YOU, Horror Romance Book Review

You by author Caroline Kepnes

If you are the kind of person who would read You, you’ve probably already seen the very popular Netflix adaptation. I saw the first season of the show first. Then I gave it enough time to kind of forget what happened and then tried out the book. I was not disappointed.

If you are like me, you like stories about obsession. Probably too much. I have a weird bias toward these stalker stories. Can’t get enough! I honestly don’t know what it is about them. Maybe that I’m so generally apathetic about things in my real life I like to see passion of any kind, even if it’s unhealthy. I just don’t know what it’s like to be that into anything!

But anyway, You. It’s about a creepy creepy dude who creepily falls in obsession with a super basic bitch who turns out to have some serious mental damage of her own.

Both of the main characters are extremely unlikable. But author Kepnes handles this with aplomb. She understands how to use the off putting nature of the characters to the benefit of the story. The reader definitely gets engaged with the outcome, and is unsure if they are hoping for a happy ending or not.

By the last third of the book I got lost in the relationship before me. I got tangled up in the high intensity passion of it all. Almost to the point of forgetting all of the very terrible things that led up to it. It was fascinating. Usually I hate stories where I don’t like the characters but these shitty people were all shitty in ways that complimented each other.

Personally, I wouldn’t have anything to do with these people in real life. I have nothing in common with the female love interest Beck and I see right through stalker boy Joe’s pretentious facade. But reading about them is captivating.

It’s a well written page turner that can be binged just as easily as the show. It has a good balance of sex and violence. Completely and utterly unrealistic sex and violence but it’s fun and that’s enough sometimes.

I’m curious to see how the sequel plays out. Mostly because I don’t need one. The ending sets it up for basically the exact same story to play out over again but there must be more to explore that I’m not seeing. If you’ve read it let me know in the comments!

I might get to it eventually some day. I think You scratched my obsession itch for a while. It checks all of the boxes and is actually well written, a huge bonus.

Whether you’ve seen the show or not, You is a gripping thriller that will definitely keep you busy for the weekend.

4/5 creepy dude in the shadows 👤👤👤👤

For more romance horror thriller check out Petrified Women.

in order to keep me up to my ears in books please consider using the following amazon affiliate link to purchase this product. it’s at no extra cost to you and would really help me out, thank you and happy reading!

Buy it here: You: A Novel (1) (The You Series)