You by Caroline Kepnes is a love story. The most sick and twisted love story you’ve ever read (barring Twilight, of course).
Joe, who is handsome and well read, works in a trendy Manhattan bookstore where he meets Guinevere Beck. Joe is at first drawn to Beck’s good looks, but he decides he’s in love after they engage in playful banter about the faults of The Davinci Code and the people who buy it.
Beck pays for her purchases—which are books Joe approves of, of course—with a credit card, which he takes as a sign that she wants him to know who she is. After all, there’s only one Guinevere Beck in the world.
Joe uses the internet to find out where Beck lives, and begins to stalk her nightly. He reads every tweet, every Facebook post—anything Beck puts out into the internet is tucked away into Joe’s Beck collection. After breaking into her apartment and stealing her email passwords, and later her cell phone, he figures out exactly what Beck wants in a man—and who he must become to obtain her.
Through a series of conniving moves, Joe inserts himself into Beck’s life. Because he knows everything she thinks (from reading the constant texts, emails, and tweets she sends), he appears to be the perfect boyfriend, attuned to her every wish.
Beck just has no idea he’s also a violent, murdering stalker willing to do anything to be with her.
Joe Goldberg is a complete and total sociopath who definitely belongs behind bars for the multitude of crimes he’s committed. But, he’s also hilarious, witty, and disturbingly easy to relate to—which is where You gets interesting.
You is both utterly terrifying and darkly comedic. As the reader, you see the world through Joe’s eyes, and his obsession is made even more frightening because it is told to, well, You. You is the only book I have ever read that is told in second-person narrative, which makes it all the more creepy because when Joe is talking about Beck, he refers to her as “you”. It is completely and entirely original.
Although you know you shouldn’t, often times you find yourself rooting for Joe (and have to remind yourself to sit down and think about that for a minute), because he’s smart, funny, and says the things we often think. His internal monologue is creepy, but it’s also what carries the story—Joe’s mind is fascinating to inhabit, and his fresh voice and multitude of pop culture references paint him as a weirdly relatable guy.
You is the depraved love child of Gone Girl and American Psycho you didn’t even know you wanted, perfect for people who enjoyed Dexter. It’s also as much of a horror story as it is a cautionary tale—and food for thought—about what we decide to share about ourselves online. Also, Shotime is currently making it into a TV show, so you should totally read it before you watch it.