Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

You by Caroline Kepnes

15 reviews

luzzemilee's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Stalking, and Death

Minor: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Toxic friendship, and Confinement

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

kelseyr713's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

2.5

As you can see, this took me a long time to read. For whatever reason, I wasn’t compelled to find out what happened next, and it’s both tedious and upsetting to be in the protagonist’s head for too long. Can’t believe there are THREE more books in this series - how does he keep getting away with this??? Also feels dated in a few ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Alcohol and Car accident

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

louisallama's review against another edition

dark medium-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

3.75

A great example of an unlikeable character who is still enjoyable to read about. Seriously the levels of delusion this man has reached are beyond measure

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Confinement, and Gaslighting

lovelydeadgirl's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Murder, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

phantomgecko's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

A stream of consciousness from a misogynistic narcissist. Pretty disgusting tbh. Originally I tried to listen to the audiobook, but it was too intense. This is a book where the language really bothered me. Extremely vulgar and obscene. Very much reminded me of the internet, esp Reddit, which obvs was the goal.

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.

See also Dr. Nicky.

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?

Here is a guy that murders four people by the end of the book, and frames another guy for one of the murders. This isn't a crime mystery, so the fact he gets away with everything shouldn't hold you up. Willing suspension of disbelief and all. But he actively and repeatedly blames every victim for their own murder. Most psychotic of all, he kills Beck, starts freaking out because he didn't mean it, realizes she's actually still alive, and then kills her again IMMEDIATELY and then cries because it's all her fault.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

Moderate: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Bullying, Confinement, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, and Mental illness

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

marisabenn'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

5.0

OH MY GOOOOOOSH THIS BOOK!!

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Mental illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Drug use

maisiehuntington123's review

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual content, and Gaslighting

matty254's review

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Cursing, Violence, Death, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, and Misogyny