I am unashamedly a Goodreads girlie like Joe’s new victim, Wonder. This series is one of my biggest guilty pleasures to read, and it did not disappoint. As always, I found myself unable to put the book down as soon as I started reading. As always, as well, I’m now sitting in my room at 1 AM at night needing more of Joe’s antihero narratives, but it’s a good thing I have the next season of the show to look forward to in March!

Kepnes has done it again! The You series is captivating and it keeps going with this book. I love the direction this book takes. You won’t be able to put it down!

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Joe, Joe, Joes it again. I miss the simpler times when Joe's motives were earnest, I miss the times when Joe used to only murder ex-boyfriends, and bestfriends of his love interests.

This time Joe is back, with fellowship at the prestigious Harvard University, learning under Nobel Prize winner professor. He's wonder- struck by fellow writer Wonder, and his obsession grows in the familiar creepy way we're now all expecting. I loved Joe's interaction with all of the writers in his writing circle, the chemistry between the characters are off- the charts.

I will never get tired of Joe's voice- he can narrate a manual on how to watch paint become dry, and it would be quippy, full of satire humour, and compelling.

I will gladly read another installment of America's Favourite Stalker.

I was beyond excited when I got chosen by NetGalley and Random House publishing for this arc copy of “You, and Only You.” This is the fourth installment of the “you” series by Caroline Kepnes. Joe Goldberg continues to be the lovable, but obsessed killer who leaves a trail of bodies along his path to find true love! In this one, he is an aspiring writer who is attending Harvard. True to form, this book has a great cast of characters, a complex leading lady and Joe’s head full of aspirations to make her see him as her one and only. The first person narrative puts you right into Joe’s first person experience and experience his crazy rationales for why he must remove any obstacle that gets in his way. The first person style provides the reader with his unique perspective on life snd those who encounter Joe. Joe is also pouring his heart and soul into his writing while spilling some blood along the way. Since it was the fourth in the series,this book lacked the intrigue and the reader could most definitely see where it was headed. Parts of it moved a little slow, but overall it was a good read! Thank you to NetGalley and random house publishing for this arc uncorrected copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley for an E-arc

DNF @ 42%

I'm sorry but this is so pointless, being in Joe's head is good for a book maybe two but this 4th installment is just more of the same and at this point, it's just annoying and exhausting. this is one of the only cases where I think the show is better than the book. I might come back to this but I just can't be in Joe's head anymore.

I love/hate Joe Goldberg!!! I was so excited to get an arc copy of this book! It so didn’t disappoint- every time one of these books ends I’m ready for the next one!! I can’t recommend this book / author enough times to anyone who will listen. Such a great addition to the ongoing insane Joe drama!! Sooooo well done!

This book was pretty disappointing to say the least. I’ve loved the series previously but I think it may be a bit drawn out at this pount. I found really nothing exciting about it anymore. The same things happen in every book with different people. I really enjoy the author’s writing style and being in Joe’s mind. It just was drug out and too slow for my liking. I think it was also quite predictable and I would have liked more of a thrill. Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC!

Thank you netgalley for the advanced readers copy. What a fantastic next installment to this series. Joe is at it again being a total creep and I can't get enough. A must read for the Joes

*SPOILERS*

Thank you, thank you, thank you for approving me for this read! I absolutely love this series and had been in withdrawal since reading the third installment, so I appreciate it so much.

Joe's internal monologues are so witty. I mean, he's a serial killer and I shouldn't even like him, but he usually makes a good point for his case and he makes me laugh, especially when he thinks one thing but says something else just to appease or manipulate someone. He's a terrible person but I am always rooting for him.

Well, almost always.

I enjoyed the setup of this book. The Harvard campus location was an enjoyable setting, and it was clever how the author made Joe a Harvard student without ACTUALLY making him a Harvard student. I love reading about writers, and the sheer audacity of this man to write a book in which he confesses to murder and to expect to publish it was just so much fun. I felt nostalgic about my college creative writing course, where we shared our pages for critiques. I felt the anxiety of the thing, too, especially as Joe struggled to even get other people to read his work. I enjoyed how he became the teacher's pet. And I felt his ire when he had become the new teacher's pet as well, only to find out it was all a lie.

All the writing parts were fun, but I especially liked Joe's recollections of the life he left behind in Florida, and how he kept RIP Ethel in a cage in his basement to read and critique his work. I want to read that book! But maybe it wouldn't be long enough to fill a novel.

I liked the characters in this book. Some of them (most of the classmates) ultimately faded into the background. I really liked the two writing mentors (as adversaries of Joe's) but Sarah Beth made the most lasting impression on me. She is all of us, all readers of the "You" series who think we could meet Joe Goldberg and tell him WE KNOW his sins, and still want to be friends. I kept wondering where their relationship was going to go, if he was really going to leave that loose end untied, but...well, we're talking about The. Joe. Goldberg here.

The character I liked least was Joe's love interest, Wonder. I found her to be two-faced and a liar (not to mention a thieving plagiarizer) and her home situation was just so unpleasant, I couldn't see what Joe saw in her. I usually feel like he's made a connection with someone but Wonder was surrounded by red flags that made her seem like a truly awful choice in life partner. I know he always wants the perfect partner and it takes him a while to see the women he targets as normal, flawed human beings, but I could not understand his attraction this time at all. He liked that Wonder was like him, wasn't a REAL Harvard student, but that's where their similarities seemed to end. She still lives at home and cares for her family of gambling addicts. She says one thing to his face and another behind his back, or one thing to him in a text and something completely different around other people. She stole from his book and then denied having even read it. She was so wishy-washy and dislikable. But, knowing Joe, he'll come to his senses next time around and finish the job, so to speak. (Right???)

There were parts of this book that made me gasp aloud, like when Joe realized the man he had just tried to kill was not Wonder's boyfriend at all, but her gay best friend. My favorite scenes were when Sly showed up wearing the sunglasses Joe had left in her house after breaking in (oops!) and the end when he and Wonder came upon Sly's body in the hot tub. I know it made Joe furious that Wonder destroyed the forged suicide note he had so carefully crafted, but I liked that she did that. Tried to save Sly her dignity, since Wonder thought there was no way what she said could be true.

I loved this book so much. I wish I had a shed like Sarah Beth's for writing! Just so many great details that made this book an excellent read, like all the others in this series. My only disappointment is that now I have to wait for the next one! Thanks again! I needed this!

YES!! Caroline Kepnes has done it again!! These novels keep on getting better and better. The characters, the thrill, the suspense and storyline are all top notch.

“The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages.” Virginia Woolf

Remind yourself what you loved about You and come into For You and Only You with your heart and arms open, ready to embrace your friend who still feels familiar if a little different from the last time you saw them. It might feel awkward as the ways you’ve grown apart are most salient at first, but once you start to catch up, the years will fall away.

I’m not going to pretend that FYAOY is for everyone, or even everyone who enjoyed the first book; it’s not. It has a jerky start getting off the runway, and the ride’s a little bumpy for the first third.

You’ll love this installment of You if you love all of these things mutually and without exception: Joe Goldberg, Dunkin’, reading about writing, that season of Gilmore Girls where Rory goes to Yale and dates that rich annoying blond dude, literary critiques, Coolatas, hating dudes who cycle, Electric Lit, BAHSTON, the confidence of mediocre white men male writers, reading about reading, nepotism, and true crime podcasts.

When Joe arrives at Harvard for his first fellowship session, he notices a hot girl in a midi skirt perched on the steps of Barker Center reading Faulkner performatively. Glances are exchanged, but Joe declines to engage.

"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."

Just a few pages later, Joe is surveying his cohort with irritation, noticing that all of the female members are married.

"It’s not like I expected to fall in love, but the possibility would be nice—I am human, I am single—and all three of my female fellows are little Mrs. Tuffets [sic]. Visibly married."

This skillful insight into Joe’s questionable psyche and narration is a delight and beautifully sets up Joe as an unreliable narrator. He doesn’t see his own inconsistencies, but we do.

"'We’re writers. We want to be in control all the time…'
I have never tried to control anyone in my entire life. I have only tried to help people make good decisions. 'Absofuckinglutely.'"

I don’t want to give anything else away! I love books about books, I don’t have a hard time turning off my brain and allowing myself to enjoy a work flaws and all, and I thought FYAOY was great. I’d rank it third in overall enjoyment for the series, ahead of Hidden Bodies which is not my vibe.

"But I am real. When darkness falls, we have two choices. We can turn on a light and fight Mother Nature with electricity, or we can go with it. Plunge into the black knowing that we might fall and lose everything."

I couldn't help but read this book in a Penn Badgley voice. Another great storyline with Joe Goldberg right at the center. This time, he is at Cambridge University, and his new obsession goes by the name of Wonder. She is not your typical Cambridge type, but her talent is something Joe can see shining so bright. But of course, he needs her help to refine it.

While I love Joe Goldberg and his storylines, it does seem like this story has run its course. I did feel like some of the plots were a bit repetitive. You could anticipate his actions prior to them being acted out in the book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, albeit a bit predictable.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

You want to talk about it being exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.... I'm a little over rooting for the anti-hero in this one.

I didn't connect with the Wonder and Joe story like I did all of his other "relationships". I still loved reading the inner thoughts and ramblings of Joe Goldberg but, Wonder made me wonder why her? She didn't have the spark or what makes her special like the other girls. She was very lackluster and truthfully...annoying.

However, I love the Massachusetts twist as a New Englander myself and of course Joe had some epic one liners in there. I bet if this had a different path besides Wonder, it would have been a winner!

Thank you Random House Publishing for this ARC. Oh, Joe, Joe, Joe do you ever feel the need not to murder? Thank you Caroline Kepnes for another in the “You” series. There was a lot of depth to this novel, much more than all the others. Eye opening characters, and autodidacts ( which is a new one on me ). Evil and Good galore! Wonder was a favorite character, and I was definitely sure of her demise, but magically I was wrong. Well done twists and turns, keeping me glued to my Kindle, I’m definitely hoping for Netflix on this novel too! Let’s bring a little more Joe Goldberg novels into our reading and watching world. Fascinating! Kudos to Caroline Kepnes, loved the book!

Joe Goldberg is a stalker, serial killer, and former bookstore owner. In For You and Only You he is a Harvard fellowship writer. He’s still a stalker and killer. He’s set his sights on Wonder, she’s a fellowship writer too. Joe wants this fellow writer to read his book, but Joe’s got a warped sense of morality and instead he manipulates his fellow writer, to pave the path for himself.
For You and Only You is a Joe Goldberg Novel written by Caroline Kepnes. This is book four. I highly recommend watching the YOU series on Netflix. The series is based on Joe’s character but it’s so much more. The series expands upon who Joe is as a stalker and serial killer living amongst normal people. He blends in with people assimilating easily into any location. Read it before you watch it.
Wonder applied to the fellowship for her love of her books. She’s a self taught person. She works at Dunkin’ and she’s writing a book called Faithful.
Joe’s fixated on Wonder and her writing. The problem I have with Joe’s character is finding any means to an end. I feel like the challenges have been exhausted in prior obsessions. Wonder’s character doesn’t bring anything to the table. He comes across as whiny. The excitement is gone. All that is left is a guy ready to expose himself to the world.

I find I can handle Joe as a character on the Netflix series. His character doesn’t read well on paper. He’s better in action. Having a visual aid of his inner monologue comes across easier in the show. Joe is a complex character who uses book and movie references to compare peoples personalities. The problem with that is my unfamiliarity with these movie and book comparisons. Sadly, the writing doesn’t flow when these metaphors are written into his inner monologue’s. I find myself drifting away trying to look up these name drops which takes me away breaking the spell that is Joe’s rant.

I love Joe’s character he’s unique in the way he’s passionate about books. His world revolves around books. No one writes the way Caroline Kepnes writes Joe’s character. Her writing voice is unique. It’s almost like reading a riddle. Joe’s thoughts are puzzling and profound. He’s constantly comparing writers to people.
This may sound macabre but I miss Joe hunting/stalking his victims before going in for the kill. Caroline held back that part of Joe’s character instead focusing on building a relationship with a guy who he thought he needed and a girl who he thought he loved. The more time Joe spent with Wonder the more withdrawn I became. This is not the Joe I grew to love.
I’ve grown accustomed to Joe’s inner monologue. I’ve watched the series and have mastered his mannerisms in my mind. I can now formulate images of Joe to match the scene. Like I’ve said before Joe is better in the series than on paper. Flat Joe is a disservice to Joe Goldberg. This is a different side of Joe I’m not invested in. I wish I could like reading Caroline’s words as much as I do watching her words being performed on screen.

Oh, Joe. YOU are the villain that we all hate to love, so it saddens me to say that your storyline has gotten incredibly stale and formulaic. With Joe, we all know what's coming in the plotline, we just don't know HOW it's coming, but this time, even those aspects fell really flat for me.

After reading You Love Me last year (and rating it only two stars), I wasn't sure that I was willing to give Joe Goldberg another chance. Naturally, though, I can't seem to say no every time he comes back around, so when For You and Only You was released, I jumped at the chance to snag an ARC. Sadly, after finishing this book, I hate to say it, but I think Joe and I are breaking up for good.

I actually thought that the Harvard setting and the premise of the literary fellowship were totally perfect, and there was SO much potential there, but then we are introduced to all of the characters who were more like caricatures. Filled with stereotypes, most of the fellows read as incredibly shallow and flat characters, and the ones that did get fleshed out were unlikable at best.

I have no idea why Joe even became interested in Wonder in the first place other than her autodidact-ness because she was about as interesting as a dishrag. Her weak and wishy-washy character made it really hard to believe that THIS relationship was what Joe was fighting for, but apparently, he's gotten desperate, and the pickings must be slim.

I really, really hoped that this book would pick up toward the end and become deserving of a higher rating, but alas, Joe, even with all of his idiosyncrasies, has morphed into Joe Average, and 3-stars was the best I could do.

Side note: Netflix has definitely done its job well because I couldn't read this book at all without hearing it narrated in Penn Badgley's voice, and I'm not actually sure if that helped or hindered my enjoyment of the book.

Psycho Joe is up to his old tricks again and looking for love in all the wrong places. This time he’s moved to Boston and set his sights on Wonder, a woman who just happens to live across the street from him and is in the same fellowship at Harvard. Joe and Wonder start getting close and Glenn, Joes friend and fellowship leader starts criticizing Wonders writing. Joe goes from butt kissing RIP Glenn to planning his demise. The story is told from Joes point of view. He has some wild and crazy thoughts. Sometimes funny. This was a suspenseful read that I couldn’t hardly put down. This is the fourth book in the series. It can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading them in order. Many thanks NetGalley and Random House. This will be be released April 25th, 2023.

I had just finished and reviewed the third book in the series, You Love Me, within the last two months, so it was a delight to receive an ARC of the 4th book. Thank you! I really enjoyed this one. Regulars of the series and the Netflix show will enjoy Joe's quick wit and creepy, stalker ways. I felt like the storyline really lent itself well to the bookish/Bookstagrammer reader who will likely love the glimpse into the world of writers struggling to get published. It was a fun change of pace after we had seen Joe tackle California and suburbia for the past two books.

The supporting characters were a treat and well-developed. I frequently wanted to see more of Sly, Sarah Beth, Glenn, and poor Kevin. Sarah Beth is the true break-out star of this novel. It will be a miss if she is not added into the Netflix show. In some ways, I think Kepnes could have pushed the psycho card a bit more with both Sly and Sarah Beth. Both ladies had the reader wondering if someone had FINALLY out-smarted Joe Goldberg. It's always fun to see Joe view someone ELSE as being the one that is unhinged. Much of Joe's inner dialogue during the Sarah Beth scenes in the Dead Shed was smart, witty, and kept me up wanting to read more.

My only critique is one that i also noticed in You Love Me - some metaphors and phrases are overused. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Prince of Tides, J. Lo's hoop earrings, Dunkin' Coolatta drinks, drinking the Kool-Aid, and Dunkin' Sarah Rooney are all used many, many times. Finding other descriptors would help tighten up the writing.

Overall, I cannot wait to read the next book after the cliff-hanger ending and see Joe on the small screen when the show returns in February to Netflix.

**Will post a review to @thenovelnickole on Instagram after the pub date in April 2023.

For You and Only You Review!

Thank you netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this gifted copy, in exchange for an honest review! For You and Only You comes out April, 25, 2023!!

Oh Joe. You’re a hot mess. 😅 For You and Only You was a 3.75/5 ⭐️ for me! As all the other Joe books this was a wild ride and fun to read. I love getting in Joes head, he is so messed up. Parts of this one seemed to drag for me, it’s getting a little redundant. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of Joe’s love interest, she was pretty boring. The ending didn’t seem like Joe at all thought either and I was kinda disappointed. It was fun being back with Joe and in a new environment though! It was also snowy and cozy, perfect for a New York City Christmas!!

Synopsis: No more selling books for Joe Goldberg, now he is writing them. He starts a fellowship with other writers at Harvard. That is where he meets Wonder, the new love of his life.

Compelling, disturbing, and intricately plotted. Kenes is an auto buy for me. This one is one not to be missed. Highly recommended.