Member Reviews
This book couldn’t have been written more perfectly!!! Kepnes continues to amaze me with each book!! With all the twists and turns she definitely kept my attention the WHOLE time.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I've enjoyed our adventures with stalking serial killer Joe for several years now and I have always been excited to see a new book release. The third book was a bit less exciting to me than its predecessors but I was ready to give this one a go. The idea this time is that Joe has written a book. He thinks that this book is a wonderful literary work of art and that he will be another JD Salinger. In his mind, it is just a matter of time before everyone will hold him in reverence. He receives the opportunity to attend Harvard as a part of fellowship with an accomplished author named Glenn leading the class. But then he spots another "you"- this time it is a woman named Honor who lives with her father and sister and works at Dunkin. Immediately he starts in on his usual ways and builds her up to be his perfect fantasy woman. Here is the deal: only the setting is different here. And I never really feel like Honor is someone compatible with Joe...she's very different to the other women he gets fixated on. Maybe that should be a good thing but she's bland. He kills the exact people I anticipated he would kill as soon as we met the cast of characters. And this time it didn't take long to get tired of being in Joe's head...something I have previously quite enjoyed. His thoughts were even more repetitive than in earlier books. The author has created a great character in Joe and she is a really strong writer. We just spent far longer in his head without anything suspenseful or deadly happening than in the other books. I feel like this might be a sign that its time to wrap up the series. Let's see how things end for Joe one way or another. I don't want to see him just fade out because this is a psycho we need to see go out with a bang.
Joe is up to his old tricks again: falling in love and…killing anyone who gets in the way of it. This time, he has been invited to a writing fellowship at Harvard where he presents his literary work, titled, “Me”, and meets Wonder Parish: fellow aspiring writer and girl of his dreams. And Joe is willing to say and do anything to keep Wonder for himself.
This 4th installment of the series unfortunately fell a little flat for me, and unlike the other books in the series, I never quite found myself rooting for Joe. While I loved reading the brilliantly detailed in-depth inner workings of Joe’s dark and sarcastic mind in the beginning of the book, about halfway through it became a bit repetitive and even boring. Similarly, I didn’t find Wonder’s character to be interesting in the least.
Do I regret reading this book? Not at all. Will I read the 5th installment of the series, should Caroline Kepnes continue it? Absolutely. I am still addicted to Joe Goldberg with his crazy mind and crazier obsessions.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House, and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I'm a huge fan of Joe Goldberg - I've watched the TV show "You" too many times to count at this point and I'm so excited for season 4 being released on February 9th. When I saw I was approved for this ARC, I squeaked just a bit out of excitement lol.
With that being said, this particular Joe story felt a bit anti-climactic and slow burn for me. Joe leaves his time in Florida to attend a fellowship at Harvard in the hopes of having his book published. I would have LOVED to see excerpts from said book, but we only receive brief glimpses and his character names. Joe, of course, falls in love again with another girl who honestly feels a bit too much like a repeat of Beck's character from Book 1 with the added element of a dependent extended family instead of the dependent friend group. I felt like the most interesting character in this story was Sarah Beth - another fellowship recipient who is a mystery novel author (which kind of begs the question of why she's in the fellowship since she has multiple books already published). Her relationship with Joe is the most climactic and interesting part of this story for me.
While I love Joe's stories and will forever be entertained by this character, I hope if we receive a 5th book that there will be a new angle and more immersion into Joe's character.
I gave the book 3.5 starts rounded up to 4.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the E-ARC.
For starters, I love the You series - books as well as show. And I find they're both set up in a way that makes it somewhat easy for me to separate the 2. I don't often compare the plot lines in books to the plot of the series, aside from book 1/season 1.
Sometimes, I appreciate that Joe's narration style is just as unhinged as he is and it makes it easier for me to get lost in the story. Despite my ability to separate series from book, I can't help but hear Joe's internal monologue in Penn Badgley's voice.
I loved that the book was set in my hometown of Boston - It made it easy to visualize the settings. I thought Joe was a bit tame in this book, compared to the previous books. I don't know what it says about me, but I could have used a bit more "unhinged Joe". However, I am interested to see if this "tame" (IMO) Joe was intentional and part of his future story.
For me, the only thing I couldn't really get behind in this book was his love interest. I'm not sure why, but I just couldn't see why he loved Wonder so much. It might take another read for me to appreciate her, but on my 1st read, I just couldn't see it. I'm definitely open to discussion on it.
“For You and Only You” or “Joe gets a fresh start and a new love for the 1,000,000th time”. The things that made Joe interesting have completely run their course with me. The pop culture references and wit are there but I feel like the fire has gone out. The things that made “You” original and unique such as: rooting for Joe, the view from behind the binoculars, and feeling slightly like a Bundy babe for “liking” Joe are now just hard to believe. I think I am going to close the book on Joe and lock him in the cage for now.
#Netgalley #foryouandonlyyou #theyhateuscausetheyain’tus
I always enjoy spending time with Joe Goldberg and I don't like to think too much about what it says about me that he makes me laugh out loud. For You and Only You gave me plenty to laugh about as Joe's classic snarkiness and running commentary on the ludicrousness of so much of today's world was in full swing. I found Wonder annoying as many others have mentioned, but I never expect to really like anyone Joe sets his heart on as it generally doesn't end well for that person.
I have only one complaint about the book and it is really something I hope an editor will catch and correct before final publication: if you are going to have the character talk about his Tesla, please know some basics about the vehicle. When Joe "killed the engine" in the Tesla, I cringed.
**spoiler free review below**
For You and Only You is the next installment in Caroline Kepnes's wildly popular You series, which has also been turned into a TV show. If you're a fan of the show/series you will probably enjoy this book too, although it did feel a bit repetitive at times. Compared to the other books this one felt a bit slow, but still provided the same sick twists and turns readers have come to expect from the series. Not sure if this is the last book, but it probably should be.
I love the You series. It’s so original and thrilling. However, this book fell flat for me. Joe was boring. He had endless thoughts about books that were tedious and hard to get through. This book lacked interesting characters, which included Joe. Normally, the You books have lots of twists and turns. However, the only shocking twist happened early in the book. The ending was left open, so hopefully the next book brings us back to the thrilling and exciting world of Joe that this book lacked.
Joe Goldberg is back at it again ! And by at it I mean obsessing over a woman and removing obstacles to be with her. Being in his joe Goldberg mind is scary but very entertaining, I find myself rooting for him and then second guessing my morals haha. This adventure with Joe did not disappoint and I’d a must read!
OhJoe.....
It is always a trip being inside Joe's head. Kepness does a really good job submersing you into his thoughts. It always takes me a minute to adjust when starting these books. His head is quite chaotic and obviously a bit disturbing. It feels weird to say that I was glad that he wrote his own book. He goes to Harvard and starts his fellowship with others looking to publish and become authors. Everyone in the class is full of self absorbed writers. I didn't care for Wonder. I did not like her character and was disappointed that Joe did not kill her at the end. (that feels very disturbing to say lol) I did like the friendship that sparked/forced with Sarah Beth. I would like to see if something happens down the road with these two in the future.
It was very slow. I couldn't finish this one. Thank you to the publishers and author for my copy in exchange for a review.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book!
Caroline Kepnes again brings to bear all the suspense and tension of a man who believes he can do no wrong. There are scenes that are very disturbing, some that are very tense, and some that seem so unrealistic, only a delusional man could think those things about himself.
I am not sure if I am losing my interest in what else happens with Joe, but there were times that I definitely thought I didn't care about what happened to him next. There is some frustration as a reader to see someone face consequences not at all commensurate to his crimes, but that's probably the draw of a story surrounding someone so sociopathic.
Oh, Joe. Is this the end of the road for you? Will we hear from you again?
For You and Only You left me feeling a little... unfulfilled. That is the only reason it lost a star. I wanted a ending. From Chapter 23, I was like Joe. Anticipation at every corner, tension growing, paranoia building... and I felt a little unfulfilled. An incomplete climax so to say.
Joe is at his whiniest in this novel. He stomps his feet throughout, his inner monologue at it's breaking point. He's gone through so much, can't you see, Dear Reader? He's been so GOOD, but why isn't anyone singing his praises? Why won't someone adore him the way he deserves?
"...look at me. I never hurt anyone and I came here to talk to you, and this is what you do to me?"
Let me reiterate, CHAPTER 23!!! I love that Joe heads to Harvard and then is shook when his gaslighting and sycophancy doesn't work immediately on these people. My favorite parts of this book are when Joe's façade breaks, bit by bit. And I'm not talking about the façade he puts on for his Shoddy's. His inner dialogue. He's letting his inner child shine.
I truly did enjoy this book. It was a little meta, which I love.
Thank you Caroline Kepnes, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing for this ARC.
My expectations weren’t high for this one due to the last book and well when you don’t have high expectations you get a better experience. I didn’t love this book but didn’t hate it. It was interesting but just more of the same. I hate to say this but This should be the last of Joe.
Another fantastic book about Joe Goldberg! This time Joe is a college man in a writing fellowship at Harvard. After RIP Mary Beth, Joe needed a change of scenery as he so often does when his love life goes south. This time he tries his hand at writing a novel, with all the experience he has with books and writing (RIP Forty Quinn) it should be a cinch. But as Joe falls in love with a beautiful woman named Wonder, chaos ensues. With a pack of overly self absorbed writers and their clueless narcissistic teacher Joe must survive the idiots he’s surrounded by and save his relationship with Wonder. Joe is back and just as screwed up and wonderful as ever.
Thanks to the Publisher and netgalley for the early read.
This is the 4th installment in the You series. It seemed to lack the magic held by the others. The first 1/3 of this book was a struggle. I did make it through it and find it entertaining at times.
Overall, a 3.5 star for me so I'll round up to 4.
This one was just ok. It kinda fell flat & felt a little redundant. I liked the idea of this book but I think the Joe moment has passed.
I absolutely loved the first few books in this series, but this one felt bland and redundant. I think the magic of Joe Goldberg grasping my full attention has definitely faded. I liked the premise of this book, but I think the Joe train has passed and he’s overstayed his welcome. Overall a not bad book but I personally think this is my last Joe Goldberg book I’ll pick up.
Thank you Random House Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review
Thank you to Net Galley for the advance reader copy of the 4th Joe novel. I will always read a Joe Goldberg, but the stories surrounding him are getting less exciting. He is a psycho of the greatest kind and has the personality that everyone loves to hate. 4 stars just because he's Joe!