You - Caroline Kepnes

You- Caroline Kepnes

You is the first book I have read by Caroline Kepnes, and I was instantly drawn into wanting to read this due to the concept of the story. The premise to this story looked creepy, interesting and completely on the insane side. Yet something that 100% can happen, especially in this digital age.

‘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.’

I came out the other side of this book not knowing what to think or feel, this is such an interesting and completely messed up book that even though I enjoyed reading it, Caroline left me unsure of how I felt. Especially about the characters, which I think is completely clever on her part.

To put it quite frank, Joe is a stalker, an obsessive and violent one at that. He meets Beck when she ventures into the bookshop he works at and from there he is hooked on her, and cannot get enough. With the likes of Facebook and Twitter so openly available for people to access, Joe is able to locate where Beck lives, and slowly but surely entwines himself into her life. This results in some rather shocking and disturbing moments, as well as some sweet ones which almost leave you rooting for him too. You may be wondering how those things can be in the same sentence, but the way this book is written, you have one bumpy relationship with Joe.

In the normal parts you could see through the negatives and see a man who just wanted to be loved and who was deeply in love with this woman, and to be fair Beck was a bit of a tease. I really don’t think she helped Joe and his ‘problem’ but then she wasn’t to know. When Joe was at his most creepy, I found it difficult to read, as some scenes were horrible, horrific even, the extremes he would go to just to be with Beck. But when he and Beck were together, you almost forgot about the bad things he had done, as they got on so well…but then the checking of the email would pop up and it would be straight back to creepy. I did like Joes character, I found him so interesting and I would love to know how he got to be the way he is now and  know more about his past (outside the bookshop and Mr Mooney). I was almost willing him to get better and to stop throughout this whole book, and he really was on a serious journey

Beck, I guess she was supposed to be the victim in all this. But I just did not like her one bit. She came across as such a push over with her friends, no back bone and completely reliant on them and Dr Nicky. At first I thought Beck was just a relationship lover, constantly seeking out a relationship to be in, typically leading her to the bad boys. However, as her daddy issues become more known we really get deeper into Beck’s mind set, from that of her stalker. As the story went on I grew to dislike her even more. Even to a point where I was getting annoyed at her for brushing Joe off, or lying to him…Joe…her stalker…the creeptacular guy!! We just had no idea if she was coming or going. I guess it became difficult to not become annoyed as it is written in first person from Joe’s perspective, so we are heavily involved in his story, and emotions.

Overall, You is an incredibly interesting read, I found it shocking in places, and yet was completely gripped and invested in the story too, it took me a day to read as I just wanted to know where the story was going, and just what conclusion would be had from it. I certainly wasn’t shocked by the end, which surprised me in itself. I feel like this is a perfect autumn/October time read, as it really is overly creepy, and also makes you hyper aware of just what you share on social media and just who can access it and see what you post.

I do have to say this book probably is not for everyone, and I know most will be shocked to read this, if not disturbed and maybe even offended, I don’t know. However I did thoroughly enjoy it, it is the first book of it’s kind that I have read, and I enjoyed every second of it, I truly was on the edge of my seat waiting for the next unexpected twist or turn that was thrown at us on this crazy journey we set ourselves on. Joe was the perfect psycho stalker.

I have given this 4 out of 5 stars