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zarakoconnor's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Definitely not the strongest work in the series. The first half was so boring I almost DNF’d. The last 100 pages are very fast paced and kind of saved it, but did not enjoy nearly as much as the first book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Animal death, Death, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Grief, Stalking, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Pedophilia and Pregnancy
Minor: Antisemitism
rp6411's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Sexual violence
wordsofclover's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Joe Goldberg is back again ands this time he's moved to the small coastal town of Bainbridge, and set his eyes on older librarian mom MK. The only problem is the people MK surrounds herself with, who Joe can see are just no good for her. But with the ghosts of his past catching up with him, Joe needs to be on his best behaviour which is hard to do when people keep dropping dead around him.
I really loved You, and also thoroughly enjoyed Hidden Bodies. However with the way Hidden Bodies ended, and You Love Me began I strongly feel like the series was originally meant to be a duology, and most likely the success of the TV show prompted another two books as I just felt so much was swept away way too easily about Joe's time in prison and how he got away with literal murder. It was a very quick 'The Quinn's had money and therefore good lawyers' but all the evidence was so stacked against him, I felt this was a little lazy.
The first half of this book was a 3-star for me mostly as I could feel myself getting a bit jaded with the way every You story goes - Joe sees girl, gets hooked on girl, stalks her, kills her friends etc and this one played along quite similarly as the first book without the surprise of the uniqueness of that book. I did however like the twist/change in play halfway through as we see Joe become not quite a victim but a lot more vulnerable as he's been before, and way less sure in himself.
I did still enjoy this, and listened to it on audiobook which is fun but I won't be rushing to book 4 (though will read and finish the series eventually).
I really loved You, and also thoroughly enjoyed Hidden Bodies. However with the way Hidden Bodies ended, and You Love Me began I strongly feel like the series was originally meant to be a duology, and most likely the success of the TV show prompted another two books as I just felt so much was swept away way too easily about Joe's time in prison and how he got away with literal murder. It was a very quick 'The Quinn's had money and therefore good lawyers' but all the evidence was so stacked against him, I felt this was a little lazy.
The first half of this book was a 3-star for me mostly as I could feel myself getting a bit jaded with the way every You story goes - Joe sees girl, gets hooked on girl, stalks her, kills her friends etc and this one played along quite similarly as the first book without the surprise of the uniqueness of that book. I did however like the twist/change in play halfway through as we see Joe become not quite a victim but a lot more vulnerable as he's been before, and way less sure in himself.
I did still enjoy this, and listened to it on audiobook which is fun but I won't be rushing to book 4 (though will read and finish the series eventually).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Gun violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, Abortion, and Suicide
brookey8888's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’m sorry Joe Goldberg is just so funny. Honestly this is just a funny time, it’s not really thrilling. It’s an interesting look at Joes mind and it’s crazy how you feel bad for him when he’s kind of a terrible person. This one was good and had multiple plot twists that I didn’t see coming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicide, Addiction, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Pedophilia, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
fkshg8465's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
These books keep getting worse, and yet I’m unable to stop reading them. Thankfully I only have one left in the series, and then I can be done!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Blood, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia
david_slack110507's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I've finally finished with exams/GCSEs so I'm hoping to be more productive when it comes to reading books and this was one that I made progress during the exam period. Maybe, that hindered my enjoyment, but I feel that for me at least, this was my least favourite You/Joe Goldberg book so far in the series but it does have its positives that kept the story engaging.
To begin with, I do like the aspect of Joe having to not kill due to the circumstances of the last book, which is that he is now in the good graces of the Quinn family and must abide by their rules to continue to live this life of relative luxury in Bainbridge Island. It created some interesting dynamics rather than having Joe just kill anyone in the way of his "love" for Mary Kay DiMarco (This book's central love interest or shall I say Joe's later obsession and fascination, though for this one he does seem to tone it down just a little but many of the usual Joe shenanigans take place still). However, I do feel like while this is a positive aspect of the book, it could also be seen as a lazy one as any issue that needs the removal of a person from a situation to result in Joe's best outcome often happens by chance, for example when Joe has kidnapped Melanda (Mary Kay's best friend), she ends up committing suicide and when Seamus (Another friend of Mary Kay and has a far more sinister relationship with Mary Kay's daughter, Nomi, than expected) kidnaps Joe, he is killed by Oliver (A private investigator sent by the Quinn family to monitor Joe's activities whom also catches Joe in the act of disposing of the recently deceased Melanda's body). Some could see this as a way of writing out situations to get to the next one rather than letting it have any real lasting consequences but for me, it mainly works.
Another thing I liked about You Love Me is that once again, like with how Hidden Bodies, picked up threads from the original You novel, You Love Me does the same with its predecessor but to a much larger capacity as the Quinns and Forty/Henry are much more present in this book in comparison to Amy Adams from the last book and I actually quite liked that the Quinns still had an influence in Joe's life even without being there. When the situation is fully addressed, I do think it is once again done a little too cleanly as Joe gets away pretty much scott-free with only some relationship drama for him to tend with as a result of his conclusion to his relationship with Love.
Something that I noticed in this book is that social commentary is much more present this time around. Social commentary has always been present in the You series/You books both explicitly and implicitly, but I found that this one featured it more heavily, particularly with Joe. In this book, Joe is much more socially aware and he comments on this throughout. I like to think that his inner monologues about being pro-feminism have a deeper meaning or are actually just a deeper message that Caroline Kepnes is trying to convey using Joe as the vessel with which to do it - Either, Joe is doing this to feed into his superiority complex in that he is better than most guys for Mary Kay because he actually respects her or it's a message to show how people use and abuse social movements and ideas to better themselves either for their own good or to portray a better public image. I may be reading too much into it, but I thought it was an interesting thought.
My main issue with this book was the ending, not only did it come out of nowhere and feel quite poorly handled but it also felt like there needed to be something to cause a situation so serious enough that Joe could not be with this family in the next book despite the fact that a chapter or two prior to the end of the book, had seemed to be in the picture-perfect ending (Or at least the picture-perfect ending for a book like this and for a guy like Joe). This twist along with the fact that Nomi had been sleeping with and seeing Seamus, wasn't great and the lack of buildup beyond those two chapters was pretty much non-existent. I know that I have more positives than negatives so maybe that doesn't justify the 3-star rating (Which is actually rounded down from a 3.5) but something just didn't hit the same with this one like the others, but it was still an enjoyable listen.
To begin with, I do like the aspect of Joe having to not kill due to the circumstances of the last book, which is that he is now in the good graces of the Quinn family and must abide by their rules to continue to live this life of relative luxury in Bainbridge Island. It created some interesting dynamics rather than having Joe just kill anyone in the way of his "love" for Mary Kay DiMarco (This book's central love interest or shall I say Joe's later obsession and fascination, though for this one he does seem to tone it down just a little but many of the usual Joe shenanigans take place still). However, I do feel like while this is a positive aspect of the book, it could also be seen as a lazy one as any issue that needs the removal of a person from a situation to result in Joe's best outcome often happens by chance, for example when Joe has kidnapped Melanda (Mary Kay's best friend), she ends up committing suicide and when Seamus (Another friend of Mary Kay and has a far more sinister relationship with Mary Kay's daughter, Nomi, than expected) kidnaps Joe, he is killed by Oliver (A private investigator sent by the Quinn family to monitor Joe's activities whom also catches Joe in the act of disposing of the recently deceased Melanda's body). Some could see this as a way of writing out situations to get to the next one rather than letting it have any real lasting consequences but for me, it mainly works.
Another thing I liked about You Love Me is that once again, like with how Hidden Bodies, picked up threads from the original You novel, You Love Me does the same with its predecessor but to a much larger capacity as the Quinns and Forty/Henry are much more present in this book in comparison to Amy Adams from the last book and I actually quite liked that the Quinns still had an influence in Joe's life even without being there. When the situation is fully addressed, I do think it is once again done a little too cleanly as Joe gets away pretty much scott-free with only some relationship drama for him to tend with as a result of his conclusion to his relationship with Love.
Something that I noticed in this book is that social commentary is much more present this time around. Social commentary has always been present in the You series/You books both explicitly and implicitly, but I found that this one featured it more heavily, particularly with Joe. In this book, Joe is much more socially aware and he comments on this throughout. I like to think that his inner monologues about being pro-feminism have a deeper meaning or are actually just a deeper message that Caroline Kepnes is trying to convey using Joe as the vessel with which to do it - Either, Joe is doing this to feed into his superiority complex in that he is better than most guys for Mary Kay because he actually respects her or it's a message to show how people use and abuse social movements and ideas to better themselves either for their own good or to portray a better public image. I may be reading too much into it, but I thought it was an interesting thought.
My main issue with this book was the ending, not only did it come out of nowhere and feel quite poorly handled but it also felt like there needed to be something to cause a situation so serious enough that Joe could not be with this family in the next book despite the fact that a chapter or two prior to the end of the book, had seemed to be in the picture-perfect ending (Or at least the picture-perfect ending for a book like this and for a guy like Joe). This twist along with the fact that Nomi had been sleeping with and seeing Seamus, wasn't great and the lack of buildup beyond those two chapters was pretty much non-existent. I know that I have more positives than negatives so maybe that doesn't justify the 3-star rating (Which is actually rounded down from a 3.5) but something just didn't hit the same with this one like the others, but it was still an enjoyable listen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Deadnaming, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Violence, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Bullying, Pedophilia, Sexism, Death of parent, and Animal death
Minor: Abortion, Rape, Infidelity, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Mass/school shootings, and Pregnancy
taleofabibliophile's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual content, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Stalking, Infidelity, Death of parent, Violence, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, and Pedophilia
Minor: Antisemitism, Abandonment, Sexism, Ableism, Animal death, Vomit, and Cancer
sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I don't quite know how to summarise my feelings about this book. I'm still trying to figure out if I feel like I liked this about the same as Hidden Bodies or if I liked Hidden Bodies more, and I'm leaning towards the latter. Joe is still as interesting as ever, and it's always wild how Caroline Kepnes manages to make me feel bad for him despite everything he does, but I think the main things, for me, that fell short were the pacing and the stakes.
The pacing felt all over the place. It was quite slow through the majority then picked up for a couple chapters at the end, then dropped then increased again. It made for a weird reading experience where I didn't dislike the book, but I couldn't quite get into the story as much as the first book (and second, to some extent).
The stakes also didn't feel as high as the first two, so the book didn't particularly feel like a fast-paced thriller this time around. I felt like Joe wasn't quite as dark and obsessive, so the stakes of the story and the "romance" weren't as high.I also can't believe that we actually got through the whole book without him actually killing anyone?!
On top of this, I was so interested in seeing where the story went from the ending of the last novel that I was kind of disappointed that the events immediately following that were only briefly mentioned.I understand that it would've been a boring story to see him in jail but it felt a bit weak to just be like "oh yeah the Quinns money solves all problems!" and then move on.
This doesn't mean the book was bad or boring, it was still quite an interesting read and definitely a different dynamic between characters to the first two books which was good. The ending also caught me off guard and I didn't see it coming, which was interesting. I feel like the first novel was so good that it was always going to be hard to keep up that sort of pace and intrigue but I will still be reading the fourth novel at some point in the near future because who can resist Joe Goldberg (not many people, it seems).
The pacing felt all over the place. It was quite slow through the majority then picked up for a couple chapters at the end, then dropped then increased again. It made for a weird reading experience where I didn't dislike the book, but I couldn't quite get into the story as much as the first book (and second, to some extent).
The stakes also didn't feel as high as the first two, so the book didn't particularly feel like a fast-paced thriller this time around. I felt like Joe wasn't quite as dark and obsessive, so the stakes of the story and the "romance" weren't as high.
On top of this, I was so interested in seeing where the story went from the ending of the last novel that I was kind of disappointed that the events immediately following that were only briefly mentioned.
This doesn't mean the book was bad or boring, it was still quite an interesting read and definitely a different dynamic between characters to the first two books which was good. The ending also caught me off guard and I didn't see it coming, which was interesting. I feel like the first novel was so good that it was always going to be hard to keep up that sort of pace and intrigue but I will still be reading the fourth novel at some point in the near future because who can resist Joe Goldberg (not many people, it seems).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Suicide, Drug abuse, and Death of parent
kingsteph's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Suicide, and Kidnapping
Minor: Murder and Pedophilia
emmmapayne's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape