Book Review: You

It’s so weird why I picked this up. On the front cover is a line about not everyone wants to be followed…I immediately thought of previous social media books I loved and grabbed You by Caroline Kepnes. So not what I thought.

Basic Summary (Courtesy of Goodreads):

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 thoughts:

Dark, this book is madly dark.

It’s also 80-90% stream of consciousness so be prepared for a heavy lack of interaction. I loved the style but at several points it dragged for me and I found myself skimming pages looking for something to actually happen.

I found all the behavior totally believable. People do indeed act this way. Humans are flawed.

This is totally the opposite of the way I write. I am all action, either in movement or dialogue. This is all one man’s head but it was compelling. Possibly because it’s one of my own short comings. That stream of consciousness style.