You: A Novel by Carolyn Kepnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Joe Goldberg immediately draws you into his obsessive, insidious world as he begins a one sided conversation with Beck, the girl he starts stalking on the first page of this novel. I was mesmerized, disgusted, amused, fascinated, and completely creeped out. At one point I had to put the book down and decide whether or not I could keep following Joe down this rabbit hole. But that’s the thing. Once you’re in Joe’s head, it’s hard to find your way back out. It’s not so much a question of suspense because, really, we all know this relationship will not end well. Kepnes’s genius lies in the combination of Joe’s dead-on (pun intended) characterization of some of the people we all secretly hate, his literary observations, and the brilliant direct address point of view, which makes the reader feel that Joe’s attentions are focused as much on us as they are on Beck. And maybe that’s why I haven’t slept well since finishing “You”…
