This one was a bit of a disappointment. I have enjoyed the You series for what they are—fun, outlandish, a little smutty. I don’t expect profound prose, but I enjoy them nonetheless. This one just felt off. I was quite confused with some of the exposition—I had to go back to my reviews of the old books to see if I missed something. I also didn’t buy that Joe would love Wonder. His girl are always aspirational, and she is not by any means. Joe was still quite witty though, if a little sardonic. All in all, not the worst, but maybe my least favorite of the series. Thanks for the ARC NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and Caroline Keepnes.

Reading Between the Wines book review #64/115 for 2023:
Rating: 2🍷 🍷
Book: For You And Only You
Author: Caroline Kepnes
AVAILABLE NOW!

Sipping thoughts: I was so excited to see the release of a new book in this series. Add the Netflix series and I was on the edge of my seat waiting. Unfortunately, it was a total letdown. I think Kepnes needs to let Joe and his deranged, but yet somehow loving, self just retire. The books are nolonger going anywhere and it's the same stalking story just new people. The series can't get any further away from the actual book. I trudge on through this book hoping it would get better. It did but just ended okay.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @RandomHousePublishingGroup for an advanced copy of @ForYouAndOnlyYou.

#ForYouAndOnlyYou #CarolineKepnes #RandomHousePublishingGroup #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

This was my least favorite of the Joe Goldberg book so far but I'm so invested that I will read them for as long as they come out. We reconnect with Joe in Boston attending a Harvard workshop with esteemed author Glenn Shoddy. As someone who recently moved from Boston and finds herself missing the book community -- there are so many bookstores and coffeeshops and libraries -- it was fun to here's Joe take on the intellectual and historical city including the hard-to-swallow but well-intention liberals.

But man oh man, did Caroline Kepnes come for us Goodreads, bookstagram, and booktok girlies!! Joe flat-out uses Goodreads to stalk his next "You". This book is amusing at least.

At most, it dragged on and I think the author was trying to find a way to flip the plot of the first three books but instead of it being creative, it just read as unorganized. I'm thinking hope is not lost and this can be written off as Joe being off his game for some reason. I don't know, we shall see if there's another one! I know I'll be reading it if there is.

Unfortunately, I think the time has come for me to bid farewell to Joe Goldberg. While I loved the first few books in the series, I was not a fan of the latest and have found that the story has become repetitive. I am looking forward to something new from Kepnes in the future.

Good 'ol Joe. I always enjoy being in his twisted mind. What does that say about me? I can't wait to see what's in store for him.

Are you ready for more Joe Goldberg? This time around, Joe has enrolled in a writing fellowship at Harvard - and he's ready to find love in Beantown.

What more do you need to know? This series is to die for (no! Joe! I didn't mean it!) and I of course devoured this latest installment. Maybe eventually Joe's horrible taste in women and notoriously bad choices will become old and overdone, but today is not that day.

Ever since this series came to Netflix, I have gobbled up the books. It's fascinating to read Joe's journey through a different lens than on the screen, especially after book #2.

There are a few similarities between #4 and the fourth season of You, but this book is quite different than the show.

I'm loyal to the series, but this was probably my least favorite book of them all. You can expect twists and turns like all of Kepnes' books, but it wasn't as climatic as the previous books.

Who doesn't love a good anti-hero? And Joe Goldeberg is absolutely one of the best!

This series really has taken us as readers into Joe's world and this one is no different! While after so many books, the story can get a little drole, I thought there were still some fun and unexpected surprises that keep me coming back for more.

I really enjoy Caroline Kepnes ease in her writing and the really immersive way we are transported into Joe's mind.

I loved the first novel in the You series, but I couldn't get into this novel. I tried hard but it was definitely a DNF for me

I loved You when it came out. I was a huge fan of Joe Goldberg but this book was really such a disappointment.
Joe has moved to be part of a course at Harvard for up and coming writers. Of course, Joe has decided that he loves one of his fellow students.
The book was just severely lacking. I was ready to quit at chapter 20 but I kept hoping that the story would pick up. I’m not sure if I am done with Joe or not but this book was really slow.

I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion

Thank you to Net Galley for letting me read this early!!!

I will begin by saying there were so many easter eggs and I loved them. I'm a need for that stuff throughout the You books and normally I am having to look.
In For You and Only you they were definitely way more out in the open.

This was not my favorite book of the series. You Love Me was my favorite and after that ending I was absolutely devastated for Joe.

This book does give Mary Kay some love but I wanted more. ... Joe leaves Florida and the Empathy Bordello his lovely tribute to Mary Kay behind....what happened to the cat?

Now Joe is in Massachusetts at a Harvard Fellowship and he meets.. Wonder (no Joe).

He wrote a book... Me.

He also meets a new cast of characters to loathe and plot against which worked well until it doesn't.

I'm going to wait until I hear the audio book on this for further speculation because as with the last 3 books Santino Fontana has brought these books to life and when I read it without his voice leading the way it was like a day old donut. Good but not great.

*Slow clap*
Wow, just wow. Another Joe Goldberg masterpiece. The thing with these books is Joe is so messed up but so likeable at the same time. I absolutely love a morally gray character and Joe Goldberg is one of the Kings!

My reasoning for 4 stars instead of 5, is the FMC was the worst one so far. She drove me up the wall, but at the same time I can see how a character like Joe would be attracted to her. If the series continues I am all in!

I will definitely be buying a hard copy to add to the rest of my YOU series collection!!

Highly recommend!

I’ve been obsessed with this series and this book was no exception! Loved it. Kepnes can do no wrong!

Big thanks to the publisher for the early copy!

PHEW I don't know what it says about me but I find it so entertaining to be in Joe's mind! I didn't find this especially more or less enjoyable than the other You books. Joe's obsession with Wonder (how does he always find women with these super unique names?) is the best part of this. I love that Wonder loves Joe back but she tends to go hot and cold a few times. Overall enjoyable read.

In this installment in the You series, Joe is at Harvard, receiving a scholarship to attend a writing fellowship to write a book. There he meets Wonder, another scholarship recipient, and begins to obsess over her. Everyone else in the writing fellowship is rich and privileged. Joe will stop at nothing to be with Wonder. Will they end up together or will it end in tragedy?

Joe has been an interesting character to follow, but I was slightly over him in this book. This book seemed long, and parts were stretched out that could have been shorter. Joe’s observations seemed to have taken up way more space than usual. The action just wasn’t there either. I didn’t care about or want Joe to be with Wonder. She just wasn’t as interesting as some of his other love interests. The first two installments in this series had me on the edge of my seat, this one just had me reading to finish. 2/5 stars. I hope the next book in the series has a more interesting love interest!

I love this series so much. It intrigues me that Caroline Kepnes can influence me to love and hate a character so well. I am so excited that this series is still continuing and I don't ever want it to end. I can't wait to see what else she does to wrap up the series with the next book!

I think I’m over these books. I much prefer the TV show over the book series. I don’t say that often. #bookisalwaysbetter does not apply here.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for gifting me the next installment in the You series by Caroline Kepnes - 3.5 stars!

This book finds Joe not selling books, but writing them. He's at Harvard in a writing fellowship group, picked by instructor Glenn Shoddy. Joe feels his work is superior to everyone's but the other fellows are published or more distinguished. Then he meets Wonder, who he feels he has so much in common with compared to the others in the group. He soon becomes obsessed.

I will preface this review saying that I didn't read the first two books in this series nor have I watched the show. But I read this new installment right after #3 in the series and maybe it's just too much of the same for me. There are parts of this one that I liked better - the book references, the Goodreads talk - but it just seemed to be the same story in a different setting.

This was a “Did not finish” for me. The more the series goes on the worst the books get. I would recommend skipping the books all together and watching the TV show on Netflix instead.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For You And Only You
By Carolyn Kepnes
Review and Rating 3 ⭐️

This review has left me so conflicted. I was absolutely thrilled to receive For You and Only You as an ARC. The You series by Carolyn Kepnes has been a favorite of mine from the beginning. Joe Goldberg and his stalker, psycho, serial killer ways have intrigued me and make him one of my favorite antiheroes to date.
And yet, from the beginning I just couldn’t get in to this book. No spoilers here but I find this a little ironic, considering the subject matter of the book. I thought I would be all over this. Literature, and Goodreads, and Dunkin, oh my! Joe is a writer, he is in Boston, invited to a fellowship at Harvard with his favorite author, Glenn Shoddy. He meets a new girl to obsess over named Wonder. (She works in a Dunkin’, thus all the references) He also meets a whole host of characters in his fellow “Shoddies”.
Wonder, I think, is part of the problem I have with the book, I dislike her character and find her boring. Also the book is slow and the the supporting characters are for the most part uninteresting or irritating. The ending of the book was also so unlike a You book, I went back and read it a second time. (Is Joe growing or losing his touch?)
The best part of the book, in my opinion, are all the literary references and Joe labeling Wonder a “Goodreads girl”. I see what you did there Ms. Kepnes! 😉
As always, my opinion remains that Carolyn Kepnes is a great writer, this just wasn’t the best You book. Of course I will read another book in this series if and when she releases it!
As a Goodreads girl myself I wish I could give this one more but I am going to stick with 3 ⭐️.
I want to thank Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.



Book Rating Key
⭐️ Not Recommended
⭐️⭐️ Readable Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Good Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excellent Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Near Perfect Book
***Note*** I seldom give ⭐️or ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ratings. If I feel a book is a ⭐️sometimes I just prefer to not finish reading it and not rate it. As for 5 ⭐️books, I think of those as books I would want to take with me to a deserted island 🏝️, and this means I read a whole lot of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️star books. Happy Reading!