Reading Between the Wines book review #42/115 for 2021:
Rating: 2.5 🍷 🍷1/2-rounded up to 3
Book: You Love Me
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction
RELEASED on April 6, 2021!!!
Recommended to readers who like a creepy PLUS if you like the Joe/Dexter type of stories.

Sipping thoughts: Let me start by saying I love Joe. Yeah, I know! The creepy, weird, stalking, pitiful Joe. I think what I love about Joe is the absurdity of what he does and the fiction behind it. Of course, in the real world, Joe would be someone I would be terrified of but Kepnes really makes him so lovable. I said all that in this “You” installment the thrill of Joe wore off. I liked the first book and loved the second. I really enjoyed the Netflix series even though they changed quite a book from book to screen. I am not sure if Kepnes intended on making this a 3 (or more) book series but I after reading the 3rd one it doesn’t sound like it. This book has the creepy Joe who pines after a girl but it just doesn’t bring that intense, OMG, WTF, how is he going to get out of this, how is so funny yet creepy feel as the first two. It sounds more like the Netflix popularity might have brought on the opportunity for a third book to be made. With that said, I am still glad I read this one and will still read a 4th one if Kepnes decides to make one…oh and I will definitely watch the Netflix season!

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @RandomHouse for an advanced copy of @YouLoveMe

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The premise is admittedly getting harder and harder to buy, but Caroline Kepnes' writing remains sharp as ever. Love all the pop culture references, and the societal satire still hits all of its marks.

4 Thank You, Thank You Stars
* * * * Spoiler Free-A Quick Review
I made a huge mistake. I saw this, fell hard for it and I am admitting to all, I hadn't read the previous books. Oops!
So I am hanging my head in shame. As a newbie to the twisted, well-thought mind of Ms. Kepnes, I refuse to tell anything about this book, for I have aversion to spoiling things for others.

All I will say is if you love to read something that will slowly build and grab you by the unique way it is told...then read this series. I am going to go and read the previous books as I think that will add to my enjoyment of this and others out there have sung their praises for them...After all, Stephen King can't be wrong :D

Hallelujah!!! Our favorite lovelorn serial killer, Joe Goldberg, is FINALLLY back! Thank you Caroline Kepnes!

Yes, it's true. The third book in the "You" series is here. We first met Joe in NYC in ("You") when he was working at a book store and in love with Guinevere Beck. When things didn't work out so well with Beck, Joe moved on to LA ("Hidden Bodies"). LA is really not his kind of place -- he hates so much about it - but he is a chameleon so he embraces it. And falls in love again. This time with Love, who comes from a super wealthy family and has a brother named Forty. (Yes, mean parents giving kids those names!!) Once again though, things don't work out so well for Joe, so when we meet him in "You Love Me" he's living in Bainbridge, Washington, and volunteering at a library. He seems to be quite well off financially somehow, but you'll need to read the book to find out how that happened.

The Joe we meet in "You Love Me" is older, more mature, and really doesn't mean to kill. He just wants to love and be loved. And once again, in Bainbridge Joe meets his newest soulmate. Her name is Mary Kay (aka MK) and she has a daughter who Joe thinks of as Meerkat. Unfortunately for Joe, MK is also married and has a bunch of long-term friends in her life.. Oh no, Joe! Joe is reformed and doesn't want to hurt anyone, but he really needs to remove the obstacles from the path of everlasting love with MK.

So there you have it, the perfect set-up for our reunion with our smart, sarcastic, hopelessly in love serial killer. I loved this third entry to the series -- more than book #2 and as much as book #1. If you are a fan of this book series, get yourself to your nearest bookseller and grab "You Love Me." One caveat I have is that if you have not read books #1 and #2, you need to do that before reading this. "You Love Me" is not a stand-alone read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me an advance read of "You Love Me" in return for an honest review. I am positively thrilled and will be telling all my friends.

I love Joe. I will always love Joe. I heard this whole book in his voice, even though he now sounds like Penn Badgley, but it was a little circular and repetitive for me, and there were just too many people and plotlines. I did love spending more time with him, although I'm not sure if I'll be in such a rush if there are new Joe books at some point.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having read the first book many years ago, skipped the second, and have yet to decide whether or not to watch the show, my reaction to this may be different from a number of readers. This was certainly an entertaining read (although I thought it could've been quite a bit longer.) Normally a fast, read until the end woman, I had to take breaks and break it up with other books as Joe's nonstop monologue became fatiguing. I prefer more diverse means of momentum, to say nothing of the fact that his mind is one seriously disturbing place to be. Librarianship being my profession, I did get a kick out of the fact that the new object of Joe's unrelenting obsession was a stereotypical older, hot librarian. Nice touch.

Kepnes has managed to do it again. Joe can definitely get under your skin, but then the book takes you sideways in a way you never thought you’d see coming. You definitely need to read the other books before you read this one. Well done!

I feel like if this book was a stand alone, I wouldn’t have liked it as much as I did, but since it was Joe....it was absolutely great.

I give a lot of credit to Caroline Kepnes for being able to create a character like Joe. Someone who has done truly horrible things, but yet somehow you keep rooting for him. He won’t give up on his dreams, but his compulsive behavior gets in the way sometimes. When Joe is around, sometime people die. But he is smart and he’ll figure out how to solve every problem thrown at him. Will we see Joe again? I hope so. I wonder what he’ll be up to...

Candace, Beck, Amy, and Love have all left Joe heartbroken, devastated, and feeling betrayed. He wants things to be different this time. He wants to live in a quiet area where bad things don't happen and focus on being good. That is until he locks eyes with you.
Joe ditches L.A. and heads to Bainbridge Island, where nothing bad ever happens. It's a little community where word gets around fast, so he can't risk being bad anymore. Joe has a house now and he volunteers at the public library in his free time, where he locked eyes with you, Mary Kay. See, he isn't the old Joe, he is different now and he won't go to extreme measures to win you over like he did for Beck or Love...or will he? Will Joe find love again, with you? What risks will he take to show you that you are meant to be together?
I thought it couldn't get better than You, but Hidden Bodies came around. Then I thought it couldn't get better than that but here we are! Caroline Kepnes did it again and let me tell you she delivered! I swear each book just gets better and better. You Love Me was amazing. It constantly had me on my toes, guessing what was next to come. I tried and tried to guess what was going to happen but Kepnes threw me for a spin. I highly recommend this book and the whole series! Please give us a fourth book to the series! I want more, I need more!

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I just can’t help but sympathize with Joe. I feel wrong even admitting it. Mainly because I detest how women are objectified- and there is a lot of that in Joe’s world.

Low-stakes spoiler: Joe is wearing cashmere.

He is trying so hard to play by the rules but can’t help himself. Habits are hard to break. I wanted so badly to see Joe mold himself into the man he is trying so desperately to become. Does he get everything he deserved? Who knows.
People just won’t cooperate. His usual manipulation tactics have surfaced and he is on a roll
And here we are, right in the middle of another page turner. Thank you Kepnes! Keep ‘em coming!

Joe is back!

Please do yourself a favor and go into this one blind. If you haven’t read the series, I recommend starting with You. This wouldn’t make a good stand alone book.

This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2021, loving both the books and the show, I would have read this one regardless of what anyone said. But this one didn’t really bring anything new to the series, it was the same old Joe with similar story lines and ideas as the previous two books. If we are comparing books, I liked the previous two better.

I definitely recommend picking this up though if you are a fan of the series! Even though this one wasn’t my fave, I’m still really excited for the show to come back and the next book!

Thanks @randomhouse for my DRC.

Joe is looking for the quiet life. Is that possible with his pass ? Life as a librarian. Here in these pages we see life as idyllic for as long as it lasts. Still Joe is Joe and his demons are never asleep for long. Joe on the path to redemption falls for Mary Kay only she has a life ,free from Joe and not adjacent to Joe. How he copes is comic and sad. Learning to accept other people has never gone well in the past, will change happen for Joe. I did not see his hope for amends to lead him to LA but here he is and are you in for a twist. Happy reading

You Love Me is the third book in You series. This has been one of my most anticipated reads this year! Overall, I really enjoyed this and it gave me similar vibes to the first book. All the characters are deeply complex and perfectly flawed. The storyline kept me on my toes the whole time and I didn’t expect the twists and turns. I kept switching from reading the book and listening to the audiobook since Santino Fontana is one of my favorite audiobook narrators. Santino is an incredible audiobook narrator. I love that he brings the story alive and he does distinct voices for each of the characters. If you are a fan of the book series or the TV series, I highly recommend picking this up! Now I can’t wait to watch the third season of You!

I absolutely loooooove this book. I especially love the way it's written with short, snappy, smart sentences. I love the conniving and stalkerish ways of the protagonist, Joe. I love his snarky humor and the way the mystery unfolds. What kept things moving super fast (and me on the edge of my seat) was the dark, witty and very revealing dialogue between Joe and the reader. I highly recommend this book. Also, for those who love audiobooks, I think it's fabulous because of the super sexy sounding narrator, Santino Fontana.

I’m grateful for Random House for granting my wish to read an advanced reader e-galley, via NetGalley. And Penguin Random House Audio for hiring an amazing voice actor!

3.5/ 5 stars

You Love Me is the third book in the You series. There are also 2 seasons of this book as a tv series on netflix.

I was beyond excited to read this book. I have read both You and Hidden Bodies and watched both seasons of the tv series. My only concern was that I would get mixed up (as Season 2 was completely different from Hidden Bodies).

The narrator is once again Joe (1st person POV). This book takes place in Bainsbidge Island in the US Pacific Northwest.

I was definitely happy to see crazy Joe again. But the exciting stuff does not happen right away. The second half of the book was much stronger for me than the first half.

In this book Joe is obsessed with Mary Kay. And I really enjoyed his obsession. And I also enjoyed his attempt at growth.

The last part of the book was the best. There was so much happening. Lots of shocking reveals. I absolutely loved this about the book. The end was really interesting. And now I'm curious if this is the last that we will see of Joe.

While I did not read the first two books in this series (You, Hidden Bodies) I was an avid fan of the TV series. So, it is with Penn Badgley's voice as Joe in my head that I read You Love Me.

Caroline Kepnes has an incredible ability with words and connections. I think you must have a good grasp of a broad range of current and classic books, popular TV shows from the 80s through now, and music of all types and genre and era. I can't say I got all the references (was she talking about a baseball player... or something else? lol!) but, oh, the way she ties the literary, tv and musical references into the scenes took my breath away.

Joe thinks that by going to the sleepy little town of Cedar Grove he will get away from the notoriety of his past crimes. He doesn't count on the interrelatedness of the circle of friends and family around Mary Kay, the latest object of his affection. And he certainly doesn't count on Love's families continuing involvement.

Is it wrong that I feel sorry for a psychopath? Poor Joe. He's trying so hard to be good. But as happens to all of us, outside forces get in the way. I haven't decided if Joe and Mary Kay were perfect for each other, or if she was just another lesson for Joe, but the struggle is real.

As they would say in a tennis match, the score was love-love. Once again, no one wins, and we, the readers hope to have more Joe to look forward to.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced reader's copy for review.

👀 🔪 REVIEW🔪👀

Publication Date: 4/6/2021
🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC.

Joe Goldberg is back in You Love Me and he has moved to a small town in Seattle after being burned by love..again. He sets his sights on librarian, Mary Kay, and this time he won’t let anything get in the way of true love.

Everyone knows that Joe is a character you can’t help but root for no matter how many times he does truly despicable things. I will say that of the three books, this is my least favorite. I loved revisiting Joe, but there is only so many times we can do this storyline. After despising Beck and being intrigued by Love, I wasn’t as invested in Mary Kay’s character, which kept the book from being “unputdownable”. Keep in mind that I listened to the first two books on audio and Santino Fontana is so brilliant as Joe that reading the physical book may have impacted the overall reading experience for me.

Although it wasn’t a perfect book, I did really enjoy You Love Me and all of its over-the-top, darkly comedic glory. Joe will always be one of the most memorable villains I have ever read and I am excited to read whatever Caroline Kepnes comes up with next.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

***Spoilers***

Joe is back and so are his inner thoughts/ramblings. He’s moved on from LA and now lives in Bainbridge, WA.

The Quinn’s (Love’s parents) paid him $4 million, bought a house and car to get him to leave and never see his child. But he keeps in touch by following Love’s Instagram.

Joe also has a new Love interest. An older woman. They flirt, push and pull and it seems they’re not getting anywhere. Until about 50% into the book, it’s a bit drawn out and not too much happens. But then it switches quickly!

Too many friends, spouses, kids and then the killing starts. But Joe is a new person! He didn’t kill anybody! He’s innocent....

I did enjoy the last half of the book a lot more and read it in one day. The author brings in new characters and some remind me of characters who died in the first two books.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this advanced e-readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

50 million stars for You Love Me! I loved everything about this book! I love all of the song lyrics/melodies/book quotes scattered throughout and how they made me sing along in my mind and smirk. I love the irony and humor in Joe’s thoughts. I burst out laughing so many times even though this isn’t a comedy. It’s still funny! Joe is one of those characters I love to love. I can’t bring myself to hate him and I don’t want to hate him. I LOVE first person perspective and Joe takes it to another level. (See, I know it’s Caroline writing but sometimes I wonder if she even has a choice or if Joe just writes himself through her. She’s like the Joe-conduit.) YLM would be okay to read as a standalone but you’ll really enjoy it more if you’ve read You and Hidden Bodies because so many characters/places/situations are mentioned throughout this one. All in all, You Love Me gives us our fix of Joe Goldberg that we’ve been craving and it feels so good to get that hit!
Huge thanks to Random House via NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in advance in exchange for my honest review.

*I posted my review just after midnight to Amazon last night but it hasn’t been approved yet. I bought the book and the audible version both so that I will get that verified purchase label on my review.

I also posted to a group on fb I admin with over 46k members.