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A review by cindymajor
You by Caroline Kepnes
3.0
Is it bad when you read a book about a girl being stalked and you don't really feel that bad for her? I don't know what I was expecting from this book when I bought it, but the story was not at all what I had envisioned, in big part because I never expected to not feel bad for a character being stalked.
I found Beck a hard character to have empathy for. I found her to be flaky and shallow, and while I don't think anyone deserve to be stalked, no matter how bad of a person they might be, I could almost empathize more with Joe's ardent desire to love and be loved, even though he went about it in the worst possible manner. The way Beck is using Joe, especially in the first half of the book, was almost bothering me as much as the blatant invasion of privacy on his part.
Halfway through the book. I had a look at a few YouTube videos about the TV show. Didn't watch the show itself, just interviews, but hearing from the author and the producer about what they were trying to get across with the story made me see the rest of the book in a different light.
Another element that knocked stars off is the writing. The ideas are all jumbled and the end of the sentence does not always seem to go with the beginning. Many times, I went back to reread sentences, trying to make sense of it. I kept reminding myself it was probably meant to show that Joe's thoughts are all over the map and that he keeps jumping from one thought to the next, but that made for a difficult reading. I was also taken aback by the crude language and graphic content - did not expect it and that affected my appreciation of the book as well.
*2.5 stars*
I found Beck a hard character to have empathy for. I found her to be flaky and shallow, and while I don't think anyone deserve to be stalked, no matter how bad of a person they might be, I could almost empathize more with Joe's ardent desire to love and be loved, even though he went about it in the worst possible manner. The way Beck is using Joe, especially in the first half of the book, was almost bothering me as much as the blatant invasion of privacy on his part.
Halfway through the book. I had a look at a few YouTube videos about the TV show. Didn't watch the show itself, just interviews, but hearing from the author and the producer about what they were trying to get across with the story made me see the rest of the book in a different light.
Another element that knocked stars off is the writing. The ideas are all jumbled and the end of the sentence does not always seem to go with the beginning. Many times, I went back to reread sentences, trying to make sense of it. I kept reminding myself it was probably meant to show that Joe's thoughts are all over the map and that he keeps jumping from one thought to the next, but that made for a difficult reading. I was also taken aback by the crude language and graphic content - did not expect it and that affected my appreciation of the book as well.
*2.5 stars*