"You" by Caroline Kepnes | Book Review

You by Caroline Kepnes

Publishing Date: September 30, 2014
Pages: 422
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Links: Goodreads | Indigo | Book Depository | Kobo

When Beck walks into the bookstore where Joe works, it's love at first sight for him. She's everything he's ever dreamed of and more, and he's obsessed with her. As their relationship blossoms, people in Beck's life have a violent demise. Both lovers start to realize there's a lot more to the other than they thought.

This book is unique, to say the least. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. You is a second-person narrative where our protagonist, Joe Goldberg, is addressing all of his thoughts to Beck. Joe is a bookstore employee with an obsessive personality. Well, he really goes beyond obsessive and into the stalker realm very quickly. He finds Beck's home and watches her day after day, steals her phone and reads her emails for months (she doesn't want to tell her mom she lost her phone again, so she lets her mom keep paying that phone bill), and seduces her.

All the while, we see the different sides to Joe: the way he presents himself to the world, and his inner dialogue. Part of what I find so disturbing about this book is that based on the way he acts around Beck and other people through much of the story, I wouldn't have guessed that he's so obsessive, delusional, and twisted. To the outside world, Joe is funny, relatable, smooth...he seems like a nice guy, which is terrifying! It really goes to show that you never truly know someone or what they're thinking.

You is very well-written in terms of characters, pacing, and generally creating an intriguing story. I could hardly put it down, I kept wanting to know what would happen next.

This is a pretty explicit novel, in terms of sex, language, and some violence, so if reading about those things make you uncomfortable, you probably won't like the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story; it messed with my head and has made me consider what people are really thinking a lot more...honestly, how am I ever going to trust anyone again??

You can read my review of the sequel, Hidden Bodies, here.