Audiobook: You by Caroline Kepnes

You by Caroline Kepnes
Narrated by Santino Fontana

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio | September 2014
Format: Audio Download | 11 hours
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
Rating: 5 stars

My Thoughts:

This was an obsessive, addictive read. My desire to know how this scenario was going to play-out made me feel a little creepy, but I couldn’t stop listening to it. It’s not so much that I liked these characters; no, it was like watching a train wreck in slow motion and not being able to look away.

Joe is a stalker. From the day he encounters Beck in the bookstore, his desire to know everything about her, to control her, becomes an obsession. He steals her phone, he reads her email and tweets, he schemes to get rid of her sometimes boyfriend, Benji, he intensely dislikes one of her friends.

What makes this book so compulsive is the way it is written from the point of view of Joe, the stalker. But it’s not written in the first person – it’s written in the second person, and it is very, very effective. Joe rambles on to himself at length attempting to justify his actions, all the while explaining them to Beck who he refers to as… You.

I can’t recall another second personal narrative I’ve enjoyed this much. The dialog is clever, the story twisted and original. The author effectively gets into the head of a psychopath and we get a peek at what he’s thinking. And it’s not just his thoughts about Beck and her friends. He has disdain for the bookstore customers and their reading choices. He goes into a hysterical rant about the type of customers buying the new Stephen King book, Doctor Sleep, on release day…

6:08 and the next dude in line is buying the new King and The Shining just to be bold — he calls The Shining a prequel and I want to cut his face — and what an awful world it is out there, Beck. What a miracle that you came in here, so happy, when most of the people who come in are so miserable, everyone except for you and me and Curtis, who holds the door for Mr. Shining and starts with his bullshit.

Ummm, note that Beck is not there. The stalker is talking to himself, to You. And he does like King, just not his readers. And the rant continues.

I alternated between feeling terrified by Joe and the thought that there are people like him walking the streets, to feeling sorry for him and coming dangerously close to empathizing with him! He is so needy at times. And then there’s that cage he has in the basement and I am back to feeling creepy.

The book has been described as a romantic thriller because (without getting spoilery) Beck and Joe do
get together, sort of. And in a way, they are perfect for each other… or maybe I should say, deserve each other.

Audio production

The audio was narrated by Santino Fontana, a new voice for me, and he did a fantastic job making me think I was listening to an obsessive, unbalanced person. He portrayed Joe with emotion and feeling… kind, impatient, angry, frustrated… easily switching between Joe’s many moods. It added to the aura of unease knowing that someone like Joe was watching Beck’s every move, or could be watching any of us!

One warning – there is some explicit sexual content and more than a few swear words. While I thought the audio enhanced the book, hearing rather than reading may not be for everyone. If this doesn’t bother you, then definitely try the audio. [Audio sample HERE.]

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Source: Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster.
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