Did The Author Actually Change The Ending of My Oxford Year? My Review + Guide
“I came to Oxford looking for a Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience. I chose to experience a lifetime.” – My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
Another win for the Booktok community, but at what cost? Julia Whelan’s My Oxford Year is here with August’s salt air season to break your heart.
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What is My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan About ?
My Oxford Year was based on the book of the same name, the story follows Ella Durran (book) / Anna De La Vega (film) as she ful filled a life long dream of studying in Oxford University as a visiting student. She gets her plans messed up when she meets Jamie Davenport a charming and infuriating tutor in literature and what started as banter turns to be a deep and unexpected romance.
Yet Jamie has a fatal illness that she is keeping secret and it puts her in a position to choose between the future she had planned and the love she has discovered. It is set in the pubs, poetry and cobblestone streets of Oxford in a bittersweet tale of ambition, love, and the way one memorable year can transform it all.
My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan Book Blurb and Tropes :
My Review on My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
I didn’t read the original book. But when I saw the trailer and later found out it was adapted from a book, I was counting down the days until I got to watch this. The setting, the aesthetic, the characters, the whole London, study abroad, poetry, literature, making new friends, time moving too fast, grief everything was a perfect balance of everything. Especially, watching this on August 1st, it felt like the whole song, with a sprinkle of London boy and So American.
“A poem is alive, it has a voice. It is a person. Who are they? Why are they?”
– Whispers of are you sure? Never have I ever before. Anna went from hating the guy whose car splashed water all over her when she just kickstarted her first day at a new place to slowly falling in love along with the surrounding of the new place. The references of books, poems, how to enjoy literature in more depth than she has ever felt before. It was beautiful.
“The hardest thing is love, with no expiration date, no qualifiers, no safety net. Love that demands acceptance of all things I cannot change. Love that doesn’t follow a plan.”
– What started as a small fling which has an expiry date to slowly accept what was happening. Anna’s time in Oxford was supposed to be short, until Jamie. Life could have been different. It could have been Anna’s time in study abroad went great, she found her soulmate in Jamie and decided to make home for her here. But life is unpredictable and had other plans. As heartbreaking as the movie was, it was beautifully balanced.
“And if you’re not surprised by life, then what’s the bloody point?”
– Anna slowly became a different person in this journey. When she thought she would just have good study abroad experience and live her childhood dream life, she was taken by surprise. Especially falling in love with Jamie, in the most unexpected and short time.
My Oxford Year Book vs. Movie
I have not read the book but after watching the movie I read some reviews on Goodreads and some quotes I found on the app. I think the movie did a really good job portraying the book. According to the reviews it was even better even though there were some big changes. Like the Meet cute of Anna and Jamie. In the movie we see Jamie’s car splashes her when she was going to a Fish and Chips shop and in the books he spills food all over her.
Another big change was the name, I don’t know exactly why they changed it but in the book her name is Ella Duran and in the movies her name is Anna De La Vega. In the movies there were more side characters while in the book there were only a few. Also in the movie, Anna finds out about Jamie’s illness a little later and then decides to spend the rest of the time together. While in the books it was revealed earlier and they still spend time together knowing their time will end soon.
Did The Author Actually Change The Ending of My Oxford Year?
And lastly, the ending. I watched the movie pretty early, like a few hours after it was available and there was not much content and reviews of the movie. And not knowing exactly what happens in the book but seeing people posting about the ending it was really confusing.
But eventually, I gathered that there was no massive change in the ending but in the book Anna’s decision on what to do with her career and dreams was left for interpretation and on the other hand in the movie it was beautifully wrapped and Anna was portrayed way stronger and hopeful than the book. Which makes the movie more August coded as it leaves with Anna being more hopeful and continuing living with the hope of it all.
