The Book of You
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4.2 • 107 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
Sunday Times top ten bestseller and Richard & Judy pick, The Book of You is a terrifying psychological thriller about obsession and power, perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.
You left me no choice, Clarissa.
I just want to take you home, Clarissa.
I know your darkest secrets, Clarissa.
Clarissa is becoming more and more frightened of her colleague, Rafe. He won’t leave her alone, and he refuses to take no for an answer. He is always there.
Being selected for jury service is a relief. The courtroom is a safe haven, a place where Rafe can’t be. But as a violent tale of kidnap and abuse unfolds, Clarissa begins to see parallels between her own situation and that of the young woman on the witness stand.
Realizing that she bears the burden of proof, Clarissa unravels the twisted, macabre fairytale that Rafe has spun around them – and discovers that the ending he envisions is more terrifying than she could have imagined.
Reviews
‘Any thriller that has you checking over your shoulder and peeking from behind your curtains must be gripping so hats off to Claire Kendal’s hard-hitting debut THE BOOK OF YOU for doing just this’ Stylist
‘Both brutal and unbearably tense, THE BOOK OF YOU announces the arrival of a fierce new talent, a writer not afraid to grasp a woman’s fears in stark detail and to invoke nightmares’ Daily Mail
‘Clever, claustrophobic and chillingly good’ Good Housekeeping
‘THE BOOK OF YOU starts with breathtaking brilliance and then just gets better with every page. Already my book of the year’ Elizabeth Haynes (author of INTO THE DARKEST CORNER)
‘Gripping with some very smart twists’ Woman Magazine
‘A gripping read!’ Closer
‘Addictive … I literally hardly breathed as I raced to the end. It's a terrifying thriller’ Samantha Hayes (author of UNTIL YOU’RE MINE)
‘Creepy and compelling . what happens when the wrong guy won't take no for an answer?’ Paula Daly (author of JUST WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU?)
‘Chilling, raw, and utterly addictive, THE BOOK OF YOU is the kind of psychological thriller that you will want to read in one gulp, only to find yourself terrified once the lights are off’ Alafair Burke (New York Times bestselling author of IF YOU WERE HERE)
‘Truly riveting’ New York Times Book Review
A gripping tale, well-written and cleverly plotted … Literary Review
‘Kendal's debut novel is a palpitating tale of obsession and dangerously unrequited love. Fans of Gone Girl and The Silent Wife will enjoy the delectable tension right up until the heart-stopping conclusion.’ Library Journal
‘Minutes after you dip into Kendal's novel you'll know what it's like to be a woman who's being stalked – and by the end, your heart will thump and your shirt will get clammy with nervous sweat.’ Entertainment Weekly
‘Obsession masquerades as love in British author Kendal’s intimate, chilling first novel…Troubling, raw, and gripping.’ Publishers Weekly
About the author
Claire Kendal was born in America and educated in England, where she has spent all of her adult life. The Book of You is her first novel, and it will be translated into over twenty languages. Claire teaches English Literature and Creative Writing, and lives in the South West with her family. She is working on her next psychological thriller.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A moment of weakness propels Clarissa into the arms of Rafe, an intense academic who studies the dark side of fairy tales. British author Claire Kendal’s confident debut is a tale of twisted obsession that fills you with the same dread and fear that her venerable protagonist experiences. The Book of You is psychological suspense at its most powerful—a frighteningly real portrait of a stalker’s impact on his prey.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Obsession masquerades as love in British author Kendal's intimate, chilling first novel, an update of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa. One night, after a launch party at a Bath bookshop for a scholarly study of fairy tales, Clarissa Bourne agrees to let the book's author, academic Rafe Solmes, walk her home. The next morning, she awakens with Rafe in her bed, with no memory of how she got there and the suspicion that he's drugged and raped her. Although she avoids him, he calls and texts constantly, lurks near her house, and showers her with unwanted (but extravagant) gifts. Summoned for jury duty, Clarissa watches a rape victim pilloried on the witness stand, and she realizes how easily Rafe could discredit her stalking allegations. So she meticulously documents his efforts to contact her. Rafe goes from being manipulative to overtly menacing, especially after Clarissa becomes involved with a fellow juror. With flawless timing, the author traces how Rafe isolates Clarissa, threatens her, and pries into the most private details of her life, while also deftly incorporating Rafe's interest in sadistic, sexually violent fairy tales. Kendal spins a tale that's troubling, raw, and gripping.
Customer Reviews
The Book of you
Brilliant, the end was a bit disappointing though, I just wanted more.
The book of you
It took over 200pages to "warm" up, I was starting to get bored with it, and still no proper ending !
It's good, but not that good ,for me anyhow
Would not recommend
Found the first three quarters of the book to be quite infuriating. The logic behind her not going to the police was just silly and completely unbelievable. I'm open putting reality to one side for the sake of a good story but this really wasn't it. I ended up skimming entire sections of the book - not because it was badly written but down to the fact it was completely irrelevant and added nothing to the very slow story. The fact it didn't even have a good ending only added to my disappointment.