BOOK REVIEW: YOU by Caroline Kepnes

“I fold my hands under my head and tell the books all about you. They listen, Beck. I know it sounds crazy, but they do.”

Awhile back I asked the good people of Bookstagram to help choose between two books for me to read: Stephen King's "Misery" and Caroline Kepnes's "YOU". The poll went in favor of the latter and I am SO glad it did! I'd been meaning to start this book for awhile ever since co-workers started singing their praises (and dropping spoilers) for the popular book-to-screen adaptation on Netflix. As tempting as it was to simply hit play on episode one, I just couldn't bare to watch the show without first reading the book.

Aspiring writer and fresh-faced beauty Guinevere Beck wanders into the humble bookstore of Joe Goldberg, a romantic with a heart for literature. Joe is immediately taken with "Beck", can't get her out of his mind, and never wants her out of his sight. Unbeknownst to Beck, Joe has become her stalker and this is his story.

"Oh Beck, I love reading your e-mail. Learning your life. And I am careful; I always mark new messages unread so that you won't get alarmed. My good fortune doesn't stop there; You prefer e-mail. You don't like texting. So this means that I am not missing out on all that much communication. You wrote an "essay" for some blog in which you stated that 'e-mails last forever. You can search for any word at any time and see everything you ever said to anyone about that one word. Texts go away.' I love you for wanting a record. I love your records for being so accessible and I'm so full of you, your calendar of caloric intake and hookups and menstrual moments, your self-portraits you don't publish, your recipes and exercises. You will know me soon too, I promise."

Written from a creative second person perspective, "YOU" is like nothing I've ever read before! For starters, Joe Goldberg is quite a character. At times he's charming, romantic, a little quirky, and always believing himself to be the hero. But Joe is also very troubled, obsessive, and confuses his love with possession. It becomes very obvious to the audience that his character may be a nice guy but definitely not the good guy. But of course, sometimes the bad guy makes for a more interesting character to get to know.

In the beginning I wasn't sure I wanted to read a story from a stalker's perspective. But I was proven wrong the deeper I plunged into the book. As the reader, I was given the chance to follow Joe on his creepy stake-outs, have access to the sick ideas hidden in the dark closet of his mind, and I was rightfully disturbed while simultaneously drawn in. I mean there were A LOT of uncomfortable moments in Joe's head that really made me cringe, and yet I hated putting this book down because I had to know what Joe was going to do next.

If I had to list a few things this book burned into my brain, it'd have to be (1) that social media really is a stalker's best friend. You really do need to be careful about posting unwise content like whereabouts on Facebook and Twitter, and (2) that nice guys can be sociopaths and serial killers. You better believe this book has made me a little paranoid!!!

This was my first Caroline Kepnes novel and to her I say BRAVO! I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel. Highly recommend this book if you're looking for an unsettling, gripping read!

**Trigger Warning: references to sexual/ physical violence, substance abuse**

(5/5⭐)