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zarakoconnor's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Sexual violence
david_slack110507's review
- 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
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.
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
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
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
fartplatinum's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Grief, Gun violence, Abandonment, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, and Infidelity
Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, Medical content, and Torture
Minor: Mass/school shootings
kuhnja's review
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infidelity, Death, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Abortion, and Blood
Minor: Animal death
theimposter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Violence, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Cancer, Misogyny, and Suicide
Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty
Minor: Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Abortion
becphe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Grief, Racial slurs, Animal death, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Cancer, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Bullying, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Blood
daralexandria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, Drug abuse, and Rape
kaylasbookgram's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Addiction, and Animal death