The Book of You

Wow... Think I held my breathe the whole book!

I loved this book. The narration was excellent and the story totally sucked me in from the first chapter. The author seemed to have such an understanding of how it would be to have a stalker. It was terrifying.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Teeth grindingly intense and consistently gripping

From the moment I started listening to this book I was completely drawn in. Clarissa is an ordinary, slightly mousey woman who is seemingly over-obsessed by the unwanted attention from a colleague. Rafe is a man who on the face of it, is a very attractive proposition. He is attractive, successful and a highly intelligent college professor, but for some reason Clarissa is completely repulsed by his advances. The story of their relationship is brilliantly interwoven with Clarissa's experience as a member of a jury, hearing a particularly nasty case involving sexual violence. Throughout this, there is a heavy air of psychological and physical malevolence which is completely gripping.

This story cleverly explores the fine line between a woman actively seeking male attention and receiving attention from an unwanted source and it pulls no punches in describing the horror of physical violence and the helplessness of victims when seeking protection and justice. This maintains momentum throughout and neatly avoids an obvious ending. If you are looking for the antidote to Fifty Shades of Grey, you will find it here.

Orlagh Cassidy excels in her performance of the main characters and although there is arguably a slight over-cockneyfication of some of the minor characters, it was certainly not enough for this to merit anything other than a five star review.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Very addictive-couldn't put it down!

Where does The Book of You rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Definitely one of the better stories, it really sucked me in, although I wasn't too keen on the narrator.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Book of You?

The ending! It was a bit of a shocker, but it won't say more than that ;)

What three words best describe Orlagh Cassidy’s performance?

I can't think of 3 words to describe her performance, but I will say I found her accent very confusing and slightly annoying. I think she was supposed to sound English, but half the time she sounded American and Irish, with hints of something else! It made it confusing to keep up with which character she was speaking as.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really, but it made me think a lot, which is always good.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Great thriller shame about the narration .

I almost got a refund on this as I found the narrators voice so annoying . Such a peculiar accent , really awful .
Thankfully the story was strong enough to make me want to persevere .

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Worst accent ever.

Great story but why did they use an American woman from Washington DC to do this? She reminded me of Dick Van Dyke with her Disney cockney accent. I think Orlagh Cassidy has a wonderful voice in her native tongue but she clearly struggled to maintain an English accent and ended up sounding bizarre. It was totally distracting and made was should have been a brilliant audio book into an ok one. The story itself is great, but I wish I'd read in a book it rather than listened to it here. Such a shame.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

silly narration

'story's ok, enjoyably distracting & would in itself, recommend.
cringetastic narration brought the star rating tumbling down. Each & every female character beyond (the central) Clarissa appears identically half-witted, slow & squeaky & all pantomime(ish); all absurd.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Disappointing

The Book of You is a very disturbing portrayal of stalking as seen through the eyes of the victim. It describes how hopeless, trapped and frightened the victim can feel in contrast to how powerful and deluded the stalker is. It had so much potential but ultimately just failed to deliver. The story line dragged, the characters were not very convincing and the ending was nothing short of disappointing.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Thought provoking

This is an interesting if rather improbable book that explores the world of the stalker and the stalked from an unusual perspective. I could not help but think that anyone in the main character's position would be removed from a jury once the police understood her situation so closely mirrored that of the person being questioned in the witness box, and I felt the ending was unsatisfactory, but apart from this the book read well, was well structured and I found it hard to put down

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Fantastic story ruined by appauling performance.

What disappointed you about The Book of You?

This story was completely ruined by the one of the worst performances I've ever experienced. Had I not been on a long journey in the car I'd have turned off and given in.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the story. It's gripping and original and constantly taking you to unexpected places.

What didn’t you like about Orlagh Cassidy’s performance?

So bad that it actually made me angry.
Two things.

First :Why cast an American actress who has such an appalling English accent?!
When reading as Clarissa, she had a clipped RP accent which frequently changed to American and often went around the globe to get there. When playing other characters her accent sounded nearer to Australian than anything English sometimes veering off to South Africa, Wales and Manchester. The ex public school mistress who sounded like Dick Van Dyke playing a decrepit Eliza Doolittle was unbelievable!! And the word Git for example ...... She pronounces Jit. Oh and for Charlotte Bronte she reads Charlotte Bront ?? Really. Seriously, did no one on the team listen to it before publishing? The recording is FULL of stuff like this.

Secondly: Orlagh Cassidy overplays plays every emotion. There's no real feeling in it at all. This character needs to come across as authentic, yet there's no authenticity in the performance which - tragically- weakens the story. There's no light and shade in the character. Even when she's talking about buying tomatoes she reads it with a voice packed with wobbly, quaking, fake emotion.
If an American actress had to be cast then at least cast someone who can read with a good range of English accents, or stick to one good English accent at least. However England is full of brilliant British actresses, who would have given an infinitely more truthful, believable, natural performance.

Any additional comments?

I'd recommend reading the book on this occasion and skip he audio. I went back and read the book after listening and immediately felt more sympathy for a really well written character, spoiled by a bad performance.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

hooked from the opening line

If you could sum up The Book of You in three words, what would they be?

obsession stalking psychological

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Book of You?

the narrative

What about Orlagh Cassidy’s performance did you like?

Listed to over a 100 books on audible along with SEan barret orlaigh Cassidy amazing

7 of 9 people found this review helpful