Page to Screen Review: You, S1: E1 (Pilot)

   I didn’t even know about this adaptation until just a few days ago and I’m not sure how. It literally came out of nowhere, but I was still super excited to see it. The book was actually really fresh in my mind (I just read it for the first time in April) and I really wanted to see how they brought this book to life.

     As for the similarities in the book, it’s only the first episode, but so far, so much is the same! I’m actually really impressed with how close its already come. I’m just hoping that they don’t set it up with all the similarities in the beginning and then have nothing to tie the two together in the end. I would much rather them spread that content out than have them make up whatever they want in the end. (In fairness, it is a pretty long book so we’ll see how this goes….) 

     As for the acting, I thought it was really good! I really LOVED who they picked for Joe (Penn Badgley). He NAILED it. Down to the voice. When I read YOU I listened to the audio and the narrator and him sound so similar. (To me anyways!) I loved that he sounded like the Joe I already had in my head. 

    Lastly, I actually really loved how they made him seem so much like a good guy….Until he wasn’t. Because that’s exactly how the book makes the reader feel. You start by thinking he’s super cool and so interesting and OMG he reads…. And then, just like love, he changes over time. I can’t wait to see what else they do with him for the season!

     The pilot turned out to be a promising start to this new tv series. I’ve already set my DVR to record the rest of the series just in case. I really hope the rest of the series lives up to the momentum that the pilot has given. Thank you Lifetime for picking this up and thank you Caroline Kepnes for the book that started it all! 

Overall, I give this