You by Caroline Kepnes - Review

It's been forever, again. My husband and I recently moved into a bigger apartment, so much of August/September has been all about moving. I hate moving with a passion, but I love this place so much, so I guess it all balances out.

Before the moving craziness started, this showed up in my inbox from Simon & Schuster Canada:

 

 

I was instantly intrigued. How creepy does that sound?! It's called You and it's Caroline Kepnes' debut release. The book showed up, and I regret not reading it right away because oh my, it was so good!

 

Guinevere Beck (she prefers Beck) is an aspiring writer who happens to catch the glance of Joe, who is one of the creepiest characters I've read. Beck is an attention-seeking, lazy girl who has daddy issues and comes across very naïve. Joe quickly becomes obsessed with Beck and will stop at nothing in order to make her his, including stealing her phone after she leaves it in a cab.

 

It's told entirely from Joe's perspective, and much of it is his internal thoughts, which I think made it all the more creepy and disturbing. It was scary because Joe doesn't come off as crazy in his everyday life. He's just that guy you pass on the street and don't give a second thought to. He, on the other hand, is thinking about you. You'd never know that he has a cage in his book store where he sometimes keeps more than just rare books.

 

I loved the parts where Joe was reading Beck's emails because you got a better glimpse of how messed up Beck was. Joe is a crazy stalker, but Beck definitely her issues as well. She's so wrapped up in herself that she doesn't even really notice when people around her begin disappearing for long periods of time.

 

I spent a lot of time reading this book with this expression on my face:

 

It was almost uncomfortable to read, but I could not put this book down. I'm trying not to give anything away because this book is best to go into blind (most books are), but if you like disturbing, uncomfortable reads, then this is a great book for you. This is the perfect fall read, and definitely perfect for Halloween.

 

This may be Kepnes debut release, but you wouldn't know it by her writing style. She has definitely been added to my auto-read list of authors.

 

5 out of 5 stars. This book is available September 30th from Simon & Schuster Canada. Definitely add it to your to-read list!