Book Review: You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian

Why should you read this book?

You Know You Want This is definitely one the best short story collections I have ever read. I am so happy Jonathan Cape reached out to me to introduce me to the amazing work of Kristen Roupenian!

These stories encompass a myriad of genres and topics – from the ordinary to the murderous and supernatural. They’re tales about sex and punishment, perversion and guilt that will fascinate and repel, revolt and arouse.

My favorite stories were Bad Boy, Look At Your Game Girl, Cat Person (which has been very well-received in the US), The Good Guy, Death Wish and Biter. From the brief summary and the titles of my favorite tales, it’s clear that Roupenian’s writing revolves around the erotic world and its fantasies and fetishes. Clad in dark humour, this is a wicked, twisted, humorous and captivating short-story collection.

I absolutely loved this book! It’s like nothing I have ever read. Roupenian’s voice is daring and provocative. Besides developing an interesting portrayal of gender and relationships, she builds characters that we don’t often find in the literary world. Her characters are out there, they’re real. The events she describes happen in real life. But they’re often dismissed in literature. So You Know You Want This definitely was a breath of fresh air to me!

I was thrilled to know these short stories are being adapted into a HBO show! I’d also like to add that I used two formats: the physical copy and the audiobook. If you enjoy audiobooks, I think this is a good one. There’s basically a different narrator for each story and they were great!

I’d like to thank Jonathan Cape for sending a review copy. You can buy the book here.

Summary:

The truth was that if a woman bit a man in an office environment, there would be a strong assumption that the man had done something to deserve it . . .

From the creator of Cat Person – the first short story to go viral – comes You Know You Want This, a compulsive collection about sex, dating and modern life. These are stories of women’s lives now. They also happen to be horror stories. In some, women endure the horror. In others, they inflict it.

Here are women at work, at home, on dates, at the doctor’s, with their families and with their friends. Here are women grappling with desire, punishment, guilt and anger. These are stories that make you feel fascinated but repelled, scared but delighted, revolted but aroused.

You Know You Want This shows why Kristen Roupenian is the most audacious new voice in American fiction. Funny, furious, sly and explicit, she takes a long, hard look at the messed-up power dynamic between men and women – and messes it up some more.

Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Published on: February 2019
Format: Hardback
Pages: 240
Price: £12.99