You by Caroline Kepnes (2014)

Joe, a bookstore clerk, will do anything to win the love of his obsession.

Book Review: You wasn't bad. I didn't hate it. But everyone loved this more than I did. Maybe it's just me, maybe I had a headache, maybe I shouldn't have read You after reading Room. Maybe I don't find stalkers all that funny. For me the first half was painfully slow going, predictable, I didn't buy into the characters, they seemed unreal, almost comic book or just over the top. In the second half the story picked up, the characters became more believable, and I started to speculate where the plot was going. Still, I don't get why so many people are enamored with our narrator Joe, the murderous stalker. There was a lot of detailed social media hacking going on, which gave You a contemporary take on the traditional stalking story, and Joe's cyber stalking talents may make him seem cool. The narrator also suffers from class rage, and repeatedly rants about the hipster, richie, yuppie scum (who all deserve to die) he encounters while stalking his prey. He also has a sarcastic, gimlet-eyed sense of humor, but since much of the humor seemed obvious it didn't hit my funny bone. You reminded me of some distant cousin of Dexter, but without the charm or sense of mission, maybe Dexter-lite. Which led me to conclude that we like Dexter because he's handsome, charming, and only kills bad guys; he's what we want our serial killers to be. And Joe is what we want our stalkers to be. He mostly only kills rich, white people. He's funny, bookish, romantic, and in love, like an awkward, overeager but unfortunately homicidal boyfriend, instead of a real stalker driven by rage, power, and control determined to force his victim into a life of fear. Of course, they both kill and rape. But all is forgiven so long as you're funny, quirky, and clever. And You comes in a nice acceptable package. Caroline Kepnes can write, the writing was fine, the tone was consistent, but You just didn't work for me beyond the average thriller stalker novel. As you can see from the ratings, however, I'm in the minority on this one and the masses, everyone and their cousin, have roared their approval. [2.5 Stars]