Books if you liked…

Finding a new book can be something of a gamble. Books are not cheap, and economically and emotionally investing in a new book, while knowing it could end up not being to your taste, can be so disappointing. So, if you need a new book, here are some ideas based on some currently trending shows with overlapping themes, storylines, or aesthetics.

The Summer I Turned Pretty: Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

With the final season wrapped up on our screens, Prime’s The Summer I Turned Pretty could be considered the show of the summer. Carley Fortune’s Every Summer After shares many similarities with the show and is the perfect read for those unable to wait for the upcoming movie. Fortune’s novel is one I have previously recommended as the perfect summer read, and it is extremely similar in theme and storyline to Hann’s show adaptation. Percy returns to the lakeside town where she spent every summer, and is forced to reconnect with Sam Florek, her teenage love, and his brother. Told in flashbacks to each of her previous summers, it explores her growing relationship with Sam, with his older, more dynamic brother Charlie in the corner of her eye. Percy’s female relationships, especially with her closest friend, are extremely reminiscent of early seasons of Belly and Taylor. Similarly, if you love the show’s love triangle, and the added complication of the brothers’ relationship to each other impacting their feelings towards Belly, Every Summer After explores this in an equal if not deeper way. Whether you’re team Conrad or Jeremiah (and yes, there is a correct team), Every Summer After ticks all the boxes and themes of The Summer I Turned Pretty and is definitely worth a read.

Yellowjackets: Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

Yellowjackets season 3 was recently released. The show follows an almost Lord of the Flies-style situation, where teenage girls are left stranded in the Canadian wilderness. While Lord of the Flies could be an obvious choice for a book recommendation, there are other, slightly more niche books that parallel the show in great ways. Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven is a great read if you’re craving horror, specifically as a result of teenagers being separated from society. During Hurricane Saide, the mostly teenage staff of the theme park Fantasticland stay behind to protect the park for extra money. When the internal safety features collapse and rescue fails to materialise, gangs are formed based on where the teenagers work, and the scared teens commit unspeakable acts of horror against each other. Told through individual testimonials of those involved, Fantasticland has the same structure as Yellowjackets: the initial images of horror, and a slow creeping dread showing how this occurred. However, Fantasticland doesn’t encompass all the aspects that make Yellowjackets such a good show. For example, the show possesses a great internal debate between whether the girls are fuelled by supernatural forces or just responses to their own trauma. Fantasticland has no supernatural elements and approaches the story with a cold detachment from the fictional author that adds to the horror.

Squid Game: The Long Walk by Stephen King

With the long-awaited season three release of Netflix’s Squid Game, the international sensation has once again moved to the forefront of the public’s mind. The show felt fresh, with a unique premise and well-developed characters. Finding the perfect recommendation for such a specific piece of media that captures all the same themes is impossible. However, the book with the most overlapping ideas, while also being a unique storyline, would be The Long Walk. Set in a dystopian universe, Stephen King’s The Long Walk follows a group of boys competing in an endless walk, where the last one standing gains the ultimate prize: whatever they would like. If the contestants fall below a certain speed, after sufficient warning, they will be shot. While The Long Walk lacks the inversion of childhood innocence into horror that made Squid Game so popular, it possesses similar central themes. Both focus on critiquing a society that forces people to compete in almost impossible games for financial survival. Furthermore, both pieces present the harrowing situation of bonding with individuals who must eventually die for you to survive. Like characters in Squid Game, the young boys in The Long Walk all have different emotional responses to the contest and individual motivations propelling them forward. Some are antagonistic, while others focus on forming alliances for survival. The Long Walk is also being adapted for a film, so if you like Squid Game, now is the perfect time to read Stephen King’s novel.

We Were Liars: Family Of Liars or The Cousins

The Prime original We Were Liars, initially based on E. Lockhart’s book by the same name, is a popular new release. Its combination of the rich, summery setting and dark secrets makes for an enticing storyline that has propelled it to the top of Amazon’s most-watched shows. For people looking for a similar immersion, the most logical recommendation would be Family of Liars, E. Lockhart’s prequel. This follows the lives of the show’s three mothers through Carrie’s perspective. During a summer when boys arrive at the island, when combined with already bubbling family tensions between the Sinclairs, danger and secrets haunt the sisters, who must decide how far they will go to protect their dysfunctional yet prestigious family. Family of Liars is perfect for viewers who want to return to the wonderful world of Beechwood Island, and it helps provide a deeper insight into the trauma of the older characters and the bloody history of the family before the liars arrived. However, for someone looking for a similar aesthetic but a fresh story and characters, The Cousins by Karen McManus is perfect. Johan, Milly, and Aubrey are all estranged cousins. When their elusive and unknown grandmother invites them all to work at her resort on an East Coast island, the cousins try and discover the family secret that led to their grandmother disinheriting their parents. The past and present family secrets begin to threaten the main characters in ways they never expected. Like We Were Liars, family dynamics, both between the young heirs and looming parental figures, are a focal point, and the secrets that come with possessing unimaginable wealth are a driving force of tension in the novel.

Outer Banks: Good Girl Complex (Avalon Bay series)

Outer Banks is a popular, summery Netflix show, with characters split into two different classes, the rich kooks and the less wealthy Pogues. Elle Kennedy’s Good Girl Complex (the first in the Avalon Bay series) follows rich girl Mackenzie moving to college in Avalon Bay. Disgruntled with her rich but emotionally unavailable parents and her shallow boyfriend, she begins to spend time with the locals, catching feelings for local bad boy Cooper, who has his own selfish reasons for wanting to spend time with college royalty. Their relationship dynamic is extremely reminiscent of early seasons of John B and Sarah, and the summery setting makes it a light and fun read. Like Outer Banks, the focus is also on the wider friend group of the main characters, and later books follow the relationships and dynamics of the more secondary characters, expanding the world of the bay. However, Good Girl Complex lacks the mystery story that drives Outer Banks, and is consistently very low stakes, which might not work for lovers of the treasure hunt that motivates the show’s characters.