Review: You by Caroline Kepnes (audio)

Title: You

Author: Caroline Kepnes

Series: You, #1

Narrator: Santino Fontana

Published: September 2014, Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: 11 hours 6 minutes

Source: Personal copy via Audible

Summary: 

When a beautiful,
aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe
Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her
credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City.
She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe
everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went
to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar
in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As
Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he
orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his
waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself
into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that
stand in their way—even if it means murder.

My thoughts: So I know I am totally late to this party, but WOW…this book is so dark and twisted! I had heard about this book a while back and even went so far as to purchase it from Audible but never got around to listening to it. So why now? Because it’s going to be made into a TV adaption on Lifetime and I am totally going to be watching it…but of course I need to read the book first – obviously!

As crazy and twisted as this book is – I found it so clever and compelling. I was totally captivated and couldn’t put it down. Yes, it’s told from a sociopath’s point of view, but somehow it just draws you in, keeping you engaged. It definitely is not a book for everyone – there are some disturbing scenes that will turn people off, but if you can get past that, it’s quite an interesting read.

Deep down, this is Joe’s love story to Beck, the woman he becomes completely obsessed with after meeting her when she comes into his bookstore. It is addicting to watch what lengths he goes to to get Beck to become his…and those lengths are downright scary and unsettling at times. This book is ones of those reads where the deeper you get into it, the harder you will find it to walk away from…it’s that engrossing. 

If you like obsessive, manipulative, crazy romances – this is the book for you! I cannot wait to pick up book 2 in this series, and of course, I am so psyched for the TV adaption of this book…I don’t know how it will compare to this book, but I definitely plan on watching! Will you?

 

 

Audio thoughts: This audio book rocked because of the narrator, Santino Fontana…he was the perfect voice for Joe…creepy and stalkerish, and just made the book, and more importantly, Joe’s character, come to life. I don’t know if I would have “enjoyed” this book as much had I read the print version – I think this book was made for audio with Santino Fontana as the narrator in mind! I know for sure that I am definitely listening to the second book, Hidden Bodies, because Santino is narrating, and I cannot wait! I mean, I would listen to him narrate a phone book – he is that good! He does an amazing job with the different voices and his pacing and tone are spot on. 

Books in this series:

1. You
2. Hidden Bodies