Review of the Day: Look What You Made Me Do by John Lanchester

I remember first hearing of John Lanchester when he appeared on the now defunct KCRW radio program Bookworm with Michael Silverblatt to discuss his book The Wall in 2019. I have been waiting since then for his next novel.

This novel is about two couples whose lives are upended when a new Netflix show called Cheaters shares intimate details about their pasts to a global audience. I would say that the big theme of the novel is intergenerational resentment.

Lanchester, at times, reminds me of Martin Amis, especially his novel Money:

‘That’s going to be the name of your new airline?’ said a girl across the table from him. ‘Anal sex?’ 

‘Think about it. What’s the most successful new branding enterprise in the history of modern aviation? Easy – Virgin. From that beardy twat Branson. But it’s brilliant too. You remember it. Everyone else is called, I don’t know, Boring National Airline Company. British Airways or Swissair or Lufthansa or whatever. Who cares? They’re all the same anyway. But then Branson comes along and bang, there’s an airline called Virgin. And people go, ooh! Virgin! Shocking!’ (p. 118).

This line is another one I had to stop and write down:

I don’t interact with my neighbours much – that’s one of the things I like most about London, the reciprocal right to not know your neighbours – so my first assumption was that it was somebody local (p 219).

There are many things to like about this novel: the pithy wit, Lanchester’s subtle way of mocking cultural elites, and the way the novel manages to be good as literary fiction and as a thriller.

Thanks to Net Galley for providing a copy; all opinions are my own.

epub. 320 pgs. 24 May 2026

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