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nimblebandit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Stalking, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal cruelty
te_ss_i's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Death, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
david_slack110507's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
A change in scenery due to a continuation of the ending of the 1st book was interesting as this book starts closely after the ending of the first book, as we see Joe get into a relationship with Amy and how their relationship ends acts as a trigger for how Joe ends up in LA. Seeing Joe try to integrate himself into this new type of lifestyle and manipulate these people was really interesting and I found that these characters had well more character to them rather than in the first book where most of them are kind of forgettable besides Beck and Peach. I do wish that we had explored more of the hunting/tracking down Amy storyline as it is the main reason why Joe goes to LA only for it to get dropped once, he finds Love and sees Amy once, it does get a resolution later and does add to the delusion narrative of Joe thinking he is a good person by doing the bare minimum e.g. not murdering and/or stalking someone but the storyline kind of gets dropped from most of the book until near the end.
It's kind of hard not to compare this to the TV show and vice versa but while I do prefer the interpretation of Love in the TV show I did still like Love in this book and whether she will be in the next book I don't know but if she is I hope she remains as interesting and dimensional as she was in this. Love is much more outspoken than Beck when it comes to Joe and while she does have personal issues and drama, she's also confident in who she is and what she believes in. I do prefer the killer twist in the show, but this interpretation of Love is still solid, and I hope she's in the next book (Though I have a feeling that she might get the Amy treatment of being the plot device to bring Joe somewhere new so that he can then stalk the new main woman in the book hopefully this will not be the case)
I do feel like at times the book does drag a little bit, there are parts where not much happens and character deaths and decisions only come to be important either in the moment or near the end when everything is going down. I think parts of this book could have been cut down or cut out altogether to avoid a sluggish pace but overall, the book kept me interested and entertained. Overall, again another solid entry into the You series and one that I delayed finishing as I left it with one chapter left to listen to for about a week or so for no real reason whatsoever but I still remembered much of it, I'm interested in seeing how the cliffhanger ending plays out for the next book; will it be the same as the TV show adaptation or something completely different and original?
Graphic: Death, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Sexual content, Stalking, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Ableism, Lesbophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Homophobia
kyrstin_p1989'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
3.5
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Vomit, Violence, Terminal illness, Stalking, Sexism, Murder, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Confinement, Abandonment, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Blood, Suicide, Sexual content, Mental illness, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Death, and Classism
a_alves00's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pregnancy, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The plot itself wasn’t too bad, a bit slow at points but overall interesting and relatively intriguing. I did like the constant references back to the untied ends in the last book, particularly
The book was missing that second person prose that just really topped off the first book and set it apart from other thrillers, I was hoping at the start that the narration regarding Amy was done in first person only as she wasn’t his next obsession, just a fling, and it would come in once he got a new obsession… but I was unfortunately disappointed and the book was first person the whole way through. The prose didn’t make the book bad, but it was a large selling point in the first book that I think could’ve heightened the reading experience in this one, too. I also found the second person narration made Joe seem less outright creepy and calculated.
I felt like there was a bit of a shift in Joe’s character from the first book. Obviously, characters can change over time and between books but I felt it was a bit abrupt in this case, seeing as we picked up almost where we left off in the last book, and it felt more like Kepnes lost Joe’s essence a little between the first book and its sequel. He was colder and more calculating and he seemed to have less passion and more anger, rather than being fuelled by his insecurity in himself and his obsession. I think Kepnes found that original drive that Joe had in the first book by the end, but the first half to two thirds felt different. This wasn’t bad, if it were a new character then I would have been fine with it, but it just departed from what I felt made Joe his creepy, obsessive, lovestruck self in the first book.
Overall, not as strong as the first but still a decent read and I’ll continue with this series.
Graphic: Murder, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
anne311's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Incest
brookey8888's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Outing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence
sanhatiser's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Car accident, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence
meganreads7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is dark and honestly a bit terrifying. It makes you wonder how far the people in your life would go to stay there. This book is complicated because one usually roots for the main character in a story, but Joe is no hero. He is a murderous manipulator, but one finds themself seeing the other characters as villainous through his eyes. The ending definitely left me wanting more so I am eager to read Kepnes' new book.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Violence