I always love it when a web series is based on a book. I discovered author Andrea Mara when I watched the Apple series based on her book All Her Fault. So a few months later, when I saw her name and the title It Should Have Been You!, I knew I had to read it. And this book kept me hooked.
Picture this! We’ve all been there! Sending a message to the wrong WhatsApp group. A quick “Sorry, wrong window!” or simply hitting delete and feeling mentally relieved that you caught it in time. But, when a side conversation in a subgroup, where gossip or venting happens, lands in the main chat? That’s a whole different scenario, isn’t it? And even worse when it goes unnoticed! By then, almost everyone in the group has already read it AND TAKEN SCREENSHOTS!!! What follows makes it the perfect premise for a psychological thriller.
Plot: Susan sends her sister a gossipy message about their neighbour, but she accidentally posts it on the neighbourhood WhatsApp group instead. It’s an innocent mistake that could happen to anyone, but rumours quickly spread and the backlash spirals. Soon, that one wrong message leads to murder. A local woman is found dead, but when Susan hears the news report, she realises the victim had the same address as her, just in a different part of town. The killer may have got the wrong victim… and they may be coming for her next.
My Take: The story is told in different voices, first person for Susan’s version, and second person for the other characters. The characters! Oh, there are so many of them, but are well thought out: Susan, a school teacher and new mother, her husband, her two sisters, the nieces, the neighbours, and the family about whom the message was actually about, intentionally, of course, just shared in the wrong group! The messages and events before and after them form the common thread.
There’s all the drama one would look for in a binge-worthy read or series. It’s gripping, fast-paced, and I can easily see this as a perfect plot for a screen adaptation. And yes, because I watched All Her Fault, I could predict where the story was heading. But if you’re picking up Andrea Mara for the first time, you won’t regret it.
