When a video of Shelley Hu hitting her rock bottom goes viral, it upends her entire life. She loses her spot at Columbia Law, her highly coveted internship at a prestigious law firm, and any hope she once had of building a better life for herself and her mother. Shelley retreats to the town in Florida that she grew up in and begins working the same job she had in high school, with all hope for a brighter future gone. Until, that is, the captivating and mysterious Sophia Moon (another victim of a public shaming) seeks Shelley out with a proposal for a plan to get her back on her feet—and get revenge on everyone who had a part in ruining her life.
Shelley returns to New York with Sophia to reclaim the life she almost had, but soon the relationship between the two women begins blurring the line between friendship… and obsession. As Shelley begins noticing strange occurrences happening all around her, she must ask herself, how well does she really know Sophia? Because the other woman might have a past darker than Shelley realizes. And her true plans may be sinister beyond the most wild imaginings.
To give you an idea of just how much I enjoyed this book, please allow me to describe my reading experience to you: I picked it up one night after work and read, rapt, until the wee hours of the morning when I collapsed into bed, exhausted. Promptly upon waking, I rushed to grab my e-reader and get lost in the story once again. I read it within a span of twenty-four hours. I cannot believe this is a debut.
The writing is impeccable, the story immensely compelling, and the characters are utterly fascinating. Sophia began reminding me of Yifei from Kylie Lee Baker’s Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng (another book I devoured) early on in the story and, once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it. In fact, despite its differences in narrative, themes, and aesthetics, The Plans I Have For You evoked all of my favorite aspects of Bat Eater in the most delicious and spine-tingling ways. I found the same eerie storytelling and uneasy sense of foreboding here, and I absolutely loved it.
I don’t want to spoil anything, because I had so much fun going in unprepared, but there is a fantastical element in this book and it is absolutely killer. I’ve also seen this one categorized as a thriller, and I can see how it could be read as one, but, for me, The Plans I Have For You is the most immaculate type of horror book—the kind that crawls under your skin and situates itself among your bones.
Please do yourself a favor and pick this one up. To all my lovers of weird girl books and toxic yuri (and I know there are many of you)—this one’s for you.
Content warnings: infidelity, toxic relationship, racism, murder, mental illness, violence, sexual content, mentions of sexual violence
Hi! My name is Kit and I love sapphic stories. You can find me at @shelfconscious.library on Instagram.
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