Thank you Random House Publishing for the ARC. This was my first You book – I haven't seen the TV show either haha. Definitely recommend you read the rest of the series first. Still fun.

I felt a little lost with this one. I did not read any of the others in this series so I felt like there was a back story that would have helped with this one. And I 'm not sure I would go back and read others. Just not my cup of tea.

Joe Goldberg forever! Will I ever tire of being inside his head? Unlikely. I like that we got to see a different side of Joe here- it's about time he try his hand at being an author. There's the same snark and wit I've grown accustomed to in these series, but I will say this one could have probably done with some editing. It's 435 pages and I felt it.

Kepnes, how do you do this? Joe Goldberg is the most unlikable, likable character I have read. Thank you to both NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this. I could not wait for more on Joe and this piece of work was just as impressive as the rest. Definitely will be adding this one to the shelves! Ordered two copies but might need the audiobook as well ;-)

I hate to give such a low star on this as I was looking forward to this one. I really liked #2 and thought #3 was decent but #4 was too much a slug to get through. Too much inside Joe's head with his musings. I found him to be much more tedious and annoying this time around. This might be on purpose, maybe the author is trying to get us to see the real Joe and not the one we all fell in love with in the first installment. If you enjoyed the previous books you might still like this one as long as you keep your expectations in check. I didn't dislike it enough to quit after this one, i'll give the next one a shot but after that I may be breaking it off with Joe.


*Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

As a fan of Caroline Kepnes' voice and writing style in the "You" series, I was so excited to receive an arc of For You and Only You. However, by the last third of the book, I was forcing myself to read on, willing the book to end.

It's not that the book is bad - I rated it three stars, after all. It's just that it isn't as good as the first three books in the series. I genuinely enjoy Joe's internal ramblings, rife with pop culture references and nods to the reader/author community.

There was so much potential for the Shoddy Fellows characters, and I kept waiting for a plot twist that never arrived. I found Joe's love interest, Wonder, to be a one-dimensional, stereotype of a blue-collar Bostonite. Much of the push-pull between them, along with their conversations, was honestly just boring.

I expected more action from this book, especially after the podcast storyline was introduced. It seemed as though the story was being set up for a Joe "gotcha" moment, but unfortunately, it never really delivered.

Since I'm already invested in this series, I will certainly read the next book, albeit with lower expectations.

Unfortunately this one fell flat for me. I feel like Joe is starting to lose his luster, and I wonder how much farther the books can continue until Joe has run his course. Although I would continue to see how future books pan out, this one didn’t feel like the others.

“For You and Only You: A Joe Goldberg Novel” by Caroline Kepnes is the fourth book in the “You” series, and while I normally shun series books due to an aversion to rehashing old plot lines and treading over familiar ground, I made an exception for this collection. Kepnes doesn’t not disappoint. Joe Goldberg is up to his old tricks, this time at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where, as expected, a body count follows. Through a fellowship writing workshop, Kepnes allows us to crawl deeper into the psyche of Joe, to witness his wild mood swings, his flights of fancy, his insecurities, delusions, and ultimately his deliciously devilish justifications for all manner of wayward behavior in pursuit of another love of his life. Along the way, he is stymied by wicked foils in the guise of fellow workshop participants and established writers. Joe just may be the ultimate unreliable narrator; manipulative, narcissistic, clingy, lacking any decent sense of boundaries, but his sardonic wit keeps the pages turning. Kepnes has another home run on her hands.

I really loved You & Hidden Bodies. I thought book 3, You Love Me, was pretty awful. But this one was by far the worst. The characters are thoroughly unbelievable (especially Sarah Beth.) The qualities that made Joe so unique in the first book really just make him obnoxious in this one. I really hope the author just puts Joe out of his misery.

I’ll start by saying I love this author and this series. This installment just wasn’t it for me. It felt confusing at times and hard to keep track of what was going on. Many parts felt very “Joe Goldberg” while others felt like I was reading a totally different plot line. I love Joe’s deranged sense of love which is why I was so excited for this one. Disappointed that it just didn’t hit the mark of me like the other 3 books in the series did.

Thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for this ARC!

Joe Goldberg is back and he is now at Harvard, where he got a spot in a writing fellowship. This time he isn’t selling books, he’s writing them! He meets Wonder, and they’re both very similar so of course, Joe thinks they’re a match made in heaven. Joe will kill anyone and make anything happen for Wonder and him to succeed not only in their relationship but also their careers.

I really hate to say this but I didn’t love this book. There were parts that got me hooked and then there were others that felt really repetitive. I feel like Joe’s inner monologue was him repeating himself over and over again every other chapter. The ending was just okay for me. I enjoyed reading parts of this book but not something I would reread again unfortunately.

I think I have officially ended my run with Joe Goldberg. This is an engaging book, well-written and intriguing, however I am over Joe Goldberg. I think my first issue is that I was introduced to him via TV before reading any of the books and after reading it’s hard to separate the two and keep track of the changes. He’s despicable, a disgusting, sick character and these are all compliments. Hats off to Caroline Kepnes for writing a character that makes me simultaneously hate him, but want to see how his story ends.

This book was a huge disappointment. It took so long to get into it because it was soo wordy and just didn’t keep my interest. And I say this a huge fan of the You novels. I will shout praises of books 1-3 without hesitation. Maybe my expectations were too high for this one, but I was let down.

My favorite thing about the You series is the “oh no, Joe” moments that keep you invested and on the edge of your seat. This book lacked the bait to keep me reeled in. Joe is typically a hate to love, love to hate character, but in this book he was just boring and annoying. All the characters felt like afterthoughts to add more to substance to the story but they all fell flat and not a single one was likable or interesting.

I can say the only semi redeemable parts of the book ended up being all the modern literary references. There weren’t many, but I loved the passion for books and writing throughout the story. I will remain a Joe Goldberg fan.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

Way back when I first heard that the original You would have a sequel, I found myself wondering this was really a sustainable concept for a series. But Kepnes has kept the Joe Goldberg surprisingly fresh and sharp, and this is probably the best installment yet.

I think it’s a testament to Kepnes’ understanding of her audience (this one’s for you, intellectual snobs), and it’s a good indicator that the series won’t dumb down and equivocate to accommodate certain segments of the tv audience.

It’s not often that we root for a serial killer (is Joe really a serial killer though? I’m not sure I think that’s true except by the most basic definition), but it happens again here. It’s not that we would want Joe’s victims to die in real life for their transgressions, but once aligned with the moral relativism of this fictional world, we gleefully agree with Joe about who simply has to go.

And ah, Wonder. Perhaps it’s a flaw in me (or in the entire audience for this book), but is there anything worse than someone who is poorly educated and wears it like a badge? Who isn’t unusually bright but thinks they’re outsmarting everyone? I found Wonder tough to stomach from the jump, but when we really turn on her as an audience is toward the end when it becomes apparent that she didn’t actually understand the meaning of what she claims is her favorite book. The Yankees - Red Sox analogies Kepnes uses with this character are brilliant and spot on, especially the part about the Boston fans who liked the Red Sox better *before* they won.

The academic setting helped this book a lot too, and I now find myself really excited for the next installment of the series.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better IT DOES! Wow loved this book. Fast-paced and couldn't get enough.

Joe Goldberg - Oh my. I got an early arc of this book but waited for the audio version because the narrator does such an amazing job of narrating Joe! He puts the reader right there in the middle of everything going on in Joe's crazy mind which goes 90 to nothing and I'm here for it! It exhausts me listening lol. I enjoyed this book a lot! Maybe not quite as much as the previous ones - (where are all the bodies?? Carolyn) I did like Sarah Beth a lot. One of my favorite series ever! .

This book was definitely 200 pages overwritten. I REALLY struggled to get and stay into this one. The plot was discombobulated. The story was the same as the previous three books. It wasn't original or unique at all. It was the same. That's my biggest gripe with this series as a whole. There isn't character development, there isn't suspense, there isn't even a unique plot. It's just all the same thing book after book with new characters. I probably won't read another in this series...

Since reading You, I have been at the front of the line for any forthcoming Joe Goldberg antics. For You and Only You delivers in spades and this fourth instalment is consistent with what we've come to love and expect. The problem is that it's almost too consistent. I enjoyed the experience of reading this book and I'll probably read a fifth book, too, but it is starting to feel a little repetitive and formulaic. Still, totally immersive and intense, Kepnes's dialogue remains as sharp and clever as ever.

I have previously enjoyed all the previous books of You series, however I found that I was skimming though chapters of this book.

I love love love this authors books. I'm pretty sure this is the last book in the series and boy was I so sad about that. I think I was focused more on the fact that it was the end than the actual book. Still this author is great and so is this book.