I enjoyed the novel. I originally read it because I liked the movie adaptation with Cruise and Blunt. They’re similar enough that if you like one of them, then you’ll enjoy the other. But they’re also different enough that you’re not retreading the same story.
As to why the gender swap, my guess is that you can thank either a woke idiot or some girlboss feminist. Rita is a totally fine character in the story, so there’s absolutely no need to make the protagonist female in order to have a good female character.
Did they say why they gender swapped? I’ll check out the novel
I enjoyed the novel. I originally read it because I liked the movie adaptation with Cruise and Blunt. They’re similar enough that if you like one of them, then you’ll enjoy the other. But they’re also different enough that you’re not retreading the same story.
As to why the gender swap, my guess is that you can thank either a woke idiot or some girlboss feminist. Rita is a totally fine character in the story, so there’s absolutely no need to make the protagonist female in order to have a good female character.