The Obsession

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an eARC I got as a reviewer for YA Books Central. I was guaranteed to love The Obsession. The premise is the kind of lovely twisted thing I’ve spent years asking for, so short of something like bigotry, ugly prose, or the book ending with Delilah forgiving Logan and moving forward with him as her forever guy, of course this would be a hit for me. When I was a teenager, I even started writing a surrealist YA novel to the same effect. There’s no way what I wrote then could compare to this book. The Obsession is just so, so good. There’s an often cited statistic that 40% of police officer families experience domestic abuse, but the numbers vary and that statistic comes from two studies done in the early 90s. Even so, it’s generally understood cops are more likely to abuse their partners and children than someone from the general populace. Our heroine Delilah Wong lives under the thumb of her mom’s boyfriend Brandon, an abusive cop who has taken control of her mom’s finances and done unspeakable things. It’s not a surprise that she snaps one day and kicks the jack out from under the car he was working on. It should be easy enough to play off a man crushed under a car as an accident. Except a boy named Logan started stalking her a short time before and has video proving the death was no accident. He’s obsessed with her after deciding half-Singaporean Delilah’s resemblance to his deceased, Japanese American crush Sophie is a sign from fate that Delilah is meant to be his. (I guess they all look alike to someone like him.) If she won’t be with him of her own free will, he’ll just take that video to the cops. Anything is worth it to keep Delilah with him. But Delilah is never going to be under any entitled guy’s thumb ever again–and that’s where the twisted goodness starts. The Obsession really nails its tagline: boy meets girl, boy stalks girl, girl gets revenge. It alternates between Logan’s and Delilah’s unique perspectives, which amps up the tension of a novel that will already have you tensed up like you’re in the dentist’s chair getting a filling. The only issue I have with The Obsession is Delilah’s attempt to armchair diagnose Logan via Google. Self-diagnosing with the Internet’s help generally isn’t that bad. I’ve done it myself a few times and been both right (my autism diagnosis) and wrong (thought I had eczema on my arms, turns out it’s tinea versicolor). You just don’t try to diagnose other people. Leave that to actual medical professionals like psychiatrists. The attempt to pin Logan’s behavior on a mental illness doesn’t sit right with me either. Some people are perfectly awful without being mentally ill. See: Brandon. The ending is everything I wanted from this novel and then some. Then I realized Sutanto wrote a second novel set at the same school, The New Girl. Though it doesn’t star a stalker and his vicious prey, I think I need that book now. Plus the jacket copy mentions the new main character sees a girl arrested on her first day and I really need to know if that girl is Delilah. I hope not. Tired of romanticized stalking and ready for an anti-heroine? Pick up The Obsession and enjoy.

This was a very nice corny but super intriguing read. I really couldn’t put it down and when I finally reached the end I felt very satisfied. Each character has depth, is believable, and is relatable. The author really let us see inside the antagonist’s mind and it just added so much more. The writing was perfect and I absolutely loved the setting. It felt really cozy yet still out you on edge.

I really enjoyed this book! It's not easy for me to finish books and even harder for me to stay engaged with them but this book had me almost obsessively reading it! (no pun intended!) Both Delilah and Logan are horrible people and flawed narrators but I love them haha. Logan was my favorite character and I was always excited to read his perspective; I really enjoy getting into the mind of psychotic characters, especially if their "tendencies" are because of self-proclaimed love. While I would never condone his actions or want to be with someone like that in real life, I found him to be a charming character and I liked how he was written quite a bit, especially his internal dialogue. I also enjoyed the dual perspective in general and I was excited to see what the other character would think after certain chapters. I admit, I wished the book was longer, but I liked the ending well enough! It's a great, fast-paced book and I'd recommend it if you want something exciting to read especially if you like dark psychological thrillers, "yandere" characters or Netflix's "You" ^ ^

I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into when I picked up this book. At first, I thought, “Okay, another story about a teenage boy stalking a girl—I’ve read a few of these.” But within the first 50 pages, when Dee killed Brandon, I realized I was in for a wild ride. This book left me speechless. The story was gripping, and I found myself rooting for Dee to come out on top. And she did, which was such a satisfying conclusion. At first, I didn’t think I’d hate Logan as much as I did. Surprisingly, I often sympathize with fictional “harmless” stalker characters, but Logan was far from harmless. His manipulative and obsessive behavior made me grow to despise him more and more as the story went on. While I wish the ending hadn’t been so rushed, the overall journey was worth it. The Obsession is a thrilling and satisfying read that flips the typical stalker-victim narrative on its head.

*spoilers* I LOVEEE This book my only problem is how anti climactic Logan’s death was at the end and how I can only guess what happend to Lisa

When Logan first saw Delilah at school, he was a goner. He knew immediately that she was the one for him. There could be no other, not since he lost Sophie. But that was before. This is his senior year, and he’s looking forward. Forward to a year of being with Delilah at Draycott Academy. Delilah is just starting at Draycott. As a local, she doesn’t live in the dorms like most of the students do, so she doesn’t know many of the other kids. But she does have a good friend there, Aisha, and she has a good job at the library. But at home, things are difficult. Her father was killed in an accident at work, and her mother’s new boyfriend is a local police officer. But he’s not one of the good ones. He’s controlling, he’s abusive, and he’s violent. Delilah is torn because she loves her mother, but she’s also angry that her mother let this man into their lives, into their home even, and she is just a shell of her former self. One weekend, Delilah makes a split second decision that changes everything at home, and she feels like she is free once again. She can relax. She can be a normal teenager. And when Logan asks her out, she can say yes. And when she has a truly magical day with him, she leans over for a quick kiss. But then she finds out that the date was perfect because Logan had been watching her. He looked up all her social profiles online and found out what she liked. But when she tries to break it off, she learns that he has a recording of her committing a crime. Either she keeps going out with him, or he will ruin her entire life. Delilah has to make a choice about how she wants to live her life, but as she tries to find a solution inside herself, she finds herself learning a lot more about human nature than she expected to. Jesse Q. Sutanto’s vision of a coercive relationship is painfully accurate, but I think it’s Delilah’s ingenuity and willingness to put her own needs first that makes this a strong YA novel. The Obsession is a story of strength and courage, and while I admire the attitude, I don’t recommend anyone goes about living life the way Delilah does. I enjoyed The Obsession despite the fact that these characters all have some flaws. But I thought the plot was clever and the emotions were genuine. And in the end, I just enjoyed the journey. If you can deal with unlikeable characters, seriously consider adding this book to your list. It will suck you in and then break your heart a little and then bring you back from it all with a fierce determination. Egalleys for The Obsession were provided by Sourcebooks Early Reads Program, but I liked it so much I bought a copy.

Came quick! So excited to read it!

A friend of mine read this book and she liked it and she recommended to me so I can't wait to read it myself sounds like a great book

Tolles Buch

Wow, can't believe the ending. Certainly, didn't expect that. Does anyone know if there is a 2nd book? I feel, it ended quickly, and left a lot of unanswered questions, for me personally, it had a lot of unfinished endings, I know some would say it was perfect it was, but I loved it and wanted to know more about the female character and what happened to her after, the jaw dropping twist. Fantastic book. Would highly recommend.

I grabbed the book and could not stop to each turn, my widen and my mouth open a few times, you get yourself almost liking the obviously crazy person and try to get a hold of yourself telling yourself no! Wild ride this one.

This book is really keeping me hooked, as a person who is just trying to inculcate the habit of reading this book has been really good for that as it has simple descriptions which doesn’t has any fancy words but still give you a detail idea of the whole scene and almost gives you an almost screen type of experience. Would rate it a sold 8.5/10

Arrived fast and in good condition. This book was good! I enjoyed it, and the plot and characters were interesting; it was developed well, and I was hooked. However, the writing did feel a bit boring and as if no effort had been put in at some points. I also didn't think there was enough depth, as the story felt quite shallow and stupid in some parts - almost as if the book itself lacked some common sense.