You (Kepnes)

You 
Caroline Kepnes, 2014
Atria Books
448 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781476785608


Summary
From debut author Caroline Kepnes comes You, one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of 2014, and a brilliant and terrifying novel for the social media age.

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age. You is a compulsively readable page-turner that’s being compared to Gone Girl, American Psycho, and Stephen King’s Misery. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1977
• Where—Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA
• Education—B.A., Brown University
• Currently—lives in Los Angeles


Caroline Kepnes is a native of Cape Cod and the author of many published short stories. After graduating from Brown University, Caroline moved to New York where she covered pop culture for Entertainment Weekly and Tiger Beat.

She also worked as a staff writer on the first season of ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Caroline’s second novel, Hidden Bodies, is the follow-up to her debut novel, You, which was optioned by Showtime.

Caroline now lives in Los Angeles, where she writes fiction, drinks artificially sweetened caffeinated beverages, and avoids freeways. (From the publisher.)

Visit the author's website.
Follow Caroline on Facebook.

Book Reviews
Both original and compelling. If you only read one new thriller this year, make it this one. It will stay with you long after you have put it down.
Geoffrey Wansell - Daily Mail (UK)


This is one of the most unsettling books I’ve read this year, but despite being thoroughly creeped out, I couldn’t put it down even for a second. It’s narrated by the villain, which makes for a rather unnerving read. I even found myself accidentally rooting for him as he was about to commit pretty heinous crimes. Whoops.
Bustle


If you liked GONE GIRL’S portrayal of a marriage in decline, the demented love story at the heart of YOU will have you gripped….This book will give you Stockholm syndrome.
Harpers Bazaar (UK)


A brilliant tale of obsessive love...it's Gone Girl meets a sinister version of Girls.
Marie Claire (UK)


You think you know the story: girl meets boy, boy turns out to be a murderous stalker. US journalist Kepnes' debut is a fantastically creepy thriller...the kind of book you put your life on hold for.
Glamour


A page turner...clever and chilling.
Elle (UK)


[S]eriously unsettling.... What’s most chilling about this novel, besides its plausibility, is the way in which Kepnes makes the reader empathize with Joe during the journey into his troubled mind. Her book will have readers looking over their shoulders.
Publishers Weekly


Kepnes certainly has the creepy factor down in her debut novel, taking readers deep into Joe's thoughts and feelings, to extremely suspenseful effect. And Joe is entirely believable as the stalker from hell.... [T]his will appeal to fans of psychological horror. —Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI
Library Journal


A deeply dark yet mesmerizing first novel of two people caught in a romantic tangle with an ever-tightening knot.
Booklist


Kepnes keeps the reader guessing on just how everything will implode. There's nothing romantic about Joe's preoccupation with Beck, but Kepnes puts the reader so deep into his head that delusions approach reality.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the structure of You. What’s the effect of hearing about Beck from Joe’s point of view? As you get to know Joe better, do you trust his narration? Why or why not?

2. Before Caroline Kepnes wrote You, she worked as a writer on several television series, including The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Seventh Heaven. How do you think Kepnes’s previous work influenced her writing? Did any of the scenes in You strike you as particularly cinematic? Which ones and why? Who would you cast in the roles of Beck and Joe?

3. Booklist called You “A deeply dark yet mesmerizing first novel of two people caught in a romantic tangle with an ever-tightening knot.” Discuss Beck and Joe’s relationship. What do you think they each saw in each other?

4. Of Benji, Chana says, “ You can buy him all the books in the world and he’s still gonna be Benji.” (p. 33) What does Chana mean by this statement? Did you think that Benji was a good friend to Beck? Explain your answer.

5. When Joe meets Beck he’s instantly smitten, not least because of her book choices. What books is Beck purchasing, and what does Joe think these selections say about her? What were your initial impressions of Beck? Did your opinion of her change? If so, why?

6. Joe is continuously self-conscious about his educational and personal background. How, if at all, does his lack of a college degree affect his narrative voice?

7. Beck tells her friend Peach that she loves the movie Magnolia. Peach tells her that the movie is flawed. When Joe attempts to bond with Beck over their shared love of the movie, she takes Peach’s position. Is Beck using her opinion to gain power or is she just young and figuring herself out?

8. When Joe escorts Beck to IKEA, he is disgruntled that it is not like it is in the movie (500) Days of Summer. This is one of several instances where Joe is upset by the disparities between real life and movies. Were there movies you wanted to see to enhance your reading experience of this book? And do you relate to Joe’s frustration at all?

9. Joe is devastated when he realizes that Beck was not reading The Da Vinci Code along with him. Discuss reading as a shared experience. Do you prefer to read alone or to share your progress on Goodreads?

10. In Karen Minty, Joe finds someone who is fully available. But she is not his dream girl. Do you think Joe would have been better off trying to make it work with Karen Minty?

11. Joe is frustrated that Beck can’t make it through an intimate date without tweeting about it. Joe monitors Beck through her online activity, but he does not participate in any of it. Both are extreme reactions to our increasingly connected lifestyle. How do you find balance in your own life?

12. Joe thinks of murder as an act of compassion, euthanasia for unhappy people. Joe interacts with the police on two separate occasions, but he is never arrested or charged. How does it feel to read a book with so much crime and so little punishment administered by the police?

13. Early readers and reviewers have said that reading You changes the way they think about talking to strangers and sharing information online. Did you change your passwords when you finished? Do you feel more wary of strangers, online or off?

14. In the end, Joe says that some people are destined to read a book in bed with a loved one and others are destined to be alone. Do you think this is true?

15. Joe feels that Benji is a better person because of his time in the cage. Throughout the book, Joe speaks well of his own time imprisoned in that cage. In the movie Ruthless People, Bette Midler’s character is kidnapped and she emerges as a stronger person. Discuss incarceration in storytelling. Did you ever hope that Joe would let Benji or Beck go?

16. How is New York a character in the book? Do you think it would be harder for Joe to follow Beck in a smaller town?

17. When you finished reading, did you hope that Joe might get away with murder and find love? Or do you like to think that somehow, someway, he will be held responsible for his actions?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)

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