I actually read the book afterwards so maybe that painted my experience differently than if I had already read it (although generally I don't care much if an adaptation changes things from the source material, I get that you actually have to adapt it to a different medium, and there's always the benefit of hindsight too, especially if the original author is involved like with both SE and TLOU). But Jeevan and Kirsten reuniting after all those years really got me. Spoilers for the book, which I definitely still recommend, but >!they don't get that moment at the end of the story, they separate the way the do in the show and the book catches up with Jeevan later on but it's almost completely removed from what's happening with Kirsten.!< I suppose you can argue there's more convenient serendipity in the way the show handles it but the point of that story is human connection and I really think they landed the plane perfectly (no pun intended).

BTW I also recommend the most recent novel by that author, Sea of Tranquility. Something happens halfway through that book that literally made me restart it to get the new context, I never do that while reading a novel.