You by Charles Benoit

 
This wasn't the way it was supposed to go.
You're just a typical fifteen-year-old sophomore, an average guy named Kyle Chase. This can't be happening to you. But then, how do you explain all the blood? How do you explain how you got here in the first place?
There had to have been signs, had to have been some clues it was coming. Did you miss them, or ignore them? Maybe if you can figure out where it all went wrong, you can still make it right. Or is it already too late? Think fast, Kyle. Time's running out. How did this happen?
You is the riveting story of fifteen-year-old Kyle and the small choices he does and doesn't make that lead to his own destruction.

This book centers around the character of Kyle Chase. He is a sophomore in high school and he considers himself a loser in a group called the Hoodies (as they always wear black hoodies). His friends all went to a different high school, but something happened to Kyle in middle school and he just stopped trying. So instead of going to Odyssey HS, he ends up at Midlands High, a place everyone else looks down on. He doesn't try in any of his classes because he doesn't see much point, doing the same thing day in and day out. His father all but ignores him and his mother only seems to nag at him, wanting him to do better in school and get a job. He is in love with a girl at his school, Ashley, but he just can't work up the nerve to tell her how he feels. Even though his entire group of "friends" has a bad rap as trouble makers, Kyle really tries to do the right thing and stay out of trouble. However people get preconceived notions about certain groups or individuals, and are quick to point fingers if something goes wrong. Kyle definitely has some issues to work on though and he's not sure when everything took a turn for the worse. Then he meets the new kid in school, Zack, and his life changes forever.

My opinion: I didn't hate this book, but I didn't exactly love it either. The book really sucks you in the first couple paragraphs by essentially describing what happens at the end of the story, without giving too much away. Then the rest of the book details what happened leading up to that event. I actually love the way the book is written. It's as if you, the reader, is this character Kyle Chase. It really helps you connect with him and you get to see everything he thinks and feels. It's very easy to relate with Kyle; not in the sense that everyone is an outcast, but the way he feels about schools and some of the cliches that come along with it are very easy to relate to. Some of them even made me laugh a bit. And certainly we can all agree that some people are stereotyped by the way they dress or wear their hair, and often become scapegoats even if they are innocent. I was kind of frustrated with him for not applying himself more in middle school and just letting himself settle for the kind of existence he found himself in. He had been a good student and then just stopped trying, for whatever reasons. The only person he really has a soft spot for is his little sister, and the way her father and mother dote over her is probably some of the reason he kind of hate his life. It seems like nothing he tries to do matters, because nothing ever works out in the end. I hated Zack as soon as he was introduced. He was incredibly annoying and arrogant. Throughout the rest of the book you find new ways to hate him. All in all, not the best book ever, but the ability to relate to Kyle and the point of view the book was written in made it easy to keep reading; I finished it in one sitting!

My rating: 3/5 stars