You by Caroline Kepnes

Author: Caroline Kepnes

Pages: 422

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: 

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.

NON-SPOILERY REVIEW:

Okay, so right off the bat, I loved this book! Reading from a second person narrative was incredibly entertaining. The characters are all so horrible! Which is surprising for me, because I like reading character driven books where I find them relatable and lovable. The characters in this book, save for one, are all terrible people! But something about Joe’s narrative got me hooked. He is manipulative, psychotic & is obsessed with Beck. His personality is strong and omnipresent. I loved his thought process and it was creepy, weird and intelligent. After 2-3 months I had read this book, I was reading some Buzzfeed article on book quotes and there was one of Joe. And as soon as I read the quote, I just knew it was Joe’s. That tells us something about him as a character. He has a commanding personality and makes sure that his voice is heard.

I loved Kepnes’ writing style. It’s effortless and flows beautifully throughout the book. I did not expect for the book to be as explicit as it was. If that’s something that bothers you, I would not recommend reading it. It has a fair share of erotic and gory scenes & is definitely for everyone. I’ve heard that the audio book is pretty amazing, too. Especially because of the second person narrative.

SPOILERY STUFF:

I need to get this off my chest, but man, Beck was such a bitch. *cue eye roll* Her friends were insensitive, too! Ethan was a tool. And Joe, of course, was a creepy stalker. Interesting bunch of characters, to the say the very least. The only reason why I rated this 4.5 instead of 5, was because of the predictability of the plot. I have read reviews where a lot of people are classifying this book as a thriller, but I don’t see it. From the very beginning I could tell how this would end and where it was going with Beck’s best friend, how Joe was going to handle Ethan and then the ending. Like, I as a reader, had it coming. Its not something that blew me away and left me wondering what happened. But this reaction could vary from reader to reader. I’m good with identifying foreshadowing, so that could be why I didn’t share the same sentiments.

Now, coming back to Beck & her friends. I think the fact that these characters were so unlikable is part of the reason why Joe is likable, as weird as it sounds. The craziest part of the book was that I slowly found myself agreeing with Joe and then I had to give myself a mental shake of head and come to my senses! I can’t wait to read Hidden Bodies and live in Joe’s head!

Happy reading!

PS: This is my first official book review, sorry if it seems like its all over the place.

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