Review:

You by Caroline Kepnes

Format (That I Read It):

Physical Book, Audiobook

Summary:

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

Initial Thoughts:

I heard about this book on Booktube. The whole concept of a thriller written in 2nd person, heck any book written in 2nd person peeks my interest. Add that to the fact that it's written in the mind of the stalker and I immediately knew I had to get this book.

Review:

★★★★★

I have never read a book like You. Reading from Joe's perspective was such a strange and invigorating experience. He was very complex. He was sweet in some of the things he did. He made me forget that he was psycho, that is until he said his next disturbing thoughts. Joe even made me feel sympathetic towards him. Throughout the book, he caused laughter too which I didn't really think I would be doing in such a dark thriller. Another interesting think about You was that it was different from other thrillers that I've read because there was no set good guy, bad guy dynamic. Everyone had a problem. Everyone had issues and major flaws. Peach is a compulsive liar who was pretentious and turned out to be a plot twist I hadn't quite expected. Then there's Beck who is the object of Joe's affection and the 'you' in the story. Beck is overtly sexual with daddy issues who has problems loving. The intriguing part was trying to figure her out through the eyes of Joe who found her to be somewhat of a God in his eyes. The novel was all anticipation, waiting for the next shocking moment or the next clue to the mystery. It drew me in from the first page. I kept turning the page. Being in Joe's mind was an addiction. And the ending left me wanting more. I was glad to turn the last page to see that there was going to be a sequel. I will definitely be buying the second book as soon as it's out.