I have wanted to read this book since I first watched and was mesmerised by the Netflix adaption. Unfortunately, I think that also impacted my rating as I ultimately knew what was coming and that’s where it was a 4.5 and not a 5 star read for me. 

Despite this, the book was a really intriguing read and really toyed with your head. The first/second person dual prose made the book different and interesting, and really highlighted the inner workings of Joe’s head. I even found myself feeling somewhat sympathetic for the guy when he was getting ghosted but had to remind myself that he literally

killed multiple people, including his ex-girlfriend

and he deserved to get ghosted. Plus, the only reason he felt the way he felt was because

he was stalking Beck and reading all of her emails

. If it weren’t for this, he wouldn’t have known she was still interested.

I think the prose also played into what made this book so creepy, particularly as a woman. It made me feel kind of icky that you could truly think someone is an amazing person but they could be someone completely different without you even knowing, because there are definitely people who look at the world and women in particular the way Joe does.

Overall, a really interesting read, one that you feel like you should look away from but can’t. Top that off with very unlikeable characters that you just can’t stop reading about. Very interested to see where the story goes in the next one.