in the opposite direction than Sefi, so he does help her out a little bit, but Sefi ends up escaping her like holding cell. After Jude comes in, sefi starts crying after she and Callum have sex. So Jude comes in and he thinks that something non-consensual happened and so while he's yelling at Callum for being dumb and doing that to their prisoner, sefi escapes. But in the TV series Sefi ends up escaping with the help of Callum and Jude. Jude attacks Jack Dorn so that Callum and Sefi can escape and then they end very, very differently as well.
Speaker 1:But I will leave at least the ending a secret from both. But I will say the ending of the book, despite everything, really did hit me very hard and I thought it was such a good ending, I think. But yeah, it was funny because I was watching the trailer for the Burnouts and Crosses on YouTube and someone in the comments was saying like if you haven't read the books, don't even bother watching this, because the book is better. And it was interesting. Or it was funny because I was listening to an episode of the stacks with tracy thomas and the guest she had.
Speaker 1:On that episode she asked him you know, what adaptation do you actually like better than the book? And the guest said said the book is always better. And Tracy Thomas said I don't know about that. And she points to Black Klansman as an example. She's like Black Klansman book was okay and the movie was so much better because the source material was okay. So I feel like if the source material is okay, the adaptation can definitely be better because you can expand on the okayness and make something really great. But if you're working with really like a fantastic book, a near perfect book, then the adaptation is never going to live up to the greatness of that book.
Speaker 1:And I'm thinking I like that theory, tracy. It makes a lot of sense to me and, especially doing this podcast, I've come to realize I feel like most of my ruling has been for the adaptation versus the book. So clearly I don't think that the book is always 100% better, and I think Tracy's onto something. I think, definitely if you think the source material is kind of just okay, there's a very good chance you'll prefer the adaptation. But if you love the source material, it'll probably be difficult to top that. So yeah, that was just funny because I saw that comment and then, a few days after reading that comment, I listened to the podcast and it just led me thinking to this because I thought the book was just okay.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna rate the book three and a half stars and there was just like some issues I had with the book, some of which I've touched upon here. But something that I haven't touched upon is that I felt like the first two-thirds of the book were good and then the last third just rushed Like so much happened and it happened so fast. It was kind of hard to just wrap your brain around. But then that ending, just it's so heartbreaking and it just I don't know, it's such a sad ending, oh my God. And with the TV series, what I really liked about the series is how much it expanded on the backstory of how this alternate world came to be with the colonization of Albion and seeing how London would look with these like African touches and seeing like the like, the African touches to the clothing as well to the things they wear, and I really liked that expansion. And I also really like that they made the characters older and we got to really dig into the relationship and really try to root for them.
Speaker 1:I rate the book I mean the series three stars. So the winner is the book and the book. What beats the book out for me? Because the series is fantastic, it is absolutely fantastic. But what nudges the book over the edge for me is the ending. That ending it's so sad. But yeah, you probably thought that meant that I was me.
Speaker 1:Leading up to the conversation with Tracy Thomas and her guests probably led you to believe something else. I'm sorry, it didn't mean to mislead you, but it was just something that I was laughing about because I saw that comment and it was for the trailer for Knots and Crosses, and then I heard the podcast episode. So it just got me thinking that Tracy has a very good point. But at the end of the day I do recommend both Tune in next time.
Speaker 1:I will say I don't think my episodes are going to be every week. I'm all caught up. I'm in the process of reading some more stuff for future episodes, but it's not going to be ready in time by next week. I highly doubt it'll be ready by next week, so my episodes might be a little bit more sporadic from now on, but I really hope that you stay tuned in and let me know what you think. Please, please, please, leave a rating and a review and tell your friends all about this podcast. I love, absolutely love making this podcast and it feels really good whenever people engage with it. So please leave a rating, a review, and I hope that, despite waiting for the next episode, that you will look forward to it just as much as I know that I'm going to look forward to it. See you next time.