I have been holding on to Caroline Kepnes' You for quite some time, for no other reason than that I just haven't gotten to it yet. I then read a blurb in Entertainment Weekly about how someone was looking forward to this movie or miniseries or whatever, and I realized I needed to get on this, like, now. So I did.
Joe runs a bookstore in New York City and has fallen for Guinevere Beck, a customer who stopped in one day to buy some books. He steals her name off of her credit card receipt, finds her home, and eventually worms his way into her life. Before she knows it, she is the eye of his obsession -- and she has not the slightest clue. Joe will win her over and make her fall in love with him, even if it's the last thing she ever does.
Yeah, so about this book. I was completely, 100% hooked about 20 pages in. That quick. So much so that I hushed my husband repeatedly when he tried to talk to me because didn't he understand that I was reading the most fucked up and engrossing story I have read in years??? Like, come on dude. Get it together. This story and this protagonist were completely messed up and it was one of the most compelling novels I have picked up in a while. It only begs the question -- seriously, what took me so long?
That I can't answer -- sometimes I make poor life decisions -- but I am so amazed that I had the chance to read this. This is a completely character-driven story, and Joe is one messed up SOB. He is a stalker of the utmost level, and being in his head (this story is told in first person) give me the chills and may have caused some sleepless nights. He is vile and horrible, and I couldn't stop being in his head for all of these pages. I wanted him to get Beck, and at the same time I didn't want him to be around Beck. I wanted him to fall off the face of the earth, but yeah, could you check her email again just in case she said anything about you? Joe is a man who kills with impunity and yet somehow justifies what he does. I won't say more than that -- you can find out for yourself who he kills, and I'm not just talking about the object of his affection either -- because this is a book worth reading on your end.
What makes this book, and Kepnes as a novelist, so outstanding is that she has created characters who have brought out such a visceral reaction in me. I recall a conversation once with a colleague about Gone Girl (and no, I'm not comparing these two books here) and she talked about how the book wasn't that good because she absolutely despised the characters, and then she spoke at length about why she hated them -- and it was all about the character arc. I explained to her about what makes a good book, that if the novelist has crafted such despicable characters that create that much of a reaction in you, it turns out the book was really well-written after all. That's the magic of Kepnes's writing. She has created characters that I loathed so much that I have deep thoughts on them. And that, dear readers, is the sign of great writing.
Joe runs a bookstore in New York City and has fallen for Guinevere Beck, a customer who stopped in one day to buy some books. He steals her name off of her credit card receipt, finds her home, and eventually worms his way into her life. Before she knows it, she is the eye of his obsession -- and she has not the slightest clue. Joe will win her over and make her fall in love with him, even if it's the last thing she ever does.
Yeah, so about this book. I was completely, 100% hooked about 20 pages in. That quick. So much so that I hushed my husband repeatedly when he tried to talk to me because didn't he understand that I was reading the most fucked up and engrossing story I have read in years??? Like, come on dude. Get it together. This story and this protagonist were completely messed up and it was one of the most compelling novels I have picked up in a while. It only begs the question -- seriously, what took me so long?
That I can't answer -- sometimes I make poor life decisions -- but I am so amazed that I had the chance to read this. This is a completely character-driven story, and Joe is one messed up SOB. He is a stalker of the utmost level, and being in his head (this story is told in first person) give me the chills and may have caused some sleepless nights. He is vile and horrible, and I couldn't stop being in his head for all of these pages. I wanted him to get Beck, and at the same time I didn't want him to be around Beck. I wanted him to fall off the face of the earth, but yeah, could you check her email again just in case she said anything about you? Joe is a man who kills with impunity and yet somehow justifies what he does. I won't say more than that -- you can find out for yourself who he kills, and I'm not just talking about the object of his affection either -- because this is a book worth reading on your end.
What makes this book, and Kepnes as a novelist, so outstanding is that she has created characters who have brought out such a visceral reaction in me. I recall a conversation once with a colleague about Gone Girl (and no, I'm not comparing these two books here) and she talked about how the book wasn't that good because she absolutely despised the characters, and then she spoke at length about why she hated them -- and it was all about the character arc. I explained to her about what makes a good book, that if the novelist has crafted such despicable characters that create that much of a reaction in you, it turns out the book was really well-written after all. That's the magic of Kepnes's writing. She has created characters that I loathed so much that I have deep thoughts on them. And that, dear readers, is the sign of great writing.
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