100 Books: Book 3- "I Know What You Did Last Summer"
I actually finished this book during midterms but was too lazy to type up a proper review as per usual until now. One reason for that besides laziness is the fact that today's book, I Know What You Did Last Summer, is hardly up to the same standard as Brave New World or Wintergirls because it's simply not that kind of book.
Some of you may have seen the film adaptation of the book (which I'll be referring to as IKWYDLS because, hey, I am lazy). Let me be the first to crush your dreams by saying that the film and the book are only alike in name and general vague premise. I was expecting a slasher movie in book form and was quite anticipating seeing certain characters get chopped to bits, but alas, it was not to be. The book misled me somewhat. The cover prominently displayed a scary guy in the shadows with a hook for a hand, practically screaming, "SOMEONE GETS SHISH-KEBABBED WITH THAT THING! I PROMISE."
Anyway, IKWYDLS follows the mishaps of four teenagers who used to be good friends, all of whom are haunted by a Mysterious Horrible Thing that happened a year prior. The narration doesn't actually tell us what the Mysterious Horrible Thing that happened was until about halfway through the book. I'll save you some time: last summer the four pals were cruising along the highway slightly stoned in the middle of the night and they hit a kid on a bike and then drove away because they panicked. One of the four called the police, attempting to rectify the whole hit-and-run thing, but another one prevented him from naming names. They all made a pact to never tell what happened, because that always works out well. In any event, a year later they all receive mysterious messages that all allude to the Mysterious Horrible Thing, one of which is a note which simply reads (yep you guessed it), "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER."
They all get nervous, naturally, but all make the assumption that it's just a coincidence and it's nothing to worry about. It's not, of course, but it's hilarious just how long these kids are in denial about the whole thing. However, I am terrible at predicting twist endings and didn't see anything coming and was pleasantly shocked and horrified when the assailant revealed themselves.
I wouldn't say that I recommend IKWYDLS, exactly; it's not innovative and it's rather easier to hate the characters at times than care about them. At some point in the book, every single character made me want to slap some sense into them. However, for a horror novel, there's a decent amount of characterization and explanation of motivations, and I was rooting for most of them most of the time. No one gets all that horribly maimed, though, not even the character that really deserves it.
But what pissed me off more than anything else? THE ENDING. It was a good ending, it tied up the loose ends, it even had an obligatory horribly cheesy and romantic line that even had me calling BS even though I was rooting for the couple in question. But it was abrupt as all hell and had me desperately ruffling the pages looking for the rest of the ending. It was like the author wrote that one cheesy line and decided nothing could ever make that better, said "Fuck it" and just ended it there.
It's not going to have you thinking deep thoughts, I can tell you that. Coming from the girl who derives deep meaning from Scott Pilgrim, maybe that says something. But it wasn't bad, really; I had fun reading it and following along with the mystery for a little while. But the fact that I picked up Brave New World and finished it while in the midst of IKWYDLS maybe says something too. idk. It's my third book and it's okay but it's not brilliant. Although I feel bad for the author, because the movie completely butchered her book and locked her out from the set and misled me into thinking I would be getting a text-only expanded-universe story about the Hash-Slinging Slasher.
Book List
1. Wintergirls
2. Brave New World
3. I Know What You Did Last Summer
4.
~June
Some of you may have seen the film adaptation of the book (which I'll be referring to as IKWYDLS because, hey, I am lazy). Let me be the first to crush your dreams by saying that the film and the book are only alike in name and general vague premise. I was expecting a slasher movie in book form and was quite anticipating seeing certain characters get chopped to bits, but alas, it was not to be. The book misled me somewhat. The cover prominently displayed a scary guy in the shadows with a hook for a hand, practically screaming, "SOMEONE GETS SHISH-KEBABBED WITH THAT THING! I PROMISE."
Anyway, IKWYDLS follows the mishaps of four teenagers who used to be good friends, all of whom are haunted by a Mysterious Horrible Thing that happened a year prior. The narration doesn't actually tell us what the Mysterious Horrible Thing that happened was until about halfway through the book. I'll save you some time: last summer the four pals were cruising along the highway slightly stoned in the middle of the night and they hit a kid on a bike and then drove away because they panicked. One of the four called the police, attempting to rectify the whole hit-and-run thing, but another one prevented him from naming names. They all made a pact to never tell what happened, because that always works out well. In any event, a year later they all receive mysterious messages that all allude to the Mysterious Horrible Thing, one of which is a note which simply reads (yep you guessed it), "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER."
They all get nervous, naturally, but all make the assumption that it's just a coincidence and it's nothing to worry about. It's not, of course, but it's hilarious just how long these kids are in denial about the whole thing. However, I am terrible at predicting twist endings and didn't see anything coming and was pleasantly shocked and horrified when the assailant revealed themselves.
I wouldn't say that I recommend IKWYDLS, exactly; it's not innovative and it's rather easier to hate the characters at times than care about them. At some point in the book, every single character made me want to slap some sense into them. However, for a horror novel, there's a decent amount of characterization and explanation of motivations, and I was rooting for most of them most of the time. No one gets all that horribly maimed, though, not even the character that really deserves it.
But what pissed me off more than anything else? THE ENDING. It was a good ending, it tied up the loose ends, it even had an obligatory horribly cheesy and romantic line that even had me calling BS even though I was rooting for the couple in question. But it was abrupt as all hell and had me desperately ruffling the pages looking for the rest of the ending. It was like the author wrote that one cheesy line and decided nothing could ever make that better, said "Fuck it" and just ended it there.
It's not going to have you thinking deep thoughts, I can tell you that. Coming from the girl who derives deep meaning from Scott Pilgrim, maybe that says something. But it wasn't bad, really; I had fun reading it and following along with the mystery for a little while. But the fact that I picked up Brave New World and finished it while in the midst of IKWYDLS maybe says something too. idk. It's my third book and it's okay but it's not brilliant. Although I feel bad for the author, because the movie completely butchered her book and locked her out from the set and misled me into thinking I would be getting a text-only expanded-universe story about the Hash-Slinging Slasher.
Book List
1. Wintergirls
2. Brave New World
3. I Know What You Did Last Summer
4.
~June