9 Books to Read After Bingeing Netflix’s You

You, by Caroline Kepnes
You might as well start with the source material. Part of what makes the show so simultaneously creepy and compelling is the POV from which it’s told: Joe’s. And Joe is also the novel’s unreliable narrator on this journey, which is as much a classic tragedy as it is a cautionary tale about cyberstalking.

Hidden Bodies, by Caroline Kepnes
If you already know that You was renewed for a second season, you might have guessed there’s a second novel, too. Joe’s gone to Hollywood, folks. While his life looks normal to outsiders, he can’t quite put those titular hidden East Coast bodies behind him, even as the twisted cycle looks like it’s set to begin again.

All the Missing Girls, by Megan Miranda
Need another suspenseful thriller with a real narrative twist? All the Missing Girls is the story of two disappearances, a decade apart—and it’s told in reverse, winding its way backward from two weeks after Annaleise Carter’s disappearance to the first day after. And all the while it unravels a mystery from ten years prior, in the same town, with the same core cast. That’s double the binge-worthy suspense right there.

My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite
With a similar blend of deadly and deadpan, this debut finds Nigerian sisters Korede and Ayoola in a pickle. Narrator Korede is used to cleaning up crime scenes; her sister, Ayoola, is used to creating them, dispatching boyfriends with a certain kind of finality. But can the sibling bond survive when Ayoola gets her hooks into the handsome doctor Korede cares for?

Made for Love, by Alissa Nutting
On the surface, Made for Love is a different kind of story than You, but, they both share a fascination with technology’s perversion of intimacy. Hazel flees her tech mogul husband when he requests she implant a microchip in her brain so that they might “meld.” Plunged into a bizarro world, Hazel starts over even as her husband Byron uses all his resources to find her.

The Last Mrs. Parrish, by Liv Constantine
Daphne Parrish has it all, and Amber Patterson wants it. This novel has serious Peach Salinger vibes and delivers on its premise of dark obsession. With a chip on her shoulder, Amber works her way into the life of Daphne, socialite wife to a Connecticut real-estate royalty. She’s a confidante on the hunt for a bigger prize, but you know what happens to the best-laid plans …

Enduring Love, by Ian McEwan
Obsession reigns, too, in this novel from the author of Atonement. During a bizarre hot-air balloon accident, Joe Rose comes to the rescue, along with a man named Jed Parry. What might have been adrenaline-fueled camaraderie quickly escalates, as Jed starts stalking Joe, sure that their connection was fated.

Eileen, by Ottessa Moshfegh
If your favorite part of You was the unique perspective of being inside Joe’s head, you should take a spin inside the mind of Eileen Dunlop. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Eileen is a novel that trends toward character study, descending with dark glee into its titular 24-year-old’s dysfunctional, disagreeable life as it spirals out of control with the arrival of a new companion.

The Grownup, by Gillian Flynn
Readalikes for a main character who exhibits sociopathic tendencies? We couldn’t very well leave off a title from Gillian Flynn, a master of the psychological stomach punch. It would be easy to recommend Flynn’s novels, but this slim novella is a wonderful case study in deception. Working as a psychic, the unnamed narrator finds herself ensnared in her client’s eerie family dynamics.
What You readalikes have you been downing while you wait for more You?