Title: You
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Series: The You Series
Publisher: Atria
Release Date: August 28, 2018
Pages: 422
Book Source: Scribd
“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.” – Goodreads
Jessica’s Review
I have so many thoughts about this book that I don’t even really know where to start! I am a big fan of thrillers and suspense. A coworker of mine recommended You, the Netflix series. Little did I know it was ALL the rage! I looked into it and found out that it was based on a book, so naturally, I decided to listen to the book first. At the time of this review, I still have not actually watched the Netflix series, but it is on my list.
I’m not going to reiterate much of the synopsis; basically Joe Goldberg lives in New York so does Guinevere Beck. They meet, Joe falls head over heels and will do literally ANYTHING to be Beck’s boyfriend. The catch? There is murder, but also sex.
The thing about this book is Caroline Kepnes wrote Joe’s character in a way where you almost fancy Joe. Yes, he is an overbearing stalker who does some horrible things… but you almost find yourself liking Joe. I literally had to check myself…did I seriously side with the stalker “boyfriend?” Not to mention, a lot of the times Joe’s character is very intelligent and well-spoken…dare I say like Ted Bundy… but less creepy and murder hungry. The author really did an excellent job of making Joe a likable character, which given the things he does, is pretty unique.
Beck. Ugh Beck. I don’t want to spoil anything, but snobby, pretentious, and downright aggravating. Something about her rubs me the wrong way.
The setting of this book is just perfect. I find that sometimes the setting isn’t very relevant or doesn’t really advance the story, but in this book it really did. Not to mention, the setting is very much present-day with social media, etc. This book really encompassed today’s generation (probably more so those in their mid 20’s to early 30’s) in so many little ways including music and movie references, the way the characters talk, how they interact on social media. In a roundabout way, it gave me 90’s movie vibes like Bring It On or Not Another Teen Movie…but in a more serious sense. There are just so many layers to this book!
I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy twisted, thrilling, suspenseful reads. I would caution YOU (see what I did there), it isn’t necessarily going to be the most unpredictable book you read in some aspects, and in others, you won’t know what hit you.
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