This was an utterly fantastic book that really shows how a stalker's mind works in the age of social media. Combine that in a high school setting where our male protagonist Logan has status, and where our female protagonist Delilah (Dee) is struggling to get by with her library job, and the abuse she faces from her mother's boyfriend at home - and you get a narrative of a boy trying to save a girl who he thinks is the love of his life, and a girl just trying to save herself from everything, including the boy himself...

The only part of the book that kind of caught me off guard was the answer to a mystery in the story regarding drugs. It didn't quite feel right at the time, but considering how we're in the heads of both of our main characters, there's bound to be unreliable narration from both of these perspectives - and I suppose the reveal just felt off because of that.

Despite that one hiccup, it's an interesting story that kept me hooked all the way through. So if you're looking for a book about stalkers and stalking, this definitely portrays the criminal act well, and both the stalker and his victim are interesting characters in their own right. ( )

A bit, okay, just too disturbing and weird - not for me. ( )

I can't fin the audio version - sorry.

The Obsession is a teen listen from Jesse Q. Sutanto.
What's the premise? The cover says it all. Boy meets girl. Boy stalks girl. Girl gets revenge.

Sutanto puts her own spin on how that revenge plays out. This was a nice addition to a premise I've read before.

Logan's mindset is definitely off kilter and quite frightening in his thinking. An incident in his past is alluded to that lets us know this isn't his first obsession. There's lots of warning here for younger readers. There's just as much warning in Dee and her mother's situation. That twist changes things for both of them.

There is a dual point of view narrative.

Now, I know I should be on Dee's 'side' given what's happening to and with her. But. Yeah, there's a but. I just didn't like her at all. Her actions are no better than Logan's. Actually, hers are worse. I just couldn't get behind her at all. And I even started to feel sorry for Logan. I saw him as someone with a mental illness and Dee as an opportunist.

The narrative ended up being somewhat repetitive for me. The ending seemed to be somewhat abrupt, leaving the door open for the second book in this planned series.

Catherine Ho was one of the narrators. She speaks low and seemingly close to the microphone. Her voice for me was that of an adult and didn't fit my mental image and tone of Dee. David Lee Huynh read the Logan role. He spoke clearly and his voice was pleasant. I thought he captured the Logan character really well. The voice matched the character in this case.

Gentle listeners, there are triggers in this book. This was an okay listen, but not a stand out. ( )

The story really caught me by surprise a number of times. When I was able to piece things together, I'd be surprised with another twist.

The author made the characters very authentic. Young, emotional, and manipulative. I can't wait to discover more of Sutanto's writing. ( )

Content warning for this book: stalking, abuse, suicide, drug use, and murder.

Logan hasn't been doing well since the love of his life, Sophie, overdosed on drugs and died. Sure, people used to say she was leading him on, and his mother was horrified by the file of photos and information about Sophie she'd found on his computer, but they didn't know what it was like when he and Sophie were alone. They'd clearly been soulmates, and now he has no one...until he runs into Delilah. She looks so much like Sophie, and he's sure that Delilah is a gift the universe has sent to him. He just has to be careful and patient until she realizes that they're meant to be together.

Things have been tough for Delilah since her dad died in an accident at work. Her mom started dating a police officer named Brandon who seemed perfect at first, but it's since become clear that he's an abusive monster. When Delilah meets Logan, she's instantly drawn in by his good looks, charm, kindness, and interest in so many of the same things she's interested in. But when circumstances free Delilah and her mom from Brandon, Delilah realizes that Logan is yet another trap, one she might never be able to get away from. He knows things about her that could ruin her future...but he doesn't quite know everything about her.

Oh man, this was so good. Yes, a bit predictable, but in a way that somehow still managed to be gripping and fun. (I am probably a horrible person for enjoying this book as much as I did, but hey, it's fiction.)

In another book, Logan might have been the devoted and caring YA romance hero, falling in love with Delilah the instant he saw her and doing his best to support her. The male lead's behavior would come across as a bit creepy and stalkerish in real life, but readers know both the male and female lead's thoughts and that they're mutually into each other, which can make the creepiness factor less noticeable.

In this book, although we're given chapters from both Logan and Delilah's POVS, Logan is absolutely presented as a stalker, and the instant Delilah learns how focused he's been on her, her interest turns to horror. Even then, Logan's charm is insidious - against her will, Delilah occasionally relaxes around him, even as she recognizes aspects of his behavior that remind her of how Brandon wormed his way into her and her mother's life. Readers might even find themselves thinking "okay, so he's a bit obsessed, but he's not really that bad," just in time for Logan's thoughts to take a darker turn.

I could see several ways Delilah might escape the trap Logan had sprung around her, and I pretty much devoured this book waiting to see what she'd do. Most of the revelations were fairly easy to guess well beforehand, but for some reason that didn't blunt my enjoyment in the slightest.

This technically had a lot of gray areas to it - Logan was mentally ill and needed help (which didn't excuse his stalking), and Delilah did and had done several things that were horrible (with motives that made sense). I occasionally felt a bit bad about rooting for Delilah, especially near the end...but I kept on doing it.

All in all, this was really good, and I need to see about reading more of this author's books. Oooh, looks like I own another one of the author's YA thrillers, The New Girl, and it takes place at the same school (but with different characters?). Should be fun.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )