A review by unnamed_individual
You by Caroline Kepnes

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

3.25

1. Organization: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The book is organized in chronological order. Each chapter is easy to understand. Almost every book gets the organization star. 

2. Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story has a strong plot. One man falls deep in love with a woman, who is extremely imperfect. In fact, she is a very seductive and narcissistic woman who want love, attention, and desire from her friends and lovers. The issue is, Joe, the main character) is so driven by love, he ends of killing someone. And while the plot is interesting, I took out two stars because the story is not that interesting that I want to continue reading. There is no plot twist or surprise. Everything is very predictable. I did not care for the characters. The ending did not make me want more. It is unlikely that I will read the next book without checking out the reviews and the star rating first. Most of all, there was absolutely no character development. Joe is a narcissist sociopath without a shred of empathy towards others. Naturally, he never learns from his mistakes, and he justifies everything by blaming the other person. He had no fear, and if he did, the writing didn’t show me that. Even his anger, which he expresses frequently, is dulled by his antisocial personality. 

3. Writing Style: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Written in first and second person. As the book shows, it is called “You” because he speaks very fondly of one woman and calls her you through out the entire book. There were many moments in the book where I’m I was in awe of the beauty of the writing. It had quotable phrases (which I didn’t save, whoops). Since the book is in first and second perspective, it kept the reader engaged in the content just to continue reading the oddity of the writing.  I removed a star because after half the book, the writing loses that artistic touch and becomes hurried and lackluster. 

4. Audience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Let me list the genre of this book according to Goodreads: thriller, fiction, mystery, contemporary, audiobook, adult, horror, suspense, crime. Personally, as someone that loves a good mystery that ups my heart rate, this book did not meet up to standard. If someone were to ask me for a thriller or suspense, I would NOT recommend this book. I felt bored throughout the book and honestly didn’t see any mystery. It was obvious what was going to happen the second the character came to scene. However, this book retains 3 stars because it does meat the crime, horror, and contemporary genres. It opens the reader into the world of a serial killer. The reader understands how easy it is for one to draw in his victim. It was genuinely disturbing how manipulative, sneaky, and deceiving he is. 

5. Lasting Impact: ⭐️
Absolutely no lasting impact. It gets one star because it did show me how well a serial killer can deceive their closest friends and family into believing he is an innocent and kindhearted man. I don’t think I finished this book feeling like a new person with newfound knowledge. 

Final verdict: the average for this book is 3.2 rounded to 3.25!

Review criteria taken from: https://medium.com/@sarinarmichel/book-review-criteria-6c7f37fab62d

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