YOU by Caroline Kepnes– 422 pages
Book Blurb:
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 Review: 4 stars
YOU was a wild and dark ride that comes about when you mix mania, murder a likable stalker together. Caroline Kepnes you have created a charming, sometimes funny, crazy whack job of a character. This Joe is not so average, well he is on the outside, but on the inside he’s a blender full of movies, books and songs that create his reality. He’s a full-fledged stalker and for some insane reason I found myself rooting for him. The author’s use of both first and second point of views was well appreciated in making this story work. There is a lot of foul and sexually explicit language that works perfectly for this character as well as for many of the minor characters, so consider this a warning.
Midway through the book I was getting bored of his behavior and very anxious for the book to come to a conclusion. This book will always connect to this time period as social media and the Internet play a major role. In a nutshell, this is a dysfunctional, romantic thriller that will satisfy the reader looking for something out of the box.
Quotes I liked:
The problem with books is that they end. They seduce you. They spread their legs to you and pull you inside. And you go deep and leave your possessions and your ties to the world at the door and you like it inside and you don’t want for your possessions or your ties and then, the book evaporates.”
-“If we were teenagers, I could kiss you. But I’m on a platform behind a counter wearing a name tag and we’re too old to be young.”
-“The only thing crueler than a cage so small that a bird can’t fly is a cage so large that a bird thinks it can fly.”
-“I love Stephen King as much as any red rum drinking American, but I resent the fact that I, the bookseller, am his bitch.”
– “I am eating again, but only because I hate fainting.”
– “You are as flawed as all the books in the store; you have ended and left me and you are gone, forever.”
– ” He said he read the first five pages of the book and loved it so much that he couldn’t read any more. He said he’s too sensitive to read, to moved, that he’s built for small doses.”
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