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any_direction's review against another edition
5.0
Reading is hard. By this I mean that learning how to get more things out of novels (or any media) then surface level lessons or enjoyment is a skill. Like any skill it’s better to start off with things that are easy and build your way to things that are harder.
This book is fast paced and wild ride, but what I truly appreciate is that it’s easy to see what the author is doing. The phrase “unreliable narrator” gets tossed around a lot. It was first pitched to me as the narrator lying to you, and I’ve been confused ever since. I have read many a book with an unreliable narrator, I don’t think that I totally understood what was meant by this term or how to use an unreliable narrator effectively until I read this book. The block for me I think is that unreliable narrators often aren’t lying to you, it just so happens that what they believe to be true is false. The author knows that, but the narrator doesn’t. That’s confusing, but it’s so clear that that is what’s going on in this book and now I feel more intelligent.
This book doesn’t fall for some traps that other similar books might fall into. Sometimes these kind of in your face, it has a meaning books do a lot of hand holding. They’ll straight up tell you what a symbol means, or straight up state the question on the author’s mind. This book is easy to decipher, and it knows it doesn’t have to tell you what’s going on. When you write a book from the villain's perspective it’s usually in an effort to draw some sympathy for someone who maybe is a terrible person. There’s no sympathy for Joe. He’s a creep and a murderer, everyone knows it. We get to see how Joe gets there, but never do I feel like what Joe is doing is right. This is a good thing. Also, the use of the second person is fun, and enough other things are going on that it doesn’t become tedious.
If I had to make a complaint, I’d say that the literary references are too many and I’m not familiar with most of them, but I also think that’s the point. Joe is a pretentious dude-bro, if you get all the references it’s probably because you are also a pretentious dude -bro or have spent a lot of time putting up with them. (In which case my greatest sympathies, I hope they were not a stalker/murderer.)
This book is fast paced and wild ride, but what I truly appreciate is that it’s easy to see what the author is doing. The phrase “unreliable narrator” gets tossed around a lot. It was first pitched to me as the narrator lying to you, and I’ve been confused ever since. I have read many a book with an unreliable narrator, I don’t think that I totally understood what was meant by this term or how to use an unreliable narrator effectively until I read this book. The block for me I think is that unreliable narrators often aren’t lying to you, it just so happens that what they believe to be true is false. The author knows that, but the narrator doesn’t. That’s confusing, but it’s so clear that that is what’s going on in this book and now I feel more intelligent.
This book doesn’t fall for some traps that other similar books might fall into. Sometimes these kind of in your face, it has a meaning books do a lot of hand holding. They’ll straight up tell you what a symbol means, or straight up state the question on the author’s mind. This book is easy to decipher, and it knows it doesn’t have to tell you what’s going on. When you write a book from the villain's perspective it’s usually in an effort to draw some sympathy for someone who maybe is a terrible person. There’s no sympathy for Joe. He’s a creep and a murderer, everyone knows it. We get to see how Joe gets there, but never do I feel like what Joe is doing is right. This is a good thing. Also, the use of the second person is fun, and enough other things are going on that it doesn’t become tedious.
If I had to make a complaint, I’d say that the literary references are too many and I’m not familiar with most of them, but I also think that’s the point. Joe is a pretentious dude-bro, if you get all the references it’s probably because you are also a pretentious dude -bro or have spent a lot of time putting up with them. (In which case my greatest sympathies, I hope they were not a stalker/murderer.)
emilyyyhillsss's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
“Someone will always watch over you and you believe that you are special. In the cage, you feel loved, not trapped. Just like me”
gracenick3's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent, and genre-breaking with its use of the second perspective, no wonder Netflix picked it up and it became a sensation. This is definitely my favorite book in the series.
books_with_kaumudi's review against another edition
2.0
It started ok. But then the narrative started to feel a bit repetitive. I was not interested in the main characters at all and I guess that took away a lot of my enjoyment.
jencunn2024's review against another edition
4.0
A fun and fast thriller about a sociopath who stalks, lives and obsesses over another borderline sociopath. Some surprising bits with just enough creepiness and intrigue to keep me turning pages to find out what happens next.
jennf1's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
moco71's review against another edition
4.0
This was one of the creepiest and sexiest books i've read to date...it was over 400 pages and i couldn't put it down.
hoonahm's review against another edition
2.0
Trudged through it... very slow and ends exactly how you expect. Nothing really surprising.
halthemonarch's review against another edition
4.0
My god, so scary. A brilliant look into the psychotic mind of a stalker who sees himself as an agent of karma and doesn't accept responsibility for his actions. Thank goodness its over, maybe it won't give me nightmares for very much longer ;;
What really struck me was that Beck was complicated, blase, a little flaky and self absorbed maybe, an admittedly flawed and complicated girl. She was a normal woman and her every action, from moving her hand or kissing with/without tongue, wad scrutinized. Joe projects his insecurities on her during each instance and on some level he knows its unreasonable because he insists on hiding. Its scary because he genuinely believed he was offering love to Candace and Beck only to have them MAKE him kill them. The mental gymnastics he goes through for personal redemption is alarming, to say the least.
And the Santino narration is top tier, I really enjoyed it. He has a voice for extreme nihilism.
What really struck me was that Beck was complicated, blase, a little flaky and self absorbed maybe, an admittedly flawed and complicated girl. She was a normal woman and her every action, from moving her hand or kissing with/without tongue, wad scrutinized. Joe projects his insecurities on her during each instance and on some level he knows its unreasonable because he insists on hiding. Its scary because he genuinely believed he was offering love to Candace and Beck only to have them MAKE him kill them. The mental gymnastics he goes through for personal redemption is alarming, to say the least.
And the Santino narration is top tier, I really enjoyed it. He has a voice for extreme nihilism.
athenapool's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up randomly at Barnes and Noble one day since I really enjoy the show and I have to say the show is a really good adaptation. I really enjoyed this book and how it's written, Joe is simultaneously someone you root for and someone you want to locked up forever. What's surprising is the show made him way more sympathetic and charming, in the book he does have his charms but he's also a huge pervert which he is in the show too but not nearly to the extent he is in the book. I really enjoyed being in Joe's head no matter how frustrating it was and can't wait to read the sequel. I might just buy it today.