Caroline Kepnes

Meeting at an East Village bookstore, aspiring writer Guinevere Beck and store employee Joe embark on an intimate relationship, only to suffer deadly consequences when their passion spirals out of control. 300,000 first printing.

A Novel

Nicole Meadows

Now a Major Netflix Series

Kepnes's way of writing is very intriguing and keeps you glued to Joe's madness in an, at times, disturbing way

Giulia Pascoli 

Ásztai Anna

Nabila Azahra

3 of 5 stars

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We all know that Joe was a creep and a fucked up human being. We already established that from the beginning. His actions were not justifiable. I don't want to defend him. But damn, I felt no sympathy for Beck. Because she, too, was fucked up. I didn't say that she deserved it, but she should have seen it coming.

This book felt kind of ridiculous to me. I actually laughed a couple of times at how ridiculous this story was. I already abandoned whatever sense I got while reading this because honestly, this book had a very little sense a book should have. I just go with the flow. I didn't hate this, it's just that this book is not that great either. But that didn't mean it was not entertaining because it was. It truly was. Being inside the head of this creepy, obsessive serial killer, hearing his twisted thoughts and how I can actually agree with some of his sentiments even though I know how fucked up that is. But I still found myself enjoying. And the audiobook! If you have any desire to read this, definitely try the audiobook. I think my enjoyment was almost all because of the audiobook.

I don't know if I'll pick up the next book. Maybe I will, in the future. Maybe not. It depends on my mood. Because yes, this book is that kind of book. Depending on the mood.

chloe rae

*Maybe only a 3.5?! 

This book MESSED ME UP. This book IS messed up. 
I don’t know what to say, man. It feels wrong saying I enjoyed this book because I didn’t, but I also couldn’t put it down? I hated absolutely EVERYONE in this book. They are all AWFUL and Joe, the main character, is absolutely horrendous and terrifying and PSYCHOTIC and AHHH I am SPOOKED. I wish I could describe the kind of anxiety this book is STILL giving me. I feel like I’m going to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. This book makes me want to delete all my social media (and all my stuff is basically private!)
This book took a long time to get interesting though. I don’t know why but the first half was super boring for me. I just hated everyone so much that I almost didn’t care enough to keep reading about them. But then it just kept getting so messed up and it was like a freaking train wreck and I just AH.
I hated this book but not in a bad way? Very hard to describe. I am very conflicted. I honestly might have nightmares. Maybe I’m too big a wimp for this kind of stuff. DAMN, the author got me good.

Megan Christensen

Moxie Minion

This book by far is not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it for the fact that the book comes from the POV of the villian. It would work well to scare people off of social media and their internet footprint though. Worth the read, and for me it was a quick read.

Gwyn Dill

Jehan Chawla

I loved reading the book but it is one of those rare instances where the show easily outshined the book. This book is so twisted and engaging. 
At times it made me feel guilty for reading it and still asking for more. The writing is one of a kind but that doesn't mean it has no issues. Also I think it was incorrectly categorised; it reads as an erotica in many instances and that's something that tuned me out of the book in more than one instance. The last 100 pages were just *chef's kiss*.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. It was obsessive, steamy, funny and sick. Oddly Compelling.

*Now a Lifetime series* “Hypnotic and scary.” —Stephen King “I am RIVETED, AGHAST, AROUSED, you name it. The rare instance when prose and plot are equally delicious.” —Lena Dunham From debut author Caroline Kepnes comes You, one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of 2014, and a brilliant and terrifying novel for the social media age. 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. A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age. You is a compulsively readable page-turner that’s being compared to Gone Girl, American Psycho, and Stephen King’s Misery.

Lara Engle

That Joe Goldberg is really messed up. So is everyone else in this book, but he's the narrator, so we get an inside view of all his depravity. He's the quintessential unreliable narrator, claiming innocent, honest intent and trying to fool himself as much as he's attempting to mislead us. You is disturbing and well-crafted. It'll make you question everyone's motives.

Martha McLendon

I don't know if I have ever loved a character that creeps me the hell out but Joe made me love him. I wanted to stop reading because it was making me a paranoid mess but I needed to know what would happen next, what he would do.

I thought that this book was good when I read it 

Lexy 

I watched the show and then had to read the books. It litterally feels like I'm in his head, Caroline is a genius!

Kira Del Caro

Vicky (A City Girl's Thoughts)

TRIGGER WARNING: Murder, stalking, erotica, & cursing (I know cursing is becoming more common in YA & Adult novels, but this has A LOT of it)

Caroline Kepnes aimed to issue a warning on how easy it is for people today to be cyber-stalked (which, of course, can lead to stalking in real life) but I thought her victim wouldn’t be so naive or stupid (I honestly couldn’t tell).

Alright, I’m gonna list the reasons why Beck was so easy to stalk:

1) Doesn’t turn off her cell phone after she lost it, and by turn off I mean her calling her cellular provider to SHUT IT OFF
2) Doesn’t have any curtains; has sex in her living room so people can CLEARLY see into her apartment
3) Tweets too much personal information
4) Doesn’t question anything out-of-order or suspicious until it’s too late

One and two are THE MOST obvious ways to be the victim of identity theft and stalking! But worse than that, she’s completely narcissistic and uses people without a care for them. For example, she tricks Joe into thinking she’s into him when she’s not.

Joe, on the other hand, is the bad guy from beginning to end. Yeah, he went through some tough stuff, but not ONCE did he show he wants to redeem himself. Authors usually have readers relate to their villians by giving them a backstory where they’ve gone through some tough problems, such as abuse or neglect, but even though readers aren’t supposed to support them they do leave an emotional tug where you wish they COULD’VE overcome their past. Here, Joe doesn’t give me that.

I will say the ending caught me by surprise. It sounds so obvious but I didn’t really pay attention due to Beck’s stupidity. Most of the supporting characters were unlikable too, though Hannah’s (Beck’s friend) humor is funny, even though she’s two-faced and mean. In conclusion, ⭐/5 stars. There was too much stupidity for me to overlook.

Krystyna 

This was a very "different" book. I haven't read anything like this before. It is written in second person so that adds to creepy factor of this story and the narrator is extremely unreliable. You're in his head throughout the entirety of this book and when he speaks he uses the "you" pronoun frequently. So, the reader feels as if he is talking to you or about you. It is very intriguing and yet very disturbing. The plot was amazing and gripped me from the very beginning. However, I had a couple of issues with the content. I kind of feel like some of the more graphic content was a little much, but I also see the "reasoning" behind it to a certain extent. Also, the narrator was repetitive in certain parts of the book, which I could understand the "reasoning" behind as well. But, sometimes it was just kind of annoying. Overall, it was a good book, even though someone spoiled the ending for me. I will read the sequel, Hidden Bodies, eventually.

I love the book! Different writing style yet it really suits the whole inner thoughts vibe. Quite different to the tv series, but its good! Similar plot, Joe is presented differently, it's quite captivating and thought provoking! 

Amy Jayne Barrett

I enjoyed the book a lot. I enjoyed comparing it to the show. I liked that there was a few changes! Looking forward to reading the second book and comparing it with the second season! 

Bookworm

Alexa M

Anna Ureta

From the first page alone my initial reaction was, “What…what….WHAT!?”
 By the second chapter I was still like, “This is…weird….”
 Just from two chapters alone my thoughts on this book were “interesting”.
 There is no other way to describe You, it’s just, interesting.
 However, after finally finishing this book all I really have to say is, “WHAT THE MOTHER EFF NNNNNN FFUUUUU DID I JUST READ!?!?!” This book ended up being more than just interesting, it turned into a serious mind eff (because I won’t swear). Now I can see the praise behind this amazingly chilling and a little bit disturbing novel.
 
When Guinevere Beck walks into a bookstore, as if it’s an average day, she doesn’t know that those few steps are going to start a chain of domino effects that are going to change her life forever. For inside the bookstore she meets Joe Goldberg and she is everything he has ever wanted in a woman. She’s smart, sexy, funny and he’d do anything in his power to have her. Literally anything.
 After a string of dark events draws them together everything seems perfect and Joe is as happy as can be. But Beck isn’t what she seems either, and their happiness is forever ruined when he finds out the truth about her. Now Joe has to try and fix their relationship before it’s too late, but can Beck really be with someone with so many secrets?
 
Let’s be honest for a minute… I really didn’t like this book when I first saw it. I wondered what all the hype was and after the reading the blurb I just wasn’t impressed. Finally after so many authors started raving and praising this novel I figured it couldn’t be as bad as I thought.
 At first I was EXTREMELY SCEPTICAL. The second person, or whatever you want to call it, POV was really hard to get used to at first, but after a while you hardly notice it. And yes within the first few pages and first few chapters you’re probably thinking, “This book is twisted and sick and wrong….” but after a while you sort of….get caught up in it.
 
The one thing I PRAISE about this book is its ability to FULLY IMMERSE AND CAPTIVATE THE READER. As I kept reading, despite how twisted I thought everything was, I found myself turning page after page wondering how far was this guy going to go…and would there be a happily ever after. The scariest thing was that after a while you start to sympathize with Joe and suddenly you’re rooting for him! Because things that he’s saying start to make sense and you start to question your morals and make you want to question people…
 
You leap up and straddle me and I could walk from here to China with you wrapped around me and I walk across the tiny room and I have you against the wall and I’m kissing you and owning your ass and I like your heels in my back and your bed in a box and there’s a horrible sound at the door, metal on metal and a whistle and your legs drop to the floor and you straighten my hair and there is someone at the door.
 
What can I say, I sympathize with the crazies? Everyone is crazy in their own little way, some people show it more than others. In You, I believe the cast of characters is so colourful and also so honest about how people act today. People are selfish, and cruel, and needy and sometimes it takes crazy people to help you figure that out.
 
This book in itself was CRAZY and perhaps not for the faint of heart. It’s twisted, it’s downright sick at times, but definitely worth reading. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t typically read Fiction or Thrillers, I mean I haven’t even read a Stephen King novel…or seen The Shining shhh…. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Thrillers and maybe wants something a little different than what they’re used to. I’m sure this book with leave you with quite the impression.
 
5/5 Hearts of Love

Jordan Peet

** spoiler alert **
           In the beginning, I was worried about the second person point of view. Usually, I find books that are written with this point of view difficult to follow along and understand what events are occurring around the main characters. But with this book, I thought that it worked with Joe and the author very skillfully crafted his growing obsession throughout it. 
I also enjoyed how Beck wasn't this perfect, virginal character that was naive throughout the whole book. In the beginning, it seems that she is naive because she doesn't recognize his growing obsession, but in the end, she knew what was going on but she was enjoying the obsession. It shows that anyone could be stalked, not just this virginal perfect woman. 
However, I was able to tell what was going to happen mostly throughout the end. While they were fighting and to the struggle and eventual death, in the end, I could tell that was going to happen and I wish there was more second-guessing throughout it. I also feel that the ending was somewhat rushed, as Joe glossed over the fact that "Dr." Nicky was arrested and framed for Beck's murder. The book was long enough to expand on other scenes that didn't need that much elaboration, but in the end, everything was rushed. I also didn't like how it was going to continue on to the next book where he becomes obsessed with another woman because it seems like the next books in the series is going to follow the same plot line. I'm not sure whether or not I want to read the following books in the series, but I might read Hidden Bodies to see if it is going to be similar to the first book.

*** NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES *** 'Thriller of the Year' Daily Mail 'Hypnotic and scary' Stephen King 'Examines the fine line between seduction and stalking . . . Ludicrously readable' Guardian When aspiring writer Guinevere Beck strides into the bookstore where Joe works, he is instantly smitten. But there's more to Joe than Beck realises and much more to Beck than her perfect facade. And the obsessive relationship quickly spirals into a whirlwind of deadly consequences... A chilling account of unrelenting, terrifying deceit, Caroline Kepnes' You is a thriller more perversely clever and dangerously twisted than any YOU have ever read. 'I am RIVETED, AGHAST, AROUSED, you name it. The rare instance when prose and plot are equally delicious' Lena Dunham 'Brilliant thriller with attitude, guts and true insight into the nature of obsession' Sophie Hannah 'A fantastically creepy thriller... The kind of book you put your life on hold for' Glamour 'Clever and chilling' Elle 'A brilliant tale... It's Gone Girl meets a sinister version of Girls' Marie Claire 'An addictive thriller!' Closer

Reread review - god this book was purely amazing. Things I missed the first time reading that I picked up this time. Joe is the character I love but hate. Can’t wait to read the rest 

Original review -Predictable in parts. Altogether a great read, surprising I really enjoyed reading this.

Jasmine

Positively creepy!! You is twisted and unsettling. I felt off balance the entire time I was reading it but also completely drawn in by Joe's narrative. This book was AMAZING I love how much it messes with your head. It makes you take a step back and see things from a different perspective, which was absolutely terrifying and completely intriguing. This is a thriller that is clever and well thought, completely puts you in the mind of a psychopath. 

I actually started You in the summer when I was staying with my friend at her cabin but stopped because being in the middle of nowhere with a basement all to myself at night, and a giant window facing the woods was not the ideal location to pick up a stalker book haha. Don't know why it took me until today to pick it back up again but I'm so glad I did because I devoured it in one sitting and couldn't put it down. Thinking about how easy it was for Joe to infiltrate Beck's life makes my skin crawl! It really makes you think about how much of our lives are connected to social media and much someone can know you without you even really knowing them! All I can say is this is the kind of book that will play with your mind long after you've closed the book and yeah I kinda love that.

Shareca

YOU #1
Caroline Kepnes
★★★★★

Amazingly, I enjoy Joe Goldberg more on paper than I do in the series format. I enjoy both quite a lot, but Kepnes's Joe Goldberg is unsurpassed. Not only is he charismatic, soulful, and a stalker, but he is also brilliant and hilarious. Joe Goldberg's performance in 'YOU' makes me laugh more than Penn Badgley's. Several lines in this novel made me laugh aloud because they were so distinctly Joe that no one else would have thought or said them. Joe, as he exists in Kepnes' novel, is more fully developed, but Beck, as she appears in Kepnes' novel, is also more complex. Her qualities include narcissism, insensitivity, and boredom. The lack of excitement in her life leads to Joe, in some ways, gaining empathy from me because she lives such an unfulfilling life; for one to be obsessed with her and then murder for her is a shame. In reality, Beck's life was much worse than what was depicted in the show, but this added to her appeal as an intriguing enigma.

I enjoy the way that the novel plays with morality more, dealing with this concept of Joe bending the rules sometimes and being in the right. It is true that he is in the wrong, but it is also true that he is right. The novel prompts me to consider the sensible qualities of Joe and his ability to have such a traumatic past, which causes me to feel pity for him in some ways. Joe Goldberg comes to mind as the pinnacle of morality, of good and evil, of what makes a person good and what makes a person evil. How would Joe's characteristics define him as either good or bad? I am compelled to consider the many facets of who people present themselves personally and as they present themselves online and through social media. Joe is not right all of the time, but he is absolutely wonderful when he is. 

"I’m more like Santa Claus because I brought an acrylic jacket for that Bellow, so the bitch should say thank you." 161

Olivia

It only took me a year but I finally got around to finishing it. I did enjoyed this book but I'm not so sure that I will continue on with the next one...

You A Novel

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