MY THOUGHTS:
This probably says more about me than the book, but I wanted it to be slightly more risque! Maybe I've read too many dark stalker type thrillers so I've become desythesized, but in the beginning I was like almost urging her - just go for it!

I enjoyed reading about a writer - the nerd in me reveled in the details of her life. But she's bored - which had me like whaaa??

Overall I read this book in one day so it's definitely readable and keeps you turning pages, but I thought the stalker character was almost like a caricature of a stalker. He was immature. He was young so possibly this was purposeful, but it annoyed me.

MY RATING:
Entertainment value: 4
Characters: 3
Voice: 2-3
Plot: 3
Overall: 3 stars

<i>Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.</i>

A very dark psychological thriller about a young professor and her most promising student - until he becomes obsessed with her. He's clearly dangerous, but, she might not be the innocent victim that she seems. I completely enjoyed this story and could not put it down.

This is the most annoying book I’ve ever read. Kate, the heroine, who’s suppose to be this smart woman is quite the opposite. As if that weren’t enough, she’s not a great friend to Zoe. She’s jealous of Zoe and her excuse is that she simply isn’t interested in having a family or getting married ever again. Kate is as hypocritical as they come. Then her “I shouldn’t but I want to” attitude towards Sam isn’t even rational. It actually highlights how lonely and sad she is. I only finished reading this because I wanted to see who’d kill who at the end.

A very disturbing psychological thriller with all the obligatory twists and turns that you would expect from a well written thriller. Alternating between Kate and Sam's point's of view this makes for a page turner that is difficult to put down and the tension builds as the book progresses. I actually bought this book but my thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was not my favorite book, but it was certainly an enjoyable read. It is often compared to YOU by Caroline Kepnes, which is an apt comparison. Sam Grist is obsessed with his professor, Kate Youngblood—he reads all of her books, follows her around, diligently attends her classes, breaks into her home, tries to make her love him. This is a really good thriller premise, but I found Kate to be fairly unlikeable. This made it hard to see why Sam loved her or make me care for her safety. Some parts of the writing were a little stilted and heavy handed, which pulled me out of the flow. While this isn't a bad book and certainly got my heart racing in some places, Kepnes has a much better novel.

I found myself wanting to read more, even though the plot line seemed very evident from the outset. Tension builds as the characters reveal more of themselves leaving the reader anticipating.

Watch Me is a tale of obsessive love gone very badly wrong, but with a twist. Kate Youngblood is a creative writing professor, intent on getting tenure in the college where she works.
Lately she's been feeling somewhat isolated; her best friend has had a baby, leaving their friendship on hold and her husband has left her for a woman ten years younger than her. Added to that, her second novel has failed to garner any of the praise or success of her first, and overall she feels like she's losing at life.
The one glimmer of hope is the weird intensity of her budding friendship with her student, Sam Grist, who is both an excellent writer and can apparently see right into her soul. He can see right into her soul because he's stalking her and has been in her house and through her things, but Kate of course, doesn't know that.
As Sam's obsession grows, Kate senses something is not quite right but in her vulnerable state, almost refuses to see it. Parts of this psychological thriller seemed slightly ridiculous to me but then when I finished the book I thought long and hard about the nature of loneliness and what we'll do as a species to feel connected to each other. The portrayal of Kate as an insecure, ageing woman, on the surface glad not to face catcalls from men anymore, but secretly missing the attention, did feel realistic, even if some of her actions were really difficult to countenance.

Though I liked the book, I made the decision at the time I finished not to review it on my site. Maybe in the future I will include it in a book list post or another article.

Watch Me was absolutely one of my favorite dark and twisty psychological thrillers,. I absolutely loved Kate's story and following along with Sam's growing obsession. This book is full of twists and turns and you'll be surprised right up until the end! Highly recommend this for any time.

Great book and a total page turner. Will be looking for more from this author in the coming months and will share this with customers in the store.

I forgot to post a review street reading this book from netgalley. If I remember correctly I didn't like it that much. Probably because I didn't care for the characters. Just not sure but I know I didn't live it, or I would remember!

If you like your antagonists in the company of Joe Goldberg from You or American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman, look no further than Sam Grist in Watch Me. This is a spine tingling chiller that will have you looking over your shoulder.

Kate Youngblood is a professor teaching creative writing. She has noticed exceptional talent in one of her students. To help his writing skills she spends extra time with him. Crossing an ethical line could have unseen consequences both professional and personal as they meet after hours. Unbeknownst to her, he knows a lot about her and has been obsessed with her for quite some time. As he stalks her the suspense ramps up. Sam Grist’s past comes into play and it’s full of surprises. How far will he go to have Kate all to himself? The creepy rating for this book is off the charts. Alternating chapters from Kate to Sam makes this a fast paced read.

Thank you NetGalley, St.Martin’s Griffin, and Jody Gehrman for the opportunity to read Watch Me.

Kate Youngblood is both a college lecturer and a writer of fiction. Both career paths are currently giving the thirty something professor enormous trouble. Having written a successful crime novel as her debut piece, it was a high platform from which to dive when Kate’s second novel is nowhere near as well-received as its stellar predecessor. Will there be a third book, or is it best for Kate to park her writing ambitions for now?

Sam Grist has his intense blue eyes trained on his lecturer and it is not just because Kate’s work has inspired him to write in the same violent genre. Kate is his ideal and Sam has worked on his future plans for them both over and over in his head. So much planning, so much care. All that needs to happen now is for Kate to fall in with his meticulous plans. If Kate rebels or does not appreciate Sam’s efforts, there will be serious consequences for everyone in Kate’s life.

WATCH ME is essentially a two-player piece which adds to the intensity of the interactions between the stalker and the stalked. The inclusion of all the required elements – the isolation, coercion, relentless observation, break-ins, electronic pursuits – can be a little tick in the box in this novel but they all do add to the increasing concern we have for Kate’s welfare. Kate is a little slow on the uptake to react and protect herself, so this can be a little frustrating to read of, though of course there can be no crime to read of without there being a targeted victim.

The passages devoted to stalker Sam are addressed to the (at first, oblivious) Kate so we are privy here to all aspects of Sam’s self-serving toxic masculinity. Sam truly believes he has the right to do all of what he is doing, and the wishes and fears of the object of his affection are of little concern to him, just long as his desired results are achieved.

Was expecting this work to go a little more into collegial issues of teacher/student relations but this is not the focus of WATCH ME. Not sure or not if it is depressing or helpful that the motions of this stalker (and those of real life and other fictional stalkers) all seem to follow the same predictable formula but as a tool to making the reader more aware, WATCH ME may be helpful. Two thirds of this novel power along to back Kate into a corner but WATCH ME does lose some puff in the home stretch. The definite strength of this novel are the insights we receive into Sam’s delusions of self-grandeur. Perhaps there can be no stalker without that narcissistic sense of self importance that eventually derails when the rest of the world calls it what it is – madness.

Kate Youngblood is a writer, a creative writing professor. But she's at risk of disappearing. Her husband left her for a newer, brighter model. But there is Sam. Sam Grist is a promising student, who needs nurture and direction. He's her challenge. But he wants more.

Is it creepy or romantic when someone watches your every move, notices everything about you and thinks it's all pretty perfect? Do you try to help, enjoy the attention, or run as fast as you can move?

Well. it doesn't matter if that person is your student, and you only have that job - your second novel tanked, so you cannot become involved with someone you teach. It ends.

And that's when your no seems not to count for anything.

I've been trawling bookshops for dark, twisty, psychological thrillers for a while now, and I think it's this book's fault. Jody Gehrman has nailed the questions around obsession and how we deal with it, and the dark side of our humanity. She's also got right inside Kate's head, in a way that sucked me in and had me gasping. Alternating between Kate and Sam's point of view, you go to some bad parts of both their lives. It's traumatic. It's always tempting to love (and understand) the villain more, but I adored Kate - I just got her, and felt her pain.

I couldn't get enough. I didn't want it to end, but I couldn't read it quickly enough. And I haven't read anything else like it.

I really liked the storyline and blurb of this book, so I was excited to read this. The story: it was interesting. Student (Sam) obsessed with, and stalking his college English teacher (Kate). It was creepy, and the beginning was good. Halfway into the book it moved a little slow for me... the ending did pick up (and redeemed itself) and that's why I gave it three stars instead of two stars. I really liked the ending. I liked Kate, even if she was a little naive, and Sam was flat out obsessed a little psycho. This was a dark read.
The thing I didn’t like was the slow pace. Several times I put this book down because but it didn't hold my attention. So it took me a couple of months to read it because I only read it before bed, reading one to seven pages each day.
This was an okay read for me, and I liked it. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a slow burning mystery/psychological thriller.
*A very special thank you to the publisher St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review*

Rating: 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

Kate Youngblood, a creative writing professor, is fast-approaching forty and feeling invisible. Men don't notice her anymore, they don't see her—except for her student, Sam Grist. His eyes are on her constantly, and Kate enjoys it. What she doesn't know is that Sam watches her all the time... even when she doesn't know it. Sam has had their future together all planned out for years, and he won't allow anything—or anyone—to stand in his way. Kate belonged to him... she just didn't know it yet.

What I Liked

The story is told in the alternating points-of-view of both Kate and Sam, and I was delighted to see the book was structured in this way. I love being able to get inside the heads of both main characters, seeing how each one perceives events that take place. It's chilling to see how oblivious the intended victim is to the manipulations of the villain, especially when you know what's being planned. (The downside to this is it has the power to create some serious anxiety in the reader when the oblivious party is in immediate danger, and doesn't know it!)

Sam Grist takes the prize for being the creepiest stalker I've ever read about. It was truly disturbing to see the way he processed things; the only thing more disturbing was how bold he became in stalking Kate and how far he was willing to go in order to make his fantasies become reality

What I Didn't Like

As the book neared the end, the things that were happening had me completely engrossed, thinking an outstanding ending was on the way. I was breathless, reading as fast as I could, racing toward the fantastic finale I just knew was coming.

Then I read the last two chapters.

Instead of cheering and feeling exhilarated, I was left bitterly disappointed and wondering why on earth it ended the way it did. I can't explain why I felt that way, of course, because it would be a major spoiler. I haven't read anyone else's review on this book yet, so I may well be alone in feeling let down by the ending. It works, I suppose... but it wasn't at all what I expected. Or wanted, for that matter.

Final Thoughts

There are many things about this book that I thought were excellent. As I mentioned earlier, Sam Grist is the creepiest stalker I ever read, and I'm sure I won't forget about Sam or Kate anytime soon (if ever). I thought Gehrman's writing was very good, and I enjoyed reading most of this book. But that ending... it's hard for me to get past that. It didn't appeal to me in the slightest, and—even if it feels a bit unfair, given how much I enjoyed so much of the book—it soured how I felt about the story, overall.

It was a struggle to rate this one. 4 stars felt too generous, given how I felt about the ending. 3 stars, or even 3.5 stars, felt too little, because there was so much I did like about it. I decided to go with 3.75 stars, in the end.

Despite being disappointed with the ending, I'm definitely willing to give this author another try, because I really like her writing style.

As for recommendations on reading it? I leave that to you, readers. If the premise appeals, give it a try. Who knows? You might love the ending, and wonder why on earth I didn't love it!

I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of St. Martin's Griffin via Netgalley.

Watch me is a story of a mentally disturbed 21 year old student, Sam, who is completely obsessed with his English Professor, Kate, to the point of stalking her. While I was reading it, I felt like I’ve read it before! I kept going back to the novel You by Caroline Kepnes. It had so many similarities, and Watch Me didn’t add anything new. The only difference I could say was the age gap between the stalker and the victim, and the fact the victim was a professional.

At the beginning of the novel the voice of Sam made my skin crawl. However for majority of the novel you were inside the head of Sam and/or Kate, and after a while it became the same repetitive thoughts and not a lot of suspense to the plot. I looked forward to the scenes when Sam and Kate were together, hoping the tension or suspicion would build but nothing did – and those scenes ended rather abruptly. I found it strange that Kate didn’t question Sam every time he’d just suddenly appear while she was out – it was so obvious he was following her. And I must say, I wasn’t overly impressed with the development of Kate, for someone in her late 30’s, I found her whiny and immature.

It didn’t work for me but I believe if you haven’t read the novel You, you may like this book.

<i>Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for my review copy.</i>

I really loved this well written book. I liked Sam although he was a psycho. I can't wait to read more books from this author. Totally ☆☆☆☆☆ worth it.

He is one seriously creepy dude that made the basis on the back of my neck stand on edge.... He is every woman's worst nightmare.

It was obvious he believed in the inherent rightness of what he does. Or maybe rightness and wrongness don't factor in for him. There's only what he wants, and what he's willing to do to get. That's the definition of sociopath.

Sooo...these are not characters that you are going to fall for or hopefully not connect with however, they embody selfishness in extremes.

Kate Youngblood a teacher/author who recently divorced ready to write her next best novel. Her best friend just became a mom and Kate's distaste for babies gives a glimpse to her frame of mind. Of course when she holds the baby, something inside her clicks and she gets it. She has a student that is amazing and different. Sam Grist. Sam see's Kate like no other.

The narration is done by both of them. Kate in her hurt, anger, and trying to rebuild her life and find some happiness and purpose. Sam who has planned for the moment to be with Kate. He read her first book and knew what he must do at all cost. His narrative is crass and revealing.

This is not a 50 Shades (which I did not read but I did read reviews). There is a writing skill that even though you may cringe at these characters you become pulled into the drama. Will Kate succumb to her need of being seen and known? How far will Sam push to get what he wants.

The crassness of this book is difficult to take but necessary in the development of these characters. It was written well and the characters drove the plot. The intensity and at times the vulnerability of both were shown in glimpses. Brief as they were. So be forewarned. It was thrilling until the very end.

A Special Thank You to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.