Book Review: ALL BECAUSE OF YOU

Title: All Because of You

Author: Lissa Lovik

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Pages: 331

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

 

For software coder Chris Fox, it is love at first sight. He is smitten with single mother Serena Archer and starts planning ways to make her part of his life. Stalking her, he comes to know that she is a real estate agent. He fixes up a showing with her, and then asks her out, just before agreeing to pay full price for the house she has shown him.

After a successful first date, the relationship grows smoothly and fast, until it’s time for Chris to be introduced to Serena’s parents. Chris wants Serena to move into the new house he has paid full price for, just so she can get a big commission. But Serena doesn’t want to upset the life of her 14yo son, Cole. Pretty soon, he’s going to great lengths to ensure that his relationship with Serena is perfect. That includes bugging her house, and hiding cameras around so he can see exactly what she is up to.

If there’s one thing he knows, it's that Serena needs to be protected from other men, particularly Derek, who Serena thinks is her best friend. But Chris knows better. He knows it’s only a matter of time before Derek makes a move. But Chris is prepared to act, to do whatever it takes, to secure his love. After all, isn’t that what true love is all about?

 

The story is written in the first and second, addressing Serena, past tense PoV of Chris. The book reminded me so much about You by Caroline Kepnes. Chris seemed to me to be a wannabe version of Joe Goldberg.

 

WHAT I LIKED:

Chris’s interactions with his grandfather make us feel sympathetic towards him. The back story ascribed to Chris, particularly related to his mother, help explain to an extent why he is the way he is. He is also deeply influenced by his grandfather, whose advice, stemming from his experiences with his wife, Chris’s grandmother, direct Chris’s actions.

The writing was good. Here is one metaphor I really liked:

My eye is a corroded garage door that won’t open after Derek punches Chris’s eye. So clever!

I found it very interesting that his name is Fox, and hers is Archer, hunted and hunter, when it is the other way around.

Thankfully, this book was light on the sex scenes. Not completely devoid of smut, but toned down to a great extent. It was something that I had found annoying about You, and I was glad to see that this one was different.

 

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

It was too much like You.

The title reminded me of You. Once I started reading, the similarities continued. Chris is very like Joe Goldberg, though not quite as much on edge. He also has a tendency to address Serena directly, so there is a lot of second person, much like You. Some of the sentences, which directly addressed Serena, also had a rhythm which Kepnes had pulled off in You. For instance, “I hear the metal clink of a paint can hitting the tile . . . a humming that buzzes in my ears, and how long has it been since I’ve been this close to you, Serena?”

Again like Joe, Chris stalks Serena physically and on social media. Just like Joe, Chris is a gentleman, when it seems he is going to get what he wants. When he won’t get what he wants, it might be another story. One not all that different from You.

I told myself that I would have to stop comparing All Because of You to Kepnes’s book, You, if I wanted to enjoy this book. Even so, I found Chris to be not quite as menacing as he could have been. A lot of his actions were predictable. The story itself pans out along predictable lines. There are no shocks or surprises.

Towards the last couple of chapters, the writing flits between 2^nd and 3^rd person, sometimes in consecutive paragraphs, while addressing Serena.

 

WHAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME:

While we get the back story of Chris as a child, we don’t hear of his previous relationships at all. He’s 34. Surely Serena can’t be his first relationship? He does make a casual reference to his previous relationship, but the author doesn’t tell us anything more.

There is a murder around the 69pc mark, that seems so pointless and unnecessary.

 

ALL SAID AND DONE: A good read, especially towards the end when the action moves at a brisk pace. Unfortunately, it was too influenced by You.

 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)