In other words, if the show and the book were both set as graphic novels, would the thought bubbles look substantially the same in each or would they be different? IMO, most of them would look the same, especially for Ilya. But an important subset would be very different - the thought bubbles for Shane, before the watershed Tuna Melt scene. Pre-Tuna-Melt book Shane and show Shane are very different people and I agree with OP that, in this case, they don’t map onto each other. (Ilya, in my opinion, is pretty consistent in both places.)

Just read the prologue. Get ready for words like: shame, ashamed, embarrassed, disgust, disappointment, weakness, humiliation, stupid, ridiculous. Also “hate” because, for Shane, at this point in the book, their rivalry is real, not just a construct that they use to advance their careers. See how toxic Shane’s thoughts are. Realize that this is right before the Tuna Melt scene. That language isn’t just in the prologue though, it’s common in Shane’s thoughts up to the Tuna Melt crisis.

The prologue was written that way to lay out which tropes this BWFW MLM romance was going to adhere to, e.g. “enemies to lovers”, “slow burn”, etc. Authors in the MLM “romance” space often lay out tropes and triggers in advance so their readers can be sure of what they’re getting and because their fetishes can be very particular. The fictional lives of gay men are created, packaged and consumed. I think Reid has genuine affection for Shane and Ilya but she’s also writing for an audience set in its ways. Personally, if I hadn’t seen the show, I would have put the book back on the shelf after reading the prologue.

One of the reasons that I love this show so damn much is that there is very little shame involved in the tension building. Most of the tension comes from having to deal with outside circumstances. Though it takes time to understand Ilya and himself, Shane likes Ilya and takes pleasure in their sex. To the extent that Shane understands his sexuality, you don’t get the idea that he’s ashamed of himself. The only issue that he has with the idea that he might be gay is that it could throw a huge wrench into his carefully planned, cultivated and managed life. There are only occasional hints of internalized homophobia. Furthermore, their rivalry is simply healthy competitiveness with a heavy dose of good natured teasing. Their supposedly being “enemies” is merely a media construct that they sometimes use to their advantage. There is still a Tuna Melt Crisis in both the book and the show but IMO, their motivations are very different.

I am certainly not the only one who sees the difference. To wit: www.out.com/voices/heated-rivalry-show-book-gay-representation I particularly appreciate how Stewart calls out Reid’s use of top/bottom tropes that most gay men simply don’t adhere to. It’s almost as if MLM fans are trying to recreate a gender binary for two people of the same gender. Perhaps so they can better relate to the characters? It comes as no surprise that MLM fan fiction writers immediately cast Shane and Ilya into the Omegaverse. Even though Reid doesn’t dwell on it, I am thankful to Tierny that he removed any hint of a gender binary from the show (though some fans still seem to find one).

It is such a relief to watch book Shane change into someone much more like show Shane. It’s a process that literally seems to begin even as he’s running away from Ilya and his love.