It is September, which means it is officially time to start celebrating Halloween. But we don't want to overdo it with the horror just yet. So I figured I'd pick a nice little thriller to ease into it:
You begins when a gorgeous young woman walks into the East Village Bookstore where Joe Goldberg works. Immediately infatuated with her, he googles the name on her credit card and uses the information on her social media profiles to ease himself into her life and make her fall in love with him.
When I first read the description my initial thought was: "Well this sounds a lot like another series I know and love." Then I looked up more information, and came across the news that a lifetime series starring none other than Penn Badgley – aka Lonely Boy himself – is in the works. Figuring that it would be rather unlikely that one of the stars of the show would sign up for a Gossip Girl rip-off so shortly after its finale, I decided to give You a chance despite the similarities...and let me just say, I was in for a shock (the best kind).
While the premise is a little reminiscent of Gossip Girl, the writing is definitely not. Told from Joe's point of view, You takes readers on a dark journey into the mind of a completely deranged individual, which is a scary but also very fascinating place to be. In the tradition of great unreliable narrators like Lolita's Humbert, Joe also has a way of making the readers sympathize with him. Because as insane at he is, he is also extremely intelligent, witty and incredibly charming.
On top of that You is also a great commentary on social media, and will probably make you rethink the way you use Facebook and Twitter. You never know who might be reading your posts…
For fans of:
Peace, Love and Lobsters
Laura
