Our favorite villian we hate to love is back and he's just as snarky and witty as ever!

Joe Goldberg has left LA and is back on his own again after being paid off by the Quinns to walk away from Love and their son. No sooner does he get settled in a quaint little town that couldn't be further from the pretentiousness of LA or the pace of NYC does he set his sights on his latest victim... I mean love interest.

Mary Kay at first reminded me a lot of Beck, but the similarities felt superficial once I got to know her. Mary Kay is a librarian, well educated, independent, and a good decade plus older than the women Joe typically goes for. Will he finally meet his match? A woman that is not only good to him, but good for him? One that makes him a better person?

I loved that this book was so entirely different from the first two, but still totally felt in line with the Joe Goldberg we've come to know and love. The story felt fresh and new but there were enough tie ins to the prior books to keep it a great addition to the trilogy.

Admittedly, I wish I hadn't read Hidden Bodies so recently. However, I am one that prefers reading series very spaced apart so I suspect that this won't be an issue for most readers.

I often struggle to stay interested in series but Kepnes does a great job of building Joe's character enough to keep him entertaining and to introduce new characters to keep the story unique. I do feel that this book, as well as Hidden Bodies, were too long, but that was my biggest gripe.

I'll be really curious to see what portions of You Love Me the You Netflix series adopts as the second season really did diverge from the plotline of the book series. I'm also excited to see if Kepnes decides to continue this story or leave it be. She certainly gave herself room for another in the series, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for a copy of this novel.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is a psychological thriller about a stalker who ruins the lives
of his unwitting victims. Compelling read.

4.5 Stars

Ahhhh Joe, I have missed you.

Joe’s last relationship with Love (during Hidden Bodies) has ended and he’s looking for true love again. He thinks he’s found it in Mary Kay, a librarian in the small town he’s moved to.

He’s a book lover and she’s a librarian; it’s a match made in Heaven, right? Now Joe just needs Mary Kay to think the same. But Joe’s turned over a new leaf. He’s gonna be “good.”

As always, I love being in Joe’s head. His inner thoughts always amuse me and frighten me in equal measure. While You Love Me was slow moving, the action and twists and turns kept me interested the whole time. Unlike in Hidden Bodies, I thought the side characters really added to the story and I found Joe’s observations to be spot-on.

We get another wild cliffhanger at the end of You Love Me and I can’t wait to see what happens to Joe next. Caroline Kepnes is an exceptionally talented storyteller and her way with words is unparalleled.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the review copy.

Joe Goldberg is back! This time he has narrowly avoided prison and fatherhood, to plant himself in a small town as a librarian volunteer. Why a library? Well we all know Joe Goldberg loves books, but he’s also got his eye on the quirky, bookish, librarian; Mary Kay.

Another great Joe Goldberg book, not quite as good as the first two in my opinion, but still entertaining. The best part of any Goldberg book is his inner thoughts and mocking nicknames for people, which frighteningly remind me of my own inner thoughts when I’m feeling salty. We get to meet a few interesting secondary characters that incite Joe’s wrath, one a Cross-fit obsessed, horizontally challenged man named Seamus, who Joe calls “Shortus”. So immature, but so funny once you get to know him. Joe is up to his usual obsessive self, but the target, Mary Kay, just isn’t quite as interesting to me as Beck or Love. Honestly, I kind of wanted her to end up in Joe’s cage. I won’t spoil it for you though! If you are a fan of the You series, I would read this third book.. it’s definitely worth the read.

“I’ve done my homework, Mary Kay,— it’s amazing how easy it is to get to know a woman when she follows you back online! — and I know about the people in your life, in your phone.”

You Love Me comes out 4/6.

5 stars as usual for the latest in author Caroline Kepnes’s You series. You Love Me is just as delicious to read as the preceding books were!

In this and all of the You books I am astounded, awed by the author’s ability to show perfect insight into an intelligent and slightly askew but sensitive male mind.

Joe is my dream man - a sympathetic sociopath - because of his socially-satirical, sarcastic, snarky, *aware* brain; and it amazes me that a female author can so accurately create such a male voice and character.

Caroline Kepnes is also an astute observer through Joe of the hypocrisy inherent in weak human nature, as well as the mercurial condition of romantic love.

I am a huge fan of this book and Caroline Kepnes, and I hope that Joe never dies.

Joe Goldberg is back! I had been waiting a long time for his return and although Netflix released the screen adaptation, there really is nothing better than the books themselves.
Once again Joe is trying to be the good guy, make good decisions and generally stay out of trouble but the thing with Joe is trouble seems to find him LOL.
In true Joe Goldberg fashion, everyone else is the problem and he’s really just trying to do his best with the cards he’s been dealt. Oh Joe! This was an entertaining read to say the least. I just wish there was more ‘action’ like there was in the first instalment YOU. I didn’t love Hidden Bodies but thought this latest was more in vein of the first in the series and did enjoy it more. Kepnes’ writing is easy to get lost in and before you know it and come up for air, you’re nearly done. It was a quick read for sure and enjoyable my only wish was that it had more of what YOU had - more Joe getting rid of his problems.
The book ends leaving you knowing there will likely be a book 4, which I’ll gladly read to see where Joe goes next!

Oh my gosh! I don't what else to say other than that! I loved every second of this! I mean I adore this series so I knew I would like it but I had no idea it would be this great! I read it twice back to back! I loved it that much! Easily my favorite book of the year!
Seeing Joe in such a different setting was amazing! I don't want to say to much as I think its always best to go into this series not knowing what you are getting into. I can not wait for everyone to read this though so I can hear their thoughts and feelings.
I am just in love what more can I say? Trying to find anything critical to say about this book was like asking a guy to find a flaw in The Empire Strikes Back it wasn't going to happen. I am positively over joked that I got to review this! I can not wait for the physical copies to come out so I can buy it and read it again!

3 1/2 stars rounded down.

Thanks, Netgalley, for this arc. While the third installment of Joe Goldberg is compelling and made me want to keep reading for the most part, I found that it lacked something and I would have liked to see more blood and murders. (Not sure what that says about me as a person, haha) For me, You Love Me lacks the something special that book #1, You, had.

I did find the climax and ending compelling and it definitely made me want to keep reading this series. I love, love, love the Netflix show; season 1 was the best and I thought You Love Me was better than Hidden Bodies.

I really liked the first two in the series, this one seemed to drag more. Joe's voice is still interesting and i can hear him in my head. The book got better towards the end but I was a ;little disappointed overall in this one

Oh, Joe. You...psychopath. I can't....I can't quit you.

Caroline Kepnes is back to our....anti-hero Joe Goldberg. He's back to his antics, this time in the Pacific Northwest.

As Joe is want to do, he falls in love. She's smart. She's sexy. She's a librarian. She's a mother. She's married...

You Love Me takes us back into Joe's mind and frankly, I still find it enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

3.5 Oh I do love this homicidal maniac, Joe Goldberg! And this series is super intense. My only issue with this third novel was continuity. At the end of Hidden Bodies, it looks like curtains for Joe. He's in jail and they've got some hefty evidence. It's all sort of glossed over in You Love Me. Joe is out of jail and out of LA and out of Love's life. He's moved to a small town where he quickly falls in love w/ his co-worker. But she's BUSY. She's already got a life and friends and a child. What's a psychopath to do?
I really do love this series and the third novel was great. I just have a real problem when the biggest cliffhanger of the 2nd novel isn't really addressed. I would have liked a bigger conclusion.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this novel.*

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this ARC!

Despite our best judgement, we love Joe, don't we? We are obsessed with Joe!

This time Joe is trying so hard to be good. He has met someone new (surprise!) and she is a complicated woman to say the least. But Joe is being good! He is trying to change and do the right things.....what will happen? A lot!!!

I don't want to give anything away but this may have been my favorite book in the series. I absolutely loved it and couldn't put it down.

I strangely loved being back inside Joe's deranged mind! The only negative thing I thought about this book was that it was a little long and drawn out in the beginning. I can't wait to see this come to life in YOU season 3!!

Thanks to publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hidden Bodies ends with Joe being in jail... in the 3rd book, we open with Joe out of jail and living on a island off the pacific northwest. As Joe sets his sights on Mary Kay, his boss at the library he works at, who has a teenage daughter, Nomi. He of course, does not like Mary Kay's circle of friends. There are unforeseen obstacles that Joe has to maneuver, but that doesn't stop him. Joe vows to have Mary Kay love him and he vows to not kill anyone, or stalk anyone. But as we all know, it's just something he can't control. And where there's Joe, there's sure to be a trail of bodies. And what of his former love interest Love Quinn and his son? Will he ever be rid of the Quinn's to love again? Has Joe finally found the one in Mary Kay? Will he finally have the love he's so desperately seeks?

I gave this 4 stars but it's more like 3.5 for me. I have to be honest, I didn't enjoy this book as much as the previous books. I was bored in a few parts and it didn't get good for me until about 70% of the way in. The ending kind of saved the book for me.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing for granting my wish on getting an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kepnes does it again!!! This series has brought me so much pleasure in reading about Joe and his shenanigans, so much so that sometimes when I read other books I resent them for not being as good as these are. If you liked the first ones you'll love this one as well as Kepnes pulls no punches in providing us a fun plot that captivated me fully.

Joe Goldberg is back, and this time he is living on a quiet island in the Pacific Northwest, trying to be a good guy volunteering at a library. That is, until he meets the head librarian Mary Kay and in true Joe fashion falls in love. Also in true Joe fashion, bad things tend to find him.

I found this book a little slow in parts, and nothing like the addictive read that “You” was, but I’m glad Joe got another story and I wouldn’t mind even a 4th story for him.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

WELL DAYUUUUM!
.
Thanks SO much to Random House for this e-arc! GUYS - I couldn't put this book down, I basically abandoned all of my other current reads to dive into Joe's brain and I was THOROUGHLY CREEPED OUT AND ENTERTAINED!
.
Admittedly, this is my first Kepnes. I watched the first two season of You on Netflix so I am familiar with the story, but now after reading You Love Me, I definitely want to go back and read You and Hidden Bodies. What makes this book so good? I really felt like I was in Joe's brain. Like I had to remind myself that JOE DIDN'T WRITE THIS BOOK constantly. I also felt on edge the entire time, knowing how insane and edgy Joe is...
.
The twists in this book are solid and a few I really didn't see coming. We kinda swing all over the place and this maybe could have been a bit shorter, but overall I super super enjoyed this one!

Caroline Kepnes is so good at what she does. She has created this character that is TERRIBLE and you root for him. You Love Me shows us a softer side of Joe, a little less murdery side of the psychopath we all love. He’s trying so hard to be good for his new love interest in a new location, but, well, it’s Joe.

Every time I read a book in this series, I am immediately transported into this world and into his head. There was a reason I audibly squealed when I received this ARC. There was very little chance I would dislike this, but loved it and was still surprised by what happened.

4.5 stars

Thank you Caroline Kepnes for continuing Joe’s story! I missed his dry humor and murderous tendencies, though now it seems he’s trying live life on the straight and narrow in the PNW. But is Joe really capable of such normalcy?

After receiving a volunteer position at a local library, Joe meets an attractive librarian named Mary Kay, and it doesn’t take him long to become completely infatuated with her. Unlike his previous romantic endeavors, he wants to win her over the old fashioned way, but Mary Kay’s complicated home life makes it difficult for them to openly be together. Is she willingly to let him in and be a part of her life? Will Joe’s past come back to bite him in the ass? Only time will tell.

I really enjoyed reading this, and it was refreshing to see a sweeter side of Joe, but at times I questioned if he was genuine or just trying to too hard. Personally I wasn’t a huge fan of Mary Kay. It seemed like there were times she held Joe’s actions/secrets against him but never held herself accountable for her own secrets. I really don’t think she deserved Joe, and as crazy as sounds, I just want Joe to find his happy ending.

Overall, I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series, and I look forward to reading more from Caroline Kepnes!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3654524941

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy.

I was looking forward to the third installment of the You series and I was not disappointed. A great psychological thriller.