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A review by mazloum
You by Austin Grossman
3.0
You is a peculiar beast. Most readers, including myself, would find the prose almost maddening in its tendency to jump around from 1st to 2nd person, seemingly without pattern. But, I understood what the book was aiming at, blurring the line between Russel the human being, and whichever video-game avatar he was occupying at the moment. I just wish it was done more...masterfully, I guess. The novel often flails without purpose, causing me to skim entire paragraphs in the hopes that something interesting would happen. It doesn't help that Grossman has this tendency to over-explain, taking entire pages to describe the current environment, or the rules of a game, or the backstory of a character. The story just loops and twists and brings back elements that it discussed 15 chapters before, and by the end, I'd really just had enough of the entire thing.
I give it three stars though, because the characters themselves are ones I could relate to: Russel, Darren, Don, Matt, Lisa and doomed Simon. They were all interesting people, and I couldn't wait for the story to get back to them (which it did very little of).
If you're really interested in a story that delves into the pscyhe of video-games, development, and socially-awkward relationships, then maybe you should read this book. Otherwise, just stay away.
I give it three stars though, because the characters themselves are ones I could relate to: Russel, Darren, Don, Matt, Lisa and doomed Simon. They were all interesting people, and I couldn't wait for the story to get back to them (which it did very little of).
If you're really interested in a story that delves into the pscyhe of video-games, development, and socially-awkward relationships, then maybe you should read this book. Otherwise, just stay away.