2.5 rounded up

Gosh I never thought we would get here. The last book felt like a real ending. Joe getting the kick in the face of karma. But here in this unneeded disaster he’s back like he learned nothing. Wonder is such a terrible main character. This book is so long and slow and pointless.

I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me and kept me turning pages until I was done. Finished it in two days! The character development was strong, and the premise was unique enough that it didn't feel like anything else I've read.

I am sadly disappointed in this book. The plot is very slow moving and boring and it’s just no where near as entertaining as the other books in the series. None of the characters are interesting and Joe’s new obsession is not on the same level as his other obsessions. I don’t know if I will continue on with this series after this book.

You cannot go wrong with a Joe Goldberg book. Not now, not ever! I don't want this series to end. So if I have any sway with my opinions please take note of that LOL. This is another exceptional addition to the series and I'll be purchasing a hard copy once it releases!

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
For You and Only You releases April 25, 2023

The fourth installment of this series finds Joe in Boston, post-pandemic, in a writing fellowship at Harvard. He’s currently writing a novel called “Me”.

For me, this was a bit easier to digest because it was more tame on the whole gross sexualization tied to the woman that Joe is currently hyperfixated on. But at the same time, the romance and the characters here were so bland.

I found that the storyline was trying too hard to be relatable or appease to the book community with the goodreads girls, book reviews, early galley copies, aspiring authors, and the Colleen Hoover CoHort - Sally Rooney - Donna Tartt name dropping.

Obviously as this series progresses, Joe ages up, but this installment particularly felt off in terms of how the characters came across age wise. He didn’t feel as sure of himself as he otherwise did in the previous three books.

This briefly incorporates some of the characters from the last book through a murder investigation podcast, which honestly I thought we moved past them, but if it means throwing a curveball Joe’s way then I guess I don't mind.

The writing was so repetitive - having characters drinking metaphorical kool-aid every other page, or always being seen with a Coolatta.

In the words of Wonder: this was a putdownable read.

Joe Goldberg goes to Harvard! My favorite murderer is invited to join an elite writing fellowship. Joe is again hoping for a new beginning. He then meets a lovely girl named Wonder, who happens to be a Dunkin Donuts manager. Before we know it, Joe's stalking tendencies have come back with a vengeance. I could tell you more, but then I would have to kill you.

As series go on- they can get stale. If you told me I would be on the fourth book of series about a serial killer obsessed with finding love and using that as justification to murder - one whom I’m secretly rooting for - I wouldn’t believe it. But here I am still so engrossed in this series. I am captivated with the way Caroline keeps coming up with new and unique ways to keep Joe’s endless search for love fresh. Being from a stalker/ murderer’s perspective - she does a brilliant job of making you feel like he genuinely doesn’t think he is the bad guy. He is just doing what is right. That’s what allows you to weirdly root for him even though he is essentially evil. Also, the way he reads people like he reads books is brilliant!

I love how she writes what Joe is thinking in his head (which is usually the opposite) and then what he actually says out loud. Also, interesting choice by the author on her naming of characters… He had “Love” before - an uncommon name. Now he has “Wonder” - also an uncommon name. I like the subtle hints at the emotions they replace for him in his life.

What I find so fascinating about Joe is he knows what he does is wrong, but he fully believes in his justifications. He thinks it stems from a place of love and loyalty. He thinks that having a partner will give him the fulfilled life he craves, but he constantly -from book to book - just replaces that significant other spot with one girl to the next. It’s not so much about the girl -it’s the obsessive nature of filling that spot and keeping them with him by all means necessary. Although the book/series is fiction - it’s a fascinating psychological case study when you truly dive past the story at hand and into the deeper psychological ramifications at play.

This book is littered with references and I was so excited by them! First of all- love the mug of piss callbacks throughout. There are pop culture references too- like the real housewives and flipping over a table or Berger from S&TC. But my favorite is all of the Boston/ New England references - having been born and raised in NH : Canobie Lake Park is a local amusement park that is mentioned- I’ve been there 9 million times and know the owners, New Englanders' Dunkin order preferences, etc- it was so exciting to pick up on all of these little details!

In summary, Joe’s infatuation with women mirrors my infatuations with these books.

Hello, YOU. Caroline Kepnes is back with another Joe Goldberg novel and I am here for it!

"For You And Only You" follows Joe all the way to a college fellowship as none other than a WRITER! As the story progresses, Joe meets his match and one giant game of cat and mouse ensues. That's about the only review you're going to get because even hinting at any of the twists in this book would be criminal. Instead, here's some highlights:

I LOVED the setting. Kepnes did an incredible job at making readers feel the various environments she created

The main characters accompanying Joe this round were extremely well fleshed out and beyond relevant to the here and now

Realistic dialogue truly brought the characters to life

Fast paced but packed with detail

A million times better than the show

If I had to pick my current ranking of YOU books from favorite to least favorite the ranking would be YOU, You Love Me, For You and Only You, and Hidden Bodies.

"I know who you really are. You run, you try so hard to kill your feelings for me that you wind up dead in real life, dead inside. I’m not built like you. I never get over you, any of you."

Hello again, You.

I won't lie and say that I wasn't giddy when I started the latest installment in the life of Joe Goldberg. Once a bookseller, now an author, our favorite murderous man lands himself a coveted spot in a fellowship at Harvard and this story begins there. Joe is always running and I never quite expected him to run to Boston. Things are a little slow moving until Joe's appetite for murder returns and my dude is ravenous.

Joe's narrative inner monologues are as perplexing as they are addictive. I'm giving this book four stars, because I love a narrative by Joe and that's what I expect from this series. The storyline was a bit weaker than the first three books, but again, I love reading through Joe's thoughts. The story does pick up after the first 2/3 of the book, but the beginning was a bit rocky. This was a book about books and as a GoodReads girl myself, I found a lot of fun in reading through it.

Thank you to Random House for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

It is so much fun jumping back into the world of JOE. There is never a dull moment and Kepnes never fails to draw me into the story. I am SUPER excited for the next installment. Also, the Netflix series is *chefs kiss*

I was beyond excited when I got approved to receive an ARC for this book! I’ve been a fan of the You series long before it was adapted to TV. I’ve always enjoyed the unique twist of being inside Joe’s mind and seeing everything from his POV. I even found myself empathizing with and feeling bad for him, which I think is the whole idea. However, everything fell flat for me in this book. I’m not sure if it was the setting of the story, or that maybe, Joe’s story had run its course in book #3 and maybe this feels too drawn out. I also wasn’t a fan of Wonder. Her character was boring and one dimensional. I truly enjoy Caroline Kepnes’s writing style, but unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Hello, You. Diving back into Joe's twisted mind was AN EXPERIENCE. 👏 Thank you so much to Netgalley for the ARC of For You and Only You, the fourth book in the wildly popular You series. This book releases on 4.4.23 and it was everything I had hoped it would be. The usual creepy and stalker vibes coupled with Joe in yet another location with yet another new girl...Wonder was a character that I struggled to like/root for at first but by the end of the book I totally understood why Joe was drawn to her. The side characters were both awful and very interesting at the same time, and there were some twists that had me anxious to see how things ended up. Pick this one up on release day and see for yourself how little Joe has changed

It is impossible for me to NOT like a "YOU" book and it is absolutely impossible for me to NOT read this books in Penn Badgley's Joe Goldberg voice.

I timed my reading of this novel with the release of the new season on Netflix. I missed Joe in my life and needed to be bombarded by his murdering ways.

This book did NOT disappoint. Its a typical "You" book filled with murder, love, sex and drama. This story follows Joe as he hits up Harvard for a fellowship after he has written a book that is titled "Me". Here he meets Wonder and she becomes his YOU. I found this book had a little less stalker then I am used to with a typical Joe book, however it is still great. I highly recommend to fans of the You series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC!

Caroline Kepnes burst onto the scene rather dramatically with you. in a sea of clichéd thrillers, she managed to stand out with her intense, propulsive tale of obsessive love and occasional murder, giving us a notably memorable protagonist who will love YOU to death.
It was fun, it was dynamic, it got made into a TV show–success by any measure. Then, as if to prove, she’s no one trick author, Kepnes wrote Providence, which used a lot of then same techniques less successfully, which apparently discouraged her enough to return to Goldberg, over and over again. And sure, that romantic lunatic IS where the money’s at, but how far should one sell out for a paycheck?
In this case, book four in YOU series serves a resolute reminder that the author has gone too far. Which at this point, is embarrassingly so, because the books are by now outdone by their own TV adaptation.
And yes, this has happened before, and more than once, but YOU had potential to outperform all that noise. The initial adaptations were very close to the books and then the distance began inching in, proportional, it seems, to the declining uality of books.
Granted, both book 3 and season 3 left a lot to be desired, but wherein the TV show rebounded awesomely with a tight whodunit turnaround, book four failed, failed, failed.
Details, you ask? Sure, here you go.
I read the book first, because that’s how you do things. The book sees Goldberg’s yet another attempt to go legit and swear off love by conning his way into a prestigious writer’s group in an Ivy League school. Goldberg doesn’t belong with all the pretentious twats around him, but he finds a kindred spirit in another “scholarship kid” who immediately becomes his new YOU.
So the formula is there, but the execution is garbage. The romance (which is Goldberg’s sole raison d’etre) doesn’t work here, it’s too weak, too rushed. Of course, Goldberg’s romances are never right, that’s kind of the point, but here it never even seems right. The man comes across desperate and bitter, his famous narrative snark goes flat, tinged with angst and resentment in a way that obscures wit and charm and humorous social observations he used to specialize in.
Kepnes has done it, it seems. She’s beaten her golden pony to dust. Used him all up and turned him into a sad caricature of himself.
Wherein in season four of the TV show (at least the first five episodes since Netflix annoyingly divided them up), Goldberg is fun, fun, fun. Back to form and rocking it.
Which is why the TV show is now billed as “inspired” by Kepnes’ books and she is no longer an executive producer. Outdone by TV writers. Outperformed by her own creation. Sad.
So, hopefully, Kepnes can now leave Goldberg alone and maybe, just maybe write something new, and maybe it’ll be good and maybe not, but at least it’ll show range and versatility. Because right now her writing is only reflective of good business sense and marketability. The books are getting longer not stronger. Sad, again.
Book four will make Goldberg’s fans annoyed. Maybe skip and stick with the TV show. Thanks Netgalley.

I think Caroline Kepnes is a genius. I love the You series. This latest book had perfectly timed song quotes, entire sentences that I wanted to underline, and an energy that pushed me forward as I could feel Joe’s behavior spiral out of control. He’s the guy you hate to love. But love him, I do. He’s a hopeless romantic with a dark side and incredibly intelligent. His personality shines through the most when he’s having his own one-sided conversations and how Kepnes brought this guy to life is truly amazing. That is what she has accomplished. Joe is not just a character in a book. He feels real.

Ahhhh Joe, how I’ve missed you. But, I feel that it missed the mark. It was not like the first book. But I still hear your voice ;)

I've been with this series since the first book and love the show. This was a more fleshed-out book, where there were plenty of sh*tty people in Joe's circle. This definitely gave Joe the ego stroke he'd been longing for and gave him more depth by focusing on himself as a writer this go around, which suits him well.

I'm glad that the show seems to be taking its own route, so we get 2 versions. This eased my concerns when I found out the newest season (#4) came out months before the book did. The thoughts that ran through my mind were "what's the point of the book if the show follows it closely, if at all." Since they're now going different routes, I can't wait to read more.

Joe is back in a big way! He is hitting the streets of Cambridge after earning a fellowship at Harvard being held by a favorite author. He finished a book- hilariously called Me and is ready for the world to read it. he meets a girl named Wonder and joe falls in love- and we all know what trouble ensues when that happens. I found the beginning of the book a bit slow- and not believable honestly... but knew it was leading up to something. Maybe the Joe stuff is getting a bit old but I didnt like this one as much as the others.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book. I’m a fan of the Netflix show but have never read a You book. I was immediately surprised to see that it’s written in the same way that Joe constantly monologues in the show. This book was painfully long with no clear path or purpose. I honestly can’t even tell you what happened despite reading the book. I wanted to DNF it SEVERAL times. Would not recommend.

Joe Goldberg is easily one of the best loveable serial killers ever written!! Its not morally right to route for such a character, but one can’t help but… I just finished watching the new season 4 part 1 of You on Netflix and dived right into this because I wanted more!! Anyway, Joe has TRIED to put his past behind and has now become an author. This time his life has taken him to an author workshop. All is good until Joe falls in love… AGAIN. The story definitely feels repetitive, but its entertaining nonetheless! I hope there are more Joe books.

Thank you Atria for the gifted eARC.