Books to Read If You Love the Netflix Series ‘You’
So, you’ve binged Season 2 of ‘You’ as soon as it was released and have no idea what to do now? The show was just renewed for Season 3, but that means you have to wait another year to obsess over Joe/Will, the charming psycho killer.
To hold you over, here’s a reading list for the hopeless romantics who live for thrillers and murder mysteries:
1. & 2. ‘You’ & its sequel, ‘Hidden Bodies’ by Caroline Kepnes. The show ‘You’ is based on a two-part (soon to be four!) book series. Here’s a fair warning that the books are much more detailed than the show is. If you really want to get in Joe’s head, this is it! After reading, you’ll also understand why Penn Badgely, the actor who plays the stalker beau, constantly has to remind fans that Joe is actually a psychopath whom you shouldn’t ever root for…but it’s still a thrilling read about finding Love.
3. The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson. Meet a stranger in an airport, offer to kill their cheating spouse, then fall in love? Yeah, and there’s more craziness in between. After a few drinks at an airport bar, Ted tells Lily a little too much information and she offers to help “take care” of the problem—his wife. But of course, Lily has secrets of her own and isn’t telling Ted. Without giving too much context, Lily is like “Amy Adam” with Joe tendencies.
4. Planning Penelope by Erin Lockwood. The book’s short description says it all: “Alexander George Bishop V has an obsession. He controls every detail of her life, and she doesn’t even know he exists…” Also told from the stalker’s perspective, Alex is a genius geneticist doing research on campus and Penelope is a student who’s completely unaware of his obsession with her and her life. This girl is basically Guinevere Beck without even dating Joe!
5. The Book of You by Claire Kendal. Since books about obsession are clearly an interest, this gem has to be on the list. Clarissa has a colleague stalker and she also just happens to be a juror on a trial with a woman going through way too similar incidences. Patterns! Like Joe, has Clarissa’s stalker done this before?
Bonus: My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. This last one will be a bonus as it’s about a different type of love: sisterly love. Korede loves her sister so much, that she’s willing to help cover up multiple murdered boyfriends. Her younger sister Ayoola is gorgeous, naive, and highly-favored (by both family and men). When Ayoola is tired of dating, however, she has very unprecedented ways of breaking up with them. If you loved ‘You’, you’ll love this story too!
