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Sunday, 20 January 2019

YOU by Caroline Kepnes

You (You, #1)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book. Yikes.

Okay. I have so many thoughts, so this review might be all over the place.

I've wanted to read YOU for a while now, but decided to wait until the new year. And now that I'm done, I'm glad that I finally did because this fucked-up tale about a delusional stalker is impossible to put down. Actually, I started slow. Purposely tried to force myself to not read too many pages in one day.

Hell, I even snuck in 6 comic book issues. But once I reached a certain point, I couldn't read small sections anymore.

I found myself totally engrossed in what was going on. I kinda knew from the beginning how this would end, and how the body count would turn out, yet I still couldn't stop reading. It's super addictive.

Even though I despised everything about Joe, because he's a bloody psycho who spins fiction around every situation to suit himself, his story kept me glued to the page. Actually, maybe there was one thing I kinda appreciated about him (because I can't bring myself to say like) and that's his appreciation of books. How he respects stories and his never-ending commentary about readers, customers, authors and books.

Other than that, he's a despicable piece of shit.

But he's not the only annoying character. There's Peach and her lies, her obvious manipulation of Beck masquerading as friendship devotion but is actually more like obsession. Benji the douche-canoe rich boy who uses Beck and is quite the arrogant asshole. Chana and Lynn, the friends who are always there to make Beck feel like shit. Dr. Nicky, the very unprofessional jerk who gets caught up in all this crap.

I actually liked Ethan, though. He was totally clueless and too perky, but a nice positive balance to that monster called Joe.

Oh, but I haven't even started on Beck. The aspiring writer who is full of shit, loves the attention from men of all ages, has daddy issues, is too easily manipulated even though half the time she thinks she's the one in control. She wasn't very nice and has a hundred issues, but she didn't deserve what Joe puts her through. The way he forces himself into her life and steals her stuff while stalking her online accounts is something no one deserves.

Her future wasn't very bright to start with, but after she catches Joe's eye, she's pretty much doomed. I found this to be the saddest and most disturbing thing of all. It's so awful, made me feel uncomfortable and angry.

So, yeah. A lot of truly horrible stuff happens in this twisted book, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. And that's because this author knows how to write a great story. She hooks you in, keeps you guessing, and before you realise it: you're totally hooked!

I think I'll have to watch the show now. And read the sequel, of course. But first I need a bit of distance from Stalker Joe. 😕


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