I’m delighted. A little creeped out, but still riding the exhilaration from this dark, twisted-and yes- sexy story.

WATCH ME started off pretty straightforward. A young man who’s obsessed with his college professor succumbs to the darkness inside him. An English professor who thinks she’s fading away in the eyes of men, and of literary success, is spiraling down a dangerous path following her young and handsome student’s obsession. I guess there are a lot of ways to describe this book, and although they’d all do justice to the story, you still need to read it on your own to fully grasp the easy flow of this psychological thriller.

This wasn’t a hit-you-on-the-head kind of thriller though. It was subtle in its darkness and violence and horror. Kate’s character was what connected me to the story the most, because she represents the chase for youth, that nostalgia you feel when thinking about the past, and how irrational and impulsive you could afford to act and get away with it because you had all the time in the world still.

There’s also no denying this read had a sexy undertone to it. The attraction between Kate and Sam is undeniable. I wouldn’t normally think of sexy when it comes to thrillers, but I guess every once in a while a book comes along and reminds you that a fatal attraction can make an erotic read.

I wouldn’t be lying if I said I could hardly put it down. I was so invested in the characters of Sam-the student- and Kate-the teacher. I wanted to know what they thought, what they felt, how they were going to react, and what would happen to them in the end. How their story would end. Like I said, it looks like a pretty straightforward thriller but it grasps you. It is so easily read that if you enjoy psychological thrillers, or thrillers in general, you’d breeze through this easy. And enjoy it. This is a damn good debut novel and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more thrillers from Jody Gehrman.

Highly recommended, I’m adding five spoonfuls of this story into my hodgepodge.

WATCH ME is a psychological, suspenseful thriller about an obsessive love and a illicit attraction between student and professor. This fast paced mystery has many twists and turns. It is downright creepy at times. I could not put this book down. Excellent and addictive read. Highly recommended!
EW

Watch Me is a dark ,creepy,disturbing,psychological thriller about a student stalking his teacher.
Kate Youngblood is a creative writing professor who has written a successful novel a few years back but hasn’t produced anything good since then.Sam is her talented student and Kate is excited about training him,but what she does not know is that Sam has been watching and following her for years. His obsession is deadly but will Kate find out before it is too late for her?

The book is written in alternate POV’s Sam and Kate giving an insight to their thoughts and feelings.The writing style was creative with short chapters but even though there was a mystery to solve I found this an ok read as I never could warm up to the characters. I am sure psychological mystery lovers will enjoy this book but it was not just for me

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for providing a sample ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

Deliciously creepy and unnerving, this story is both from the perspective of a young man obsessed with his professor and the woman herself. With each passing year as she gets older, Kate Youngblood feels less and less desirable. Eyes no longer follow her as she walks across a restaurant. She doesn't feel the heavy gaze of men's admiration. Recently separated from her unfaithful husband, she's unsure if she'll ever feel the kind of passion they shared again... until Sam Gist comes along. He's intelligent, talented, and young. He looks at her in a way she thought she wouldn't be looked at again, and she feels desired once more. Problem? He's her student... and he's been watching her longer than she thinks.

I loved getting into Sam's head. He's a fascinating character. You almost feel bad for him at first, the 22 year old obsessed with an older woman ever since he read her first book. It's not long before his obsession starts to escalate. Both characters seem to feel like they're superior to other people, but Kate still manages to be likable. 38 and child-free, she has just lost her husband and feels as if she's losing her best friend because she's having a child and her life is changing.

At first author Kate is intrigued by Sam's talent, convinced that he's the most promising young writer she's taught in her years at the college. It's not long before she feels herself being drawn to him for other reasons, completely naive to the fact that he's been planning this for a long time.

This one kept me up late. It's beautifully written and very descriptive, easy to sink into and get lost in. I loved getting the perspective of both the stalked and the stalker, knowing who they both are. A lot of times when we get the perspective of a stalker, he's always hiding in the shadows and we're guessing who he is. In this story, we're perfectly aware, just wondering what he'll do next and what lengths he'll go to!

I received an ARC of this book from St. Martin's Press and Net Galley, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

Edge of your seat book! Kept me wanting more and more -- the ending.. wow!


Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a ARC.

If you like creepy stories with obsessive characters, like I do, this is the one for you. The story is told in dual POV and this gives a lot more insight to the mind of Sam and how obsessive he is about Kate. I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press!

Kate Youngblood's first book was amazing. Sam Grist read it, and it changed his focus in life. He knew he was destined to be with Kate, and he has made it his mission to make that happen. Kate's follow-up novel was as week as water, and she feels the pressure from her agent and her fans to prove she is not a literary one-hit wonder. Kate wants to be noticed, and Sam notices everything. He becomes her student--her best student-- to get closer to her. There's no boundary for him because this is destiny. Even copying her keys so he can be among her things when he wants. Even keeping a few things of hers in his little shrine. Kate finds Sam attractive, but she can't make the leap to dating a student. Sam thinks he can solve that problem. This is destiny. How far will she go? How far will he go? How far will destiny take them?

Watch Me by Jody Gehrman pulled me in right from the start and is the perfect novel to read on a cold, rainy, dreary day (that is, if you are like me and love getting creeped out and a tad scared!). The novel follows Kate Youngblood, a creative writing professor who is going through struggles both professionally and personally. I liked the fact that Kate struggles, as it makes her easier to relate to. Kate's student, Sam, and his obsession with her is both horrifying and intriguing. I love the alternating point of views as well. The novel kept me guessing throughout, and it was a quick read. Overall, I highly recommend this book!

“WATCH ME”, the story of obsession gone way wrong and for those who have crossed that line that we all know we should have never crossed, will totally love this.
Kate Youngblood has an amazing job, as a writing professor at Blackwood College. This job couldn’t be more perfect for her because creative writing is what she loves. Until now, Kate’s life hasn’t been going so well. Her recent book was a flop, her husband left her for a younger woman and Kate, at 30-ish feels “old”. Kate feels she no longer has that spark in her eyes, that “joie de vivre” so to speak. Kate feels invisible these days. This new job is exactly what Kate needs to help her find her way to the Kate she once was.

Enter Sam Grist, one of Kate’s students who shows tremendous promise. Kate decides to give him some extra help with his writing. Sam also happens to be a fan of Kate’s and loved her recent book. And yes, there is a “spark of attraction” as well. Sounds like just what Kate needs, right? Wrong. Way wrong. What Kate doesn’t know is that Sam has already been obsessing over her for some time and wants more from Kate than just “writing tips”.
As you read their story from each perspective, you will probably find yourself asking how Kate did some of the things she did, why didn’t she see what Sam is really up? It’s quite obvious Sam is a real nutjob. Plain and simple. But at least he’s interesting. That’s pretty much what kept my interest to be honest. Had the characters been just a little more developed, especially Kate, this would have completely elevated this read.

Overall, I liked the book. It definitely has its moments. I think for the most part, it’s a good solid read and will make many think twice about how easy it is to chase a desire to the point it can become dangerous.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance digital egalley!

Although I found this book a bit too dark i do know lots of people who would love it. Kate and Sam the two lead characters just had nothing to make me bothered about what happened to them so just not for me.
Original idea and a clever pacy plot.

Really enjoyed this book. Great suspenseful thriller pulling you deep into Sam's obsession with his professor Kate Youngblood.

Highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys creepy, suspenseful thrillers.

Chilling, dark and creepy three words to describe this dark romance . Although the book was different I thought it would be more of a thriller and it kinda was slow to read. If you like dark romance with the creep factor then this book is definitely for you.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! Sam was creepy in just the right way - I was definitely on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going to happen next/how this was going to turn out. This was an easy read that kept my attention throughout the whole book.

Sam Grist und Kate Youngblood treten als Ich-Erzähler auf. In wechselnden Kapiteln erfahren wir, wie sie sich näher kennengelernt haben. Die in Scheidung lebende Autorin und Dozentin und der 16 Jahre jüngere Student, der wohl nichts Gutes im Schilde führt.

Nach einem Treffen mit ihrer schwangeren Freundin Zoe, folgt er ihr und beobachtet sie mit dem Fernglas. Er will einfach alles von ihr erfahren und wissen. Er verschafft sich Zugang zu ihrem Büro und bringt ihre Passwörter und ihren Zweitschlüssel fürs Haus an sich. Das schlechte Gefühl beim Leser und der Verdacht verstärken sich. Leichtes Gruseln schleicht sich ein.

In Sams ersten Arbeiten entdeckt Kate ein noch ganz umgeformtes Talent. Wird er das eine Genie sein, das sie hervorbringen kann, als seine Mentorin und Editor.

Er fantasiert unentwegt über ihre gemeinsame Zukunft in New York. Seinen mentalen Höhenflug beeinträchtigen nur seine nervige Mitstudentin Jess, die völlig unverständlich ein Auge auf ihn geworfen hat und nur das unerwartete Auftauchen seiner heruntergekommenen Mutter, die ihn um Geld angeht. Kate stellt ihn ihrer Agentin vor, die ganz schnell von ihm eingenommen ist. Dass ihre Freundin Kate mit einem Latino verkuppeln will, zwingt Sam zur Handlung. Aber auch Sam, der sich für perfekt hält, begeht emotional aufgewühlt einen dummen Fehler. In der Folge kommt Kate wie aus dem Nichts ein Verdacht. Das Buch endet mit einem dramatischen Show Down.

Beim Kapitelwechsel geht die Autorin Jody Gehrma in „Watch Me“ oft zeitlich einen Schritt zurück um einen Teil der Handlung erneut aus der Perspektive des anderen zu erzählen, das verleitet mich leider zum Überfliegen dieser Stellen, da mir der Sinn dieses Elementes hier entgeht. Zum Glück hört das später auf und das Buch legt ordentlich an Tempo zu. Man ist sehr gespannt, wie die Geschichte sich weiter entwickeln wird.

Die Teile aus Sams Sicht sind außergewöhnlich und intensiv, man fühlt sich wirklich als befände man sich genau in seinen Gedanken, in seinem Kopf.

Auch wenn man von der ersten Seite an ahnen kann, in welche Richtung sich dieses Drama entwicklen wird, ist es mitreißend und fesselnd. Man hat immerzu ein leicht schauriges Gefühl während des Lesens. Die Geschichte wird von subtilem Grusel durchzogen. Das Buch-in-Buch-Thema, das ich ja generell gerne mag, ist hier sehr gelungen. Man erfährt viel über die Erfolge, Herausforderungen und Tiefen des Daseins als Autor.

Fazit: Wohin eine kranke Liebe führen kann…

4,5 von 5 Punkten

In her late 30's, college writing professor Kate feels like her best days are behind her. After publishing a successful novel, her follow up was a dud. Her husband left her for a woman who was barely legal. Kate feels like she's fading away, and living a monotonous life, until she meets Sam. 

Sam is Kate's star student. With a knack for dark and twisted stories, his talent ambition is something Kate is drawn to - she wants Sam's genius to be recognized, and wants nothing more than to help him be successful. Little does she know, he's known her long before she met him. He's been watching her, biding his time until he could worm his way into her life. 

As Sam slowly makes his way into Kate's life, they enter a game of attraction, desire, lies, and obsession. How far will Sam's obsession go, and how much will Kate risk for him?

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am obsessed with thrillers that involve stalking, so as soon as I read the premise for Watch Me, I knew I had to read it! The blurb for the book compares it to You by Caroline Kepnes, and I can see why. Watch Me alternates between Sam and Kate's point of views, and the chapters told in Sam's POVs were very reminiscent of Joe from You - unlikeable, creepy, and obsessed. While this worked for me in You, it didn't work as well for me in Watch Me. 

Watch Me started off with a bang, and was immediately dark and creepy, and what I expected to turn into a novel focused on stalking sort of went a different direction, which brings me to Kate. Kate liked the attention she received from Sam, despite him being her student - it made her feel relevant and wanted, despite the fact that she got weird vibes from him. It made it hard for me to relate to Kate's character, because I can't imagine enjoying that sort of attention. 

The issues I had with Sam's character were twofold. There were some insights into his past and his history that I thought would have been really interesting, especially in helping the reader uncover his motivations for being the way that he is, but they were never really fleshed out, and I wished we'd seen more of his past. Second, his chapters often felt repetitive, and very driven by internal monologue. I read pages and pages where Sam never spoke to anyone, and if I'm being honest, I wanted to skim through those pieces, because there were only so many times I wanted to read about his obsessive thoughts about Kate, and his hate for everyone in her life. 

Around the 80% mark, the book started to pick up, and I did enjoy the last part of the book, despite the quick ending. If more of the book was like that, I would likely have enjoyed it more. 

I always feel guilty writing reviews that aren't super positive, but unfortunately this just wasn't a winner for me. I felt like the first 80% of the book fell pretty flat for me, and felt more like a dark romance than the thriller I was expecting. If you're a fan of dark, obsession-driven romances with unlikeable narrators, this may be a great choice for you! All in all, I rated this one 2.5/5 stars. Despite the fact that this wasn't my favorite book, I'd like to thank Jody Gehrman, St. Martin's Griffin, and Netgalley for an advanced copy of the book. It was my pleasure to provide an honest review.

This book was different. The writing style was not one I cared for. Just a personal preference. It was intriguing though. It was very chilling. I received a copy for my honest review from NetGalley.

Watch Me, by Jody Gehrman, is a dark and creepy psychological thriller revolving around two main characters Kate and Sam.
Kate is an attractive, independent and ambitious author and professor at a small town college. In her late 30's she is recently divorced (her husband left her for a woman 10 years younger) and subsequently enjoys the attention of one of her students, 22 yr old Sam.
Handsome, charming and smart Sam is obsessed with Kate and believes they will fall in love and run away together.
Although lonely and vulnerable Kate starts to see inklings of creepiness in Sam's behaviour quickly becoming full-blown obsession.
Told from alternate POV's Sam's dark and violent past make his narrative most compelling.
This book is an engaging dark and twisted fictional account of obsession.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I found Watch Me to be lackluster. I liked the idea of the plot but for me it never captured my attention. I had a hard time connecting to the main character Kate Youngblood. I would have loved to have seen Sam’s character developed a bit more with maybe some more plot twists thrown in or something to spice the story up.

Received a prepublication copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review so here goes – this is a very entertaining yet horribly written book. I should clarify, it’s entertaining if you like books like this. My guilty pleasure is this exact genre – female protagonist battling against the male sociopath brand of psychological thriller. Kind of helps if you’ve been there. If you like this kind of thing you will enjoy it. This will not be taught in English classes. But it is a very pleasant way to passive

Watch Me is a terrifying tale of blind obsession by a narcissistic sociopath.

Sam Grist has been obsessed with possessing older woman and creative writing professor Kate Youngblood for at least ten years. In his fantasy, the two of them are deeply and passionately in love with each other, and spend their days in a New York garret writing and their nights in the same garret in a passionate love affair (i.e., graphic sex). Kate, while drawn to him, refuses to allow herself to get sucked into his fantasy as does her best to fend him off.

As Sam decompensates and spirals into the utter madness of his fantasy, Kate (a little late, IMHO), realizes how dangerous he is and the novel ends in the only way possible, in a spectacular denouement.

This is a terrifying, well-written, tale of blind obsession and blind denial. Highly recommended. And, this sort of thing happens all too often.

I received Watch Me as an ARC from NetGalley. I am under no obligation to write a positive review.