Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - You

"The only thing crueler than a cage so small that a bird can't fly is a cage so large that a bird thinks it can fly."

Do you know what scares me the most about this book? It is not the fact that Kepnes was capable of writing it from a psychopath's PoV and make it so incredibly credible. It is not the fact that the book shows us how easily we could suffer the same fate as Beck, because we never know who the people we find in a daily basis really are. What scares me the most is the fact that somehow I found myself cheering for Joe, that Kepnes was capable of making me actually like a psycho.

I can't even put into words what I felt while I read, from Joe's PoV, what it was like to gradually take control over Beck's life, without her realizing that. It is fucked up, it is scary, it is insane. And yet it is also... amazing?! Because Beck is not the only one being manipulated, we are manipulated too. He truly believes he and Beck are meant to be together and in his mind everything he is doing is acceptable. And he is so persuasive, everything sounds so natural that many times I found myself, even if just for a few seconds, believing him, his reasons and trying to justify his actions. For me, that is the ultimate proof of what a good writer Caroline Kepnes is.

Joe's twisted personality is also the reason you can't feel boring while reading this book, even if sometimes the pace is a little bit slow. His charm that makes you like him despite all the bad things, his intelligence and his humor make this book not only interesting but also unique as we get a very different kind of main character, engaging the reader.

What I admire the most, though, is Kepnes' talent when Beck is concerned. Her life is told from the second person as it is Joe who describes it. That's probably the most difficult person to use and yet Kepnes does it perfectly. We are really seeing Beck through Joe's eyes and feeling her emotions as Joe interprets them, which makes Beck quite more interesting than she really is (I feel like she would be a really boring and annoying character if it would have been written either in the first or third person).

However, I felt like a part of this book that was unrealistic. I mean, how many people who clearly need help because something's wrong with them can someone put in a book and still make it credible? Definitely not as many as Kepnes put in You. There's not even one sane person around! Joe is a crazy psycopath, Beck has very concerning issues, her friend needs help as soon as possible and her psychologist should rethink his choice of helping others improve their mental health. I am not saying they aren't credible as individuals, but for Beck to be able to surrond herself with so many people like this, even if she is such an attention-seeker?! Very unlikely. The only reason I can think of for all these characters to be like this is the narrator. He is unreliable, so how can you be sure they really are like this? And yet, if they aren't really like this, Kepnes should have put somehting in the book, a clue (no matter how small) that would show us the characters are not quite as Joe describes them and she didn't do it.

But those characters being like that only made it easier for Kepnes to make her advice loud and clear. Being Joe the one who makes the message stronger. Kepnes alerts us to the risks of social media that we all are vulnerable to. Joe got obsessed with Beck since the very first time he sees her. And yet all he needed was a quick check to social media to know everything about her. No following her around for a week or so, just a quick stalk to her social media accounts and he got all the information he needed - where she lives, what she likes, who her friends are. A few minutes on the Internet and Joe got a really good and reliable picture of who was Beck and what her life was like.

Overall, do not come to this book looking for romance. At all. This is not a romance. It is a creepy story told from the PoV of a dangerous, charming and manipulative psychopath you can't help but like, which will make you question your own sanity. But too many troubled characters aside, it is an excellent book and passes a really important message about the dangers we are all vulnerable to in this digital era. And this is without any doubts a refreshing reading for everyone out there who is tired of the typical good and perfect protagonist authors love to offer us.

"Happiness is believing that you're gonna be happy. It's hope."

Content Warnings

detectiveblythe's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm fairly certain we were never meant to like any of the characters, just watch a twisted tragedy unfold.

Content Warnings

dorianlecter's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

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