"There will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of modern life, and your bright spirit will fade before a growing emptiness.” from Stardew

I watched the show and then started reading the first book. From what I can tell so far a lot of the weird writing decisions that confused or annoyed me in the show are not present in the book, though there are other aspects of the show I liked a little bit more than the book like how some of the characters are portrayed.

Overall I’d say both versions are good with the book being slightly better. I would recommend the show whether you intend to read the book or not.