Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

You by Caroline Kepnes

41 reviews

kiwichill's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

Not for the faint hearted, this book is very twisted and dark and graphic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Stalking, Gore, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Suicide, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Excrement, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gaslighting, Classism, and Confinement

Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Alcohol, and Drug use

Very graphic tale from the POV of a stalker obsessed with a girl after a brief encounter. I watched the series so I knew how this obsession takes over and leads to violence. There is nothing redeeming about the character Joe. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the book, more like disturbed by its nature

urfriendash's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• 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

CHILLING........

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)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Murder, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Toxic friendship, Torture, Physical abuse, Stalking, Medical content, and Gaslighting

lots of perverted content

fkshg8465's review

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I never planned on reading this, but a colleague said she enjoyed it better than the show. I generally enjoy the shows more than the books. This was the situation this time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Stalking, Torture, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Gaslighting

te_ss_i's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic friendship, Genocide, Infidelity, Torture, Alcohol, Drug use, Addiction, Stalking, Car accident, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Abortion, Murder, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Violence

bmhafelein78's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Abandonment

bethw009's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Stalking

Moderate: Physical abuse and Kidnapping

snowhite197's review

adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

david_slack110507's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

I've had this on my tbr list for a good while however after I watched the series on Netflix (and thoroughly loved it) I was hesitant about whether to read the book until I learned that the books are pretty different to the adaptation with this one being the most faithful and even this book is different to the series adaptation. Some of the changes the series made I liked and preferred what was in the book however I do prefer other aspects of the book over the tv show. 

I listened to the audiobook version of this book on Audible and I really think that's one of the best ways to experience this story, Santino Fontana really nails it at playing Joe and showing just how unhinged yet deluded he really is, something I think the book does better than the TV show adaptation. In the show and specifically the first season (Which adapts the first book in the You series), Joe is a much more complex character than he is in the book in terms of morality. In the show, we learn bits about his past with it having an abusive and toxic environment that he grew up in and we also see him trying to help Paco out of the same situation as he sees himself in Paco's situation, this acts as a way to humanise Joe combined with the fact that because it is told from his perspective means that his actions despite how despicable they are and then combated with Joe being a 'nice' person. It creates a contrast and I do think that while it's evident that Joe is a horrible person, these added complexities mean that he could be viewed as not entirely evil. 

The book completely goes against this instead having no situations where Joe is seen as potentially a flawed person. There is no Paco and any situations involving him hurting others are played out exactly as they should be, Joe is portrayed as the monster that he is. I think both the TV show and the book have very interesting takes on Joe and they both work: Showcasing Joe as the monster he is shows that the book isn't trying to romanticise his behaviour however having a multi-dimensional and complex version of Joe as seen in the TV show results in a much more interesting character. 

I actually feel most if not all the changes the show makes were for the better: In the show, the women are much more capable, sure they have their issues but, in the book, they are portrayed as being completely useless and defences which is most likely done on purpose to feed into Joe's heroic narrative/saviour complex. However, in the show, they are able to take care of themselves to some degree. 

I also want to point out that I really did like this especially for the fact that it didn't romanticise Joe's actions, despite all the comparisons I have to the show I still think that this stands well on its own and I do feel like while I prefer the show's adaptation/interpretation, this was still very strong and acted as a strong commentary on the 'nice guy' culture. Overall, a very strong start to the series and I'm very interested in where the series goes from here as well as how different it will be from the Netflix show. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Cursing, Death, Sexism, Murder, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

Moderate: Blood, Deadnaming, and Grief

Minor: Mental illness, Death of parent, Alcohol, Homophobia, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

charkelley's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

4.0

Probably would have liked this a lot less if I hadn’t listened to the audiobook. The narrator does a fantastic job. 

You is essentially about a deeply troubled psychopath who falls into obsession with a deeply troubled writer, though Beck’s selfish tendencies certainly didn’t warrant her gruesome demise. Joe’s narration was the best part. Still managed to be funny while making me want to scrub my skin raw with a sponge.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

coco78337's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Confinement, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Car accident, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, and Sexual harassment