I keep reading Caroline Kepnes "You" series thinking there's no way it can get any better - there's no way every single book can be *this* good - but I'm always wrong. I still much preferred the first book to the second, but watching where Joe's story went was fascinating - and this book threw me for a loop! Predictably, Joe has lucked his way out of another mess, and also predictably, he sets his sights on another women. But this third installment in the series explores whether Joe has actually changed after his multiple murderous rampages, his multiple instances of stalking and obsession...and, well...I won't answer the question (no spoilers, I swear) but spending an entire book looking for those answers was super fun.

Another YOU series book featuring our main character stalker/psychopath Joe Goldberg! I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book as the tv show took the end of season 2 a very different direction then the book series! So if you only watched the show, this one won’t make sense for you!

Thank you to @randomhouseca and @netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Joe is done with cities. He’s done with posers, and he’s done with Love. He decides to settle into small town island life in the Pacific North West and so he gets a job at a local library... that’s where he meets her. Mary Kay DiMarco. Joe decides to win her over the old fashioned way by being a shoulder she can cry on, being supportive and there for her so that she can come to him this time. But Mary Kay has a life. She’s married and has a family. Joe decides they need to make their relationship work by cleaning up all the extra clutter that takes time away from their relationship...

Joe Goldberg is the whole reason I would always keep reading this series. He’s such a bizarre character and the way he twists his logic is so insane you can’t help but keep reading along! I will say this plot was a bit slower for me then the first two but the ending did hold some interesting twists!

If you are a fan of the series (the BOOKS) I’d say go ahead and get this one for a interesting read to continue walking through the insanity that is Joes mind. Caroline Kepnes, I await a fourth book.

This one comes out April 6th!

#FirstLine ~ I think you're the one I spoke to on the phone, the librarian with a voice so soft that I went out and bought myself a cashmere sweater.

This story just keeps getting better and better. Joe tries to be good, right?!?! But, can he hold it together when he lays eyes on a beautiful librarian? I guess you will have to read and find out for yourself because I would never spoil it for anyone else. I love this series, hard. And after three books I am still fully engaged and loved every minute of this book. Kepnes has a knack for writing a story that is intense, original and captivating due to both plot and characters. You get entranced by Joe, that is what makes Joe, Joe, right. He can charm you and pull you in. I hope this series never ends. I just loved it so much!

I’ve given the last two Joe Goldberg books 5 stars so maybe my giving this a perfect score and declaring it my favorite in the series yet doesn’t mean much, but it’s true and holy shit I didn’t see that coming.

<i>Hidden Bodies</i> came out in 2016, and I was a different person then—who wasn’t—and it’d been a loooong time since I was in this world. I haven’t yet watched the television adaptation, and I haven’t reread this book’s predecessors, so when going into <i>You Love Me</i> (excellent title, by the way, and I still wish <i>Hidden Bodies</i> had been called <i>Love</i>) I was going off years-old memories. The story picks up soon after the last book’s events, and Joe is trying his best to change—has he really changed?—and soon enough I was totally wrapped up in Joe’s snarky rants and pop culture references. Caroline Kepnes’s style of writing shouldn’t work—the constant references put even Stephen King to shame—but it does, and I’m convinced she’s a genius.

Of course I’m resistant to posting spoilers, but I really liked that it seemed Joe actually wants to change, and there are signs of improvement . . . at least, in his own head. Kepnes makes Joe scarily sympathetic, often letting the reader forget he is objectively a monster, a fucked-up guy, so why is he so damn enjoyable to read about? There’s a bit more up for interpretation here, though, than in the previous books and I just loved it so much. Kepnes is quite a master at the <i>unreliable narrator</i>, something much trickier than it seems.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a review copy of this book. It releases on 4/6!

"I moved here because the murder rate is low..."

Joe is back, looking for love, and a crime free community, because you know...Joe is all about safety (and the ladies, and obsession, and stalking)! Joe has moved and is volunteering in a library - it is no bookstore, but he is in his element - plus, the librarian is well, obsession worthy. She is solid, she has a job, a teenage daughter and is also hot. What is not to love?

If you have read the first two books in the series (or watched, You on Netflix) you know Joe's M.O. He thinks A LOT. The reader is privy to his thoughts and in this book, they range from funny to sinister. He is a character that readers love to hate or shall I say readers hate to love. Either way, Joe makes his mark.

"Cedar Grove meets Dexter"

Unfortunately, parts of this book felt too drawn out and slow for me. His love interest, Mary Kay is wishy washy and annoyed me at times. But Joe did not seem to mind so who am I too judge...but I wish she had more oomph. I was so over her going back and forth with her feelings .... I want to be with you...this never happened, I love you.... I cannot do this.... This feels so right.... oops, I did not mean that. Make up your mind woman! But then again, she is dating Joe and he is well... we all know how he is.

So how to rate this book???? While it was slow and drawn out in parts for me, there were parts that really worked and when they worked - the book shined. The second half of the book was better and moved faster for me. Plus, there are some interesting supporting characters and a couple of twists that this reader did not see coming!

What you will see coming is book #4 which I will be on the hunt for. I am torn between 3 and 3.5 stars. This book although slow in parts, is brilliant in other parts.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Joe’s back! We all know we can’t live without Joe and his love life. He’s trying really hard this time to go about this next relationship the right way. That means no killing her friends, her ex, her boss, or anybody. Stalking is ok, messing with her friends is ok and lying is ok. But no killing. Almost everything works out for him and he can have a normal loving relationship. The story is basically one long monologue of Joe’s thoughts which is a bit jumbled at times. It’s like he goes on tangents and refers to things by pop culture reference or puts himself into a game. It’s truly amazing what’s going on up there. To better understand Joe and his life before this book you need to read You and Hidden Bodies. Watching the Netflix series is a great bonus after reading the books, the series doesn’t really get into his head as much. My copy came through Netgalley and my review was provided voluntarily.

Being inside the mind of Joe Goldberg is a real trip. His extensive book knowledge and astute observations of the people he encounters are so disarming. I am constantly finding myself being charmed by his bookishness, or laughing at his candid remarks and I have to tell myself “Stephanie, these are the musings of a serial killer.” But that is the (terrifying?) brilliance of Caroline Kepnes. She writes as Joe so well, blurring the lines of how we think we should feel about him. And he is, to be clear, fucking terrible. But so compelling and so readable. And also relatable, despite the fact that I have never committed murder. He’s constantly getting into these accidentally murderous situations, despite trying too hard to stay on the straight and narrow, the same way the main character in a rom com is always tripping over her own two feet causing catastrophes all around, despite her attempts to play it cool.

In the third installment of this series (and let me just say I would read like a Janet Evanovich number of Joe Goldberg series books), Joe moves to the Pacific Northwest and sets his sights on a librarian, which OF COURSE. Kepnes wastes no time jumping right inside that twisted mind (there’s a reference to “RIP Beck” on the first page!) and it’s juicy, twisted, and wildly entertaining. This Joe Goldberg has been THROUGH IT, though “it” is nowhere near the correct amount of justice served for the crimes he has committed. Reading as he describes observing the latest lady of his obsession is creepy...chilling even at some points and I really do sometimes wonder WTF is wrong with me for enjoying this so much? But I do, and I really think you will, too. There are some eye-rolling plot points, but it's such a wild ride, I didn’t mind at all. If you’ve read YOU and Hidden Bodies, you know what you are getting into and you will love every creeptastic page.

Joe, our serial killer with a heart of gold, is back in You Love Me, the third book in Caroline Kepnes’s You series.

Following the events of Hidden Bodies, Joe has relocated to the idyllic island of Bainbridge Island. He’s come into some money which he has donated to the local library, and takes a volunteer position there. When he meets Mary Kay, one of the librarians, he does what only Joe does and falls instantly in love. He’s determined not to make the same mistakes he has in the past, but patience is not one of Joe’s virtues and it’s not long before he falls back to his stalker ways, and soon a trail of bodies is once again in his wake.

Joe’s tendency to refer to those who’ve died as “RIP Name” gets a bit irritating, but he really just wants the best for himself and those he loves. Mary Kay is different from the women in his past, and as soon as Joe can get rid of some baggage they can be happy together. But things aren’t always as they seem, and sometimes Joe just can’t catch a break.

It’s hard for me to say if it’s necessary to read You and Hidden Bodies before reading You Love Me. I read Hidden Bodies first, several years ago, and then You, so a lot of the details from those books were murky, including the ending of Hidden Bodies, which is referenced in You Love Me. I’d say enough of those details are mentioned again in You Love Me to understand what happened and how Joe feels about them.

I liked You Love Me, but I would say it doesn’t pack quite the same punch the first two books did. There are some twists that are a little out there, and it meanders a bit at times. I haven’t seen the Netflix series but I’ve heard this would be good for fans of that show.

Joe is back again and up to his shaninigans. This one he meets. a bit older librarian May Kay. This is the (new) one. Mary Kay has a lot going on with a job and a kid and Joe is not a patient man- although claims to be for sure. As the story unfold it gets normal Joe crazy and Mary doesnt know what is coming for her. As Joe tries to make things good in his relationship and tries to make things easier to have his relationship with Mary Kay he continues to be his normal mess of a self and the ending is so very worth the ride. Enjoy.

I read the first book in this series. I did not read the second, but watched the series on Netflix. Since I didn’t read the second book, I was a little confused about what was going on at first – did Joe move to Seattle to stalk Mary Kay, or did he hone in on MK after moving to Seattle? In any case, I caught up, and unfortunately, the story got a bit tedious. Kudos to Kepnes for making bank on this series, but I easily tired of the 400 page Joe stream-of-thought rant, and I if I never hear lemonhead, tights, skirts with tights, Murikami, meerkat, mothball, or fecal-eyed again, it will be too soon. This was not a book that I was dying to sit down and read, and I had to give myself goals (e.g. I will read the next 10% in this sitting). That being said, the last quarter of the book was better than the rest, as some of the threads of the book came together.

Some of the twists and plot points in the book were implausible, which was another reason the book didn’t really work so well for me. How could Joe possibly hold Melanza hostage and NO ONE looked for her or realized that she just “disappeared” leaving her entire life behind? And there was absolutely zero trace of her being left behind in the Whisper Room and that room wasn’t weird to MK or Nomi when they moved in? And Joe buying high-priced items for the guy who caught him burying Melanza? All of that could have been left out. And then ending with MK in a coma? It is a convenient way for Joe to move on and stalk another woman; I assume there will be a #4. I don’t imagine I will be reading it.

Clearly, based on reviews, many people liked this book and I am in the minority; it just wasn’t for me.

2.5 stars

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/56900925

Having been a fan of the Netflix show I decided to check out the book series because the book is always better than the movie/tv! While season three of the show hasn't come out yet, this is almost like a sneak peak of what might happen...and if that is the case then season three will be disappointing. Book 2 left on a cliffhanger and I feel like we jumped right into Joe in another world without fully wrapping up book 2 until much later in book 3. I also didn't love Joe's main love interest in this book and felt like it was way too long and repetitive. This book also left the door open for a fourth book it appears so we will see what happens. If there is a book four I hope it is more in line with book 1 and book 2!

What a perfect book to the trilogy. I absolutely loved this book as well as the other 2. I highly recommend this book

Welcome back, Joe! It's so nice to see you again. After all this time, you've come to Washington state to the small and quaint town of Bainbridge Island. You are leaving the city life behind. It's time to return to books and find some reciprocated love.

After time in LA and being bought off by the Quinns, Joe leaves LA, Love and his son for the idyllic PNW to recharge, reset and to find his new love in Mary Kay DiMarco, the town's local librarian. Joe is determined to leave his past behind and be good. His killing ways are behind him. But we soon see that Joe and his stalker tendencies can never quite die down.

I'm not going to go in much more detail because if you're going to read You Love Me, you've read the previous two books and I'm sure you know what to expect. But imagine Joe Goldberg in a small town as opposed to a city. You can't hide who you are as easily. Everyone knows everyone. But everyone and their issues are much more prominent and they are everywhere, even the people that Joe gets himself involved with. But expectations and what you get will be a bit different.

I wasn't sure how Caroline Kepnes could come up with something fresh and new for Joe Goldberg, but she did with his life in the PNW. With him wanting to be good. With him concentrating on NOT killing anyone. But then, he wouldn't be my Joe. Would he be able to hold a candle to book 1 and 2 Joe?
I love how seamlessly we get inside Joe's head; what he's thinking and what he thinks others are thinking. Ms Kepnes does second person flawlessly and that's what makes these books so unique and wonderfully told. You ARE him and can commiserate with him, root for him and want him to win.

You Love Me was a long book (probably unnecessarily so) and there were all new characters introduced that were just as messed up or even more so than Joe. I liked the small town setting and that Joe wanted to be good, but I could've went for some more action. There seemed to be a lot of build up and it took a bit to get to where the plot was going to go, but the characters drove this story and pulled it in for me. Joe is someone I will always love, and I liked seeing him turn a corner. But those darn people kept getting in his way. What would Joe do and how far would he go for happiness?

This book is for the Joe Goldberg fans. But definitely for the fans of the Netflix series. There is a reason we root for this man. Even within his psychopath tendencies, he's real and we are in his head and understand his reasonings. Bring on more Joe!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the eARC.

Thank you to #netgalley and #randomhousepublishing for allowing me to enjoy an advanced copy of “You Love Me” by Caroline Kepnes. I have been eagerly awaiting the third book in this page turning series. This was good and Joe has evolved but it felt a little flat. Maybe my expectations were too high but it wasn’t as exciting as the first two books. Some of the characters behaviors and actions just seemed a bit out of character. However, it did keep me turning the pages and I wanted to see what happened in the end. I love this writer and how her mind works and will look forward to what she writes next.

I was ready to read this third installment in the You series. It was very similar to the previous books with twists and turns throughout and a plot that kept me engaged. I recommend for anyone who has liked the previous two You books!

Thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

Another disturbingly wonderful adventure with our favorite stalker Joe. In You Love Me, Joe has somehow manipulated his way out of trouble, yet again. He waisted no time moving on and finding a new obsession in a small town librarian. Joe does not disappoint as he takes us on another adventure with all his schemes. While this series is unrealistic and quite disturbing at times, it's also so very entertaining. Never a dull moment!

Wowza... Joe Joe Joe...

I will try to review this book without giving away spoiler from the previous books. But this book takes place after Joe is release from prison and he moves to Washington.

He is determined to be better and not kill anyone, because he wants to be good. Of course, he immediately falls in love. And lots of people get in their way...

This one felt really different because Joe is still a horrible person and, of course, he is a serial killing stalker. But he really tries to be good in this book, so it is interesting. But this book is filled with a LOT of distrubed people..

Overall, it was really good. It wasn't as creepy as the first one still, but I did enjoy it.

Now I need to watch season 2 of the show.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Random House for this eARC.

Oh, Joe. What are you to do when you are banished and forsaken by the people you love?

You move on, you start fresh. You move forward with your vision of a quiet life in a quaint community, even if it means you have to do it alone. You land in the picture perfect small town community of your dreams. Perfect for family life, if only you had a family.

You can't help making connections with that well-read librarian. She loves you, she needs you, she just doesn't know it yet. But you're patient.

You just have to get her away from all the people in her life that are bad for her, her supposed friends, and her....husband. You can deal with her rebellious teen, you "get" her and she "gets" you....sort of.

Another great internal monologue story told in Joe's great warp speed, stream of consciousness, pop culture referencing way. This time, Joe is in for more twists and turns than usual and he's dancing as fast as he can but he has to be even more careful, one slip could end everything.

Unpopular opinion here, but I did not enjoy this book as much as I though I would. I loved You and Hidden Bodies, perhaps some time has passed between books, perhaps some things changed but unfortunately, book three did not make it for me.

It started very slow, I thought it would picked up at some point but never did. All that dialogue going on in Joe's head got really boring and tiring, almost making Joe a little annoying of a character at times. Then how some situations were predictable and some of the story line felt unnecessary.

I tried really hard to like it this book, to engage, kept reading in the hopes of the story getting more exciting but unfortunately, did not happen for me.

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for the advanced free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Joe Goldberg is back and has relocated to the Pacific Northwest in order to make a fresh start. Has he really changed? Of course not! In short order, Joe finds a new victim in another bookish place, targeting his new librarian boss and settles back into the familiar path of delusional sociopathy. I enjoyed the television series more than the book series and hope that this latest installment is in the works starring Penn Badgley, he rocked in that role!