The Last Thing He Told Me: where to start reading

After Season 1, in the books you are

at The Last Thing He Told Me.

through the end of the novel.

Season 1 (2023, 7 episodes) adapts the whole of Laura Dave's novel; Dave co-created the show, and the ending is unchanged from the book. The changes are mostly structural rather than plot-level.

📖 Start reading at The First Time I Saw Him (the sequel novel -- also the loosely-adapted basis for season 2)

🔒Spoiler-safe, only what the show already showed you.

Get the book

Season 1 leaves off at the end of book one. Start here:

The First Time I Saw Him

Laura Dave · Book 2 of 2

Bookshop.org →Amazon →

or borrow it: your library

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What the show changed here

• InventedThe season adds partial scenes from stepdaughter Bailey's point of view; the novel is narrated entirely by Hannah in the first person.
• ChangedThe opening is restructured into a flash-forward of Hannah searching for Bailey in a hotel, rather than starting on Hannah and Owen's second date as the novel does.
• ChangedHannah's friend Jules becomes a metro newspaper reporter in a relationship with a female Max on screen; in the novel Jules is a photo editor and the Max dynamic differs.
• InventedSeveral scenes not in the novel are invented for the show, including a break-in scare at Hannah's houseboat and added surveillance scenes for U.S. Marshal Grady Bradford.

Where this comes from: en.wikipedia.org · etonline.com. Spotted a mistake? The report link at the foot of this page comes straight to us.

How far did you watch?

Tap the season you reached.

1. S1The Last Thing He Told Meclose
2. S2The First Time I Saw Himdiverges

the showthe books

Season 1 (2023) closely adapts Laura Dave's 2021 novel in full -- Dave co-created the show and the ending matches the book -- with mostly structural changes (a flash-forward opening, partial scenes from stepdaughter Bailey's point of view, an expanded role for Hannah's friend Jules). Season 2 (2026) is officially credited by Apple TV+ and Dave's own publisher as based on her real sequel novel, The First Time I Saw Him (Scribner/Simon & Schuster, published January 6, 2026, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick) -- this is NOT a book-free original continuation in the mold of Dexter's later seasons. But the show and novel were written in parallel: the writers had only the first 100 pages of Dave's manuscript when scripting began, and both the executive producer and critics describe the result as loosely connected rather than a scene-for-scene adaptation -- 'very, very synced' in theme per EP Lauren Neustadter, but diverging substantially in plot specifics, with one outlet describing the season as having officially moved on from the book it's based on. As of this build (August 2026) the Hannah Hall series stands at two novels with no third announced, and season 2 has fully aired (Feb 20 - Apr 10, 2026).