Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "you"

You by Caroline Kepnes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An intense psychological thriller that approaches the romance genre from an unconventional angle; the first in a series by Caroline Kepnes, which has been adapted as a TV series, with a second series currently in production by Netflix.

Joe Goldberg runs a bookstore, watching the comings and goings of his customers on a daily basis. When Guinevere Beck, known to her friends as Beck, becomes one of his customers, he is instantly and deeply attracted to her – an aspiring writer, witty and gorgeous, she’s probably the woman of his dreams. So, he begins to follow her, watching her at home, in her intimate moments, when she’s with her boyfriend and friends and generally living her daily life. A near-fatal moment at a train station provides Joe his opportunity to enter Beck’s life, escalating his already barely controlled obsession.

They begin to develop a relationship, while Joe continues to stalk Beck, gaining an insight into her innermost thoughts and feelings, the true nature of her relationships with friends and family, and how she really feels about him. It soon becomes clear that Beck has her own demons and that this collision between them may have drastic and tragic consequences.

The novel’s core strength is the relationship between Joe and Beck, capturing both the addictive romance between them and Joe’s burgeoning obsession perfectly, laced with eroticism and fantasy, building to several tense moments. Joe’s violent interactions with other characters are secondary to his encounters with Beck and at times feel like mere distractions, though this is in keeping with the psychological realism – Beck is the centre of his world and everything and everyone else fades in comparison, and the reader is drawn in and taken along with his obsession.

There are several tense, escalating scenes throughout the novel, where you expect Joe's world to come crashing down in the next moment, all leading to a thrilling climax as Joe and Beck's relationship finally implodes.

Addictive and lightning-paced, ‘You’ is an exciting debut novel – I will be eagerly reading the sequel ‘Hidden Bodies’ as well as Kepnes’ standalone novel – ‘Providence’. She is also working on a third and fourth in this series; no doubt there is much more intensity and obsession to come.



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Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Immerse yourself in a world of obsession as Joe Goldberg returns in Caroline Kepnes’ sequel to ‘You’, adapted for the second season of the Netflix series.

Joe has found happiness – there is a new woman in his life, Amy, who is seemingly perfect for him. She shares a love for rare books and he has employed her as his assistant at the bookstore. Her eccentricities match him own and they enjoy a passionate sex life – Joe is content and in love. But there is something he cannot quite dismiss from his mind – the minor errors he made in his past crimes. He knows that these mistakes, no matter how small, may result in his undoing.

But soon he has a new problem dominating his thoughts. Consumed by rage and a thirst for revenge, he pursues his victim to Hollywood – where he finds life is entirely different and that navigating this world while staying off the grid will prove challenging when everyone has a hunger for fame, living their lives through social media; yet there is little substance beneath this veneer. Joe carves out a new identity for himself and soon meets the perfect woman, Love – beautiful, talented; Joe is soon besotted with her.

But every new relationship has its challenges and, no matter how much he wants to move on with his new life, Joe is finding the past has a long reach. No matter how much time passes, hidden bodies always threaten to resurface.

Delving back into Joe’s world was so much fun. Witty, devious, relentless; Joe is a fantastic character to go on a journey with, at times reminiscent of Patrick Bateman (‘American Psycho’). He takes us to sun-soaked streets, experiencing the highs and lows of Hollywood, lifting the veneer on the sad and desperate lives of the fame-hungry, experiencing the anxieties of a new relationship and falling deeply in love – for real this time. But, of course, he’s a completely unreliable narrator, isn’t he?

‘Hidden Bodies’ is a blistering thriller, building on the events of ‘You’ and concluding with a tantalising cliff-hanger that will leave you eagerly anticipating the as-yet-untitled third in the series, which Kepnes is currently working on. To experience a summer of love the predator’s way, ‘Hidden Bodies’ is the way to do it.



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You Love Me: the highly anticipated new thriller in the You series by Caroline Kepnes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Joe Goldberg returns once again with a new object of overwhelming obsession.

Having recently moved to the small community of Bainbridge, Joe is ready to begin his new life, starting with a new job at the local library. He immediately finds himself attracted to fellow librarian, Mary Kay, friendship soon blossoming between the two.

Joe is determined to behave – he’s learnt his lesson and wants to get to know Mary Kay the old-fashioned way. Yet try as he might, he must soon accept that you can escape neither the sins of the past nor the essence of your own nature.

As he becomes more entrenched in Mary Kay’s life and into the orbit of her family and friends, Joe tries desperately to navigate the peaks and troughs of this newfound relationship while attempting to keep his secrets buried deep and out of reach.

‘You Love Me’ is the third in Caroline Kepnes’ ‘You’ series, which follows the life and criminal escapades of Joe Goldberg, a serial stalker and murderer who might just be the most romantic and committed individual you could hope to meet (perspective is everything, after all) – he will do whatever it takes and never give up on you. Once again told from Joe’s point of view, he is, of course, the epitome of an unreliable narrator – at his most delusional and over-analysing brilliance, while his superficial charm, quick wit and glibness are in full evidence, making for both an hilarious and dangerous mix that threatens to explode at any given moment. Following the events of ‘Hidden Bodies’, Joe is attempting to move on from his past and build a new life, while continuing to stalk the woman with whom he was involved most recently on social media.

Meanwhile, he has found a new object of desire, in local librarian Mary Kary. Joe truly believes she may be the one, and hopes to build a new life with her and her daughter, but their relationship is far from the fantasy love story he hopes for. Hurtling from page to page, all the time following the escalating narrative within Joe’s psyche, we navigate every twist and turn, exploring themes of abuse and trauma, with brutal bursts of violence, culminating in a twist which turns the final chapters on their head, leaving Joe powerless to prevent a disastrous outcome. The main events of the novel form their own self-contained narrative, but, as with the last in the series, just as Joe believes he has been able to move on, the past comes back to haunt him. If you’ve not yet read the first two in the series, I would recommend reading them in order, though it won’t be paramount to your enjoyment if you choose to start here.

I particularly liked how the novel ended, bringing the series full circle and also demonstrating a realistic view of how a serial stalker may think and operate following another ‘heartbreak’ at the hands of a victim, with the promise of much more of Joe and his exploits to come. Caroline Kepnes has confirmed that ‘You 4’ is coming soon, with rumours that a fifth in the series is also in the works. The series continues to expand in its screen version too – though I’ve yet to watch the Netflix series adapted from the books (I know, I’m incredibly behind), which has run to three seasons so far, with a fourth currently in production, I believe it has since taken a different course to the novels, with the third book and third season presenting independent narratives. There is much exposure of Joe’s addictive personality to succumb to and more to come!

Compulsive and fast-paced, ‘You Love Me’ is a gripping, entertaining entry in a saga delving into the mind of a disturbed and dangerous man.



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