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Made For You reminded me why I avoid psychological thrillers. Long story short: I’m a wuss and Made for You gave me the chills. Which, is great because Melissa Marr did achieve her goal as writer, but also, yeah, I’ll be double-checking my door is locked tonight.
Eva Tilling is the creme dela crème in her small southern town of Jessup. Granddaughter to the richest man, in a town where breeding and image matters above all else, Eva is pretty much a queen amongst her peers. Everyone looks to Eva for direction and approval, girls and guys alike. Made for You felt very Gossip Girl-y in the sense that, if you damaged your image, you’re better off just moving out of town.
Eva is seemingly the product of her environment. She’s with the well-bred, handsome and boring boyfriend, because it’s a practical decision, and she’s mostly surrounded by the snobby and better-than-you peers. In the beginning Eva annoyed me because she played by everyone’s rules. The more you get to know her though, the more you realize that she doesn’t believe in Jessup’s ways. She’s just not sure how to break free of the expectations of multiple generations of high society.
Eva’s stand against the status quo is only a small part of Made for You. This book very much centers on an individual, who after (trying) to kill Eva by means of a hit and run, spends the majority of the book trying to show their twisted affection for Eva, by sending messages via symbols of the homicidal-variety.
The reveal of the killer wasn’t blatantly obvious, but I’d being lying if I said the reveal didn’t hinder my feelings a bit. On one hand the reveal wasn’t that shocking or unexpected. The clues started out small then just blew-up. On the other hand, even once the killer was revealed, I was still thoroughly creeped out and enjoying the story. I don’t think the supernatural aspect of this book was particularly strong, but rather the inside look into the killer’s mind. The killer wasn’t only obsessed and delusional, they were also very religious. Those three things made the killer highly dangerous. As the killer’s connection to reality lessened, they became even more unpredictable and frightening.
Thanks HarperCollins for providing us with a copy in return for a honest review.
