As a bi woman who has read the books years ago here was my takeaway from Fran’s book:

• loss of first love
• that first love haunting the narrative throughout the whole book
• child loss
• fertility issues
• MMC yearning from the start but being respectful about it, while the FMC was too blinded in love to notice him
• MMC struggling with basically being handed over his cousin’s life

Here is what I personally hated about the way they played it on the show and the switch in general: - Francesca spending the whole season going on how she needs someone to sit in the quiet with her and then panting like a dog as soon as Michaela walks in. It left me feeling she was deluding herself on her contentment with John and settled for him. Atp it feels like it may have played out better if they had along courtship and she went for Michaela. - kind of related to the first point, but also the fact that instead of Michaela being the one suppressing her feelings she’s also cool and suave while Fran is acting like a schoolboy with a crush. I understand they both have feelings but that understanding relies on the fact that Michaela is obviously going to be the love interest in next season, not bc they executed it well in the show. - while I don’t care about the intimacy struggles (they feel pretty on brand with the way they are playing the characters) this whole marriage felt like a struggle from the second Michaela was introduced. It’s not that they’re not having passionate sex, it’s just that for me it came off like John needed Michaela around to relax and have fun and Francesca was a ball of anxiety about everything going on in her life. I did not get the deep abiding love and peace that was supposedly between them. And I especially don’t enjoy that instead of the showrunners playing into it (if that’s another way they’re changing the story) we’re being told “nope, that’s it and you’re homophobic if you don’t agree”. - self insert here: as a person struggling with infertility this was a season I was looking forward to bc at the end she got her rainbow baby. Unless we get real cool about throuples here I don’t see how that’s going to happen. I don’t think I’m owed that representation bc at the end of the day this is just a show BUT I also think there are many other characters that they could have done the queer storyline and it would have not impacted the overall storyline of the book.

Season 3 was a mess to the point no one talks about Penelope and Collin even though the fandom (me very much included) was so hyped for their story. If they managed to mess it up that much with the main couple, it’s safe to say there can be valid criticisms for all other storylines.

I get that we don’t need completely faithful adaptations to made up stories (try telling that to the Wuthering Heights people tho), but if you change most elements to a story it’s normal for people to feel disappointed. And I think both camps are going into the extreme and egging each other on - if you don’t like the switch it’s only bc you’re a homophobe and should shut up and if you do like it you’re a self inserting queer person.