Book Review: YOU by Caroline Kepnes

 

Title: YOU

Author:  Caroline Kepnes

Read: July 2021

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

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.

My musings:

 

Why did I wait so long to read this book? Once I got started, I couldn’t put it down!

 

Writing snarky, twisted and yet believable characters is an art form mastered by very few. I am generally not fond of getting the POV of a sociopathic killer, because very often they are either stereotypes, or utterly despicable, or both. But not Joe. Joe is something else entirely. I admit that I haven’t had this much enjoyment out of getting into the head of a twisted sociopath since Jane in JANE DOE, or Lily in THE KIND WORTH KILLING. Is it safe to admit that I even cheered Joe on at times, or does that make me an accomplice in his crimes?

 

Not only has Kepnes nailed the portrayal of an obsessive stalker, but she also does so in a format that has never worked well for me in any other book. Because the whole story is narrated through Joe’s POV, as if he is talking to the object of his affection / obsession, the almost equally dysfunctional but beautiful Beck. In effect, we, the readers, not only get a deep insight into Joe’s disturbed psyche, but almost feel as if Joe is talking about us, or to us, making it an emotionally much deeper and more personal experience. Also, Joe is funny! His cynical, sarcastic but honest thought processes, especially those concerning the nasty people standing between him and Beck, were often laugh-loud-loud hilarious. As were the many obstacles that popped up every time he almost got what he wanted – to get Beck into bed with him. Joe is not holding back in using obscenities or explicit sexual content to tell his tale, and whilst this is usually a complete turn-off for me, it strangely worked here. Caroline Kepnes, what kind of magic spell have you cast over me?

 

Through Joe’s eyes, the other characters soon took on a life of their own. Beck, certainly. But also her manipulative friend Peach, or Benji, the object of her affection, or Nicky, who should have known better. Perhaps it was easy to overlook Joe’s homicidal tendencies because each and every one of his adversaries was so flawed and unlikeable. I admit I didn’t want him to be caught. Even though I knew he would be one creepy dude in real life. But somehow Joe wormed his way into my psyche and his flawed logic made – not sense, exactly – but at least for a compelling argument.

 

 

Summary:

 

In summary, I was as obsessed with reading this book almost in a single sitting as Joe was with trying to get Beck into bed. Joe really was one of a kind! It’s difficult to say why all the things that are usually a turn-off for me in a book (the POV of the sociopathic killer, the unusual story telling format, the swearing, the sex) strangely worked well here. It’s a credit to Caroline Kepnes to have come up with one of the most enigmatic and funny sociopath in modern crime fiction. I immensely enjoyed this book and will definitely read the next in the series – soon.