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luzzemilee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Stalking, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
urfriendash's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
so i bought this because i loved the show, and everyone told me 'joe is so much darker in the book!' and i was like okay ill bite
i don't think joe is like super darker in this, but because we are limited to his inner dialogue in the show, we miss out on some of the crazy creepy stuff he thinks about. plus, the show made a lot of changes to the plot. like the paco plot doesn't exist in the books, and yk in the show ur like 'oh he a terrible guy but at least he's helping paco' well you cant say that in the book..
this book was actually scary, not cuz of some monster or vampire yk but because this could happen to anyone irl! plenty of people don't figure out their being stalked for years.. joes narrating was so crazy to me, like people actually think this shit. he's super perverted and he's great at gaslighting and manipulating!
anyway super good book, very disturbing, anddddd id say 13+. if your mature. there's a bunch of perverted stuff and sex scenes, as well as detailing of murder and stalking (obviously)
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
lots of perverted contentkelseyr713's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Car accident and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
louisallama's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, and Gaslighting
lovelydeadgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
phantomgecko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Think of the whiniest, most foul-mouthed little incel you can, and that's this dude. Note how many times he refers to women as objects. How many times he reduces Beck to her sexual availability or genitals. How many times he misinterprets media to justify his actions. Also, lol at how judgmental he is about books. I think this is a more fun variation than being super judgmental about music or comics or video games.
Joe is seven layers of delusional, from thinking Beck is obsessed with him to awaiting the collapse of the internet so he can lord it over with his typewriters to thinking he ever helped anyone. However, some of what I thought he was making up at the beginning turned out to be close to the truth. Like how he says that Beck loves attention and is an exhibitionist. Still, I'd categorize him as an unreliable narrator.
Beck isn't a great person either. She has real issues and a way annoying personality. Joe's observation that she wants to be a writer more than she wants to write is spot on. Nevertheless, a victim is a victim whether or not they are "innocent" or you personally dislike them.
One of the book club questions at the end asked something along the lines of, "did you find yourself wishing Joe would be punished for his crimes or did you want him to get away with it?" And like... ?????????? If you found yourself sympathetic to Joe's self-imposed, imaginary, selfish plight, maybe you need help too?
I honestly cannot adequately express how despicable the main character is. I understand that that is the point. I feel dirty for reading this book, tbh, and I'm not continuing the series. Joe is too accurately written, and that's too depressing for me.
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism
snowhite197's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
marisabenn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is by far the creepiest book I have ever read. Being inside of Joe's head is amazing and disturbing. You get to experience how screwed up he is, but from his perspective it's everyone else that's messed up.
Beck was just awful. I hated her and her friends so much. I never really felt sad when they died, but I was never rooting for them to be killed. Joe is definitely the bad guy here, no gray areas at all.
I probably won't watch the show, and I don't think I'll continue with the series either. This was a good standalone and I like the way it ended.
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Drug use, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
maisiehuntington123's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting
matty254's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, and Murder