You Love Me: A You Novel Paperback – November 2, 2021

Loved the book and show!!

great quality

Published: April 6, 2021Random HouseI received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.Carolyn Kepnes is the author of You, Hidden Bodies, Providence, and numerous short stories. Her work has been translated into a multitude of languages and inspired a television series adaptation of You, currently on Netflix. Kepnes graduated from Brown University and previously worked as a pop culture journalist for Entertainment Weekly and a TV writer for 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and now lives in Los Angeles.“Love, Joe.”Joe is starting over, again, on Bainbridge Island. He is isolated from the life he lived, but things are looking up. Joe vows he will change. Make better choices. And when he sees the beautiful librarian, Joe thinks this could be his opportunity to not only start fresh but have a happily ever after if he makes it that far.I enjoyed this installment of this series. I like the character of Joe, despite his deadly flaws. I loved the setting for this novel and the character development.Joe is a new man- he’s starting over, with minimal strings attached, and he thinks he has found the one. Again. Again. Again. Again. Hopefully, history doesn’t repeat itself.The pacing of this book was fast, and the build-up was well done. The twists were so well-plotted, and you won’t see them coming. This was a semi-different spin on this series, and I have to say, I enjoyed it.Fast-paced, intense, and beautiful familiar- this book is everything you're looking for in an intensely scary book.

Dear Joe,As always, I enjoyed your telling over this chapter of your life. Man, life sure likes to try to drag you down. You tried so hard to be a good boy on this go around. Yet, everyone around you just kept trying to pull you to the dark side.If I'm, being honest Joe, MK really didn't deserve you. You were so patient with her; so good to her. Yet, she continued to test you over and over again. Her family and friends were a true obstacle in your love for her. And none of them saw it. No one would've blamed you if you would've succumbed to your old ways.Oh Joe, all of the wrongs you endured in this book. Melanda, Shortus, Love, Love's family, Ivan, Emmy, none of them truly appreciated you and your love for MK. If I'm being honest, Joe, MK didn't appreciate your love either.I was so shocked at the things these people did to you Joe. I didn't see any of it coming. I was completely entranced in your story Joe. I couldn't stop reading it. I was really rooting for you Joe. I was hoping you would get your happily ever after. No one can blame you for what you did in the end Joe. No one. It was the right thing to do. I wasn't sure at first, but after I really thought back on everything, it was the only thing you really could do.Now I sit here and wait for your next chapter Joe. I hope that you're able to pick up the pieces of your life. In the meantime, I will be patiently waiting to see what happens next.

YOU LOVE ME: A YOU NOVEL [2021] By Caroline KepnesMy Review 3.0 Out Of 5 StarsI discovered the debut novel “You” [2014] just last year and read it (and the sequel “Hidden Bodies” [2016]) pretty much back-to-back last summer. The runaway bestselling book by Kepnes was adapted to film in an original series by Netflix, but the TV show did not include the sequel that chronicled Joe’s migration from New York City to the Golden State. I do not watch Netflix but it is my opinion that the follow up story of Joe’s relentless search for love and his outrageous shenanigans in sunny California was the superior of the first two installments. Fans of the TV series should enjoy the new material provided by Kepnes.I just finished this third installment of the author’s popular “Joe Goldberg” series to get caught up on Joe’s escapades. Book 4 “For You and Only You” was just released last month and I was enthusiastic about the new novel’s release. Caroline Kepnes is an incredibly talented author who has mastered the difficult technique of writing in second person narrative with her amazingly popular “YOU” novels featuring the charismatic and addictive character of antihero Joe Goldberg. The premise of Book 3 was the story of Joe’s life following the colossal calamities that he faced at the finale of the first sequel Hidden Bodies.The storyline provided insight about what had happened through Joe’s self-reflections. Joe explained that he had spent some time incarcerated, but was exonerated on the charges due in large part because of the best defense team money could buy due to his relationship with Love Quinn who was pregnant with his son. He related to the reader that he had spent the hours in prison daydreaming about how he and Love would be a new family and would leave LA for the wholesomeness and charm of a modern- day Mayberry.Joe reported that he was thus disenchanted when he was released from prison and coerced into signing papers that waived all of his rights to his child. Love no longer cared about him and Ray (Father-In-Law) shoved Four Million Dollars in his hands to get lost and never contact Love or the Quinn family ever again.It was interesting to me that Joe did not abandon his prison plans to leave the excitement of the big cities behind him. He traveled to an island in the Pacific Northwest, the very embodiment of a small cozy retreat from the maddening crowd and “life in the fast lane.” A bit of benign manipulation manages to secure him a position at the local library, and Joe anticipates becoming cocooned by books in all directions, insulated from the mishaps and mayhem that he left behind him.Who would have anticipated that Joe would meet his soul mate in this very environment? Her name is Mary Kay DiMarco, the Librarian. Mary Kay is a mature “fox” with a teenage daughter. Joe is immediately obsessed with the somewhat “older woman” and undeterred by her status as the mother of a teenager. Moreover, Joe is breathing the rarefied fresh unpolluted air of his new and unspoiled environment. He loves his new house, the unrestricted picturesque views from his windows, and the idea of winning the heart of his target MK in the “old-fashioned” way.The available book description gives the potential reader no additional information about the plot line, except that his quest is impeded by obstacles that Joe could never have anticipated. The quest to win Mary Kay’s heart is gradually revealed to be the rough equivalent of a Special Forces Obstacle Force.In the prior book “Hidden Bodies” the reader experiences a Joe Goldberg “Unchained” and it was exciting, erotic, entertaining, and exponentially superior to the debut novel “You.” I liked Joe’s inaugural voyage with his charming cage inside the bookshop which chronicled the intriguing genesis of an intelligent, attractive, and narcissistic budding sociopath. In contrast, the world was Joe’s oyster in sunny California and he literally and figuratively had “love” by the tail. The reader saw a fearless Goldberg behaving like a modern-day gladiator to achieve his idealistic goals. The second person writing technique was ingenious because you could read the superficial speech and conversation Joe was having with his lover, and with the other characters in the novel. The caveat of course was that you were also privy to Joe’s innermost thoughts and musings while all of these interchanges were taking place, and I lost count of the times I laughed out loud.“You Love Me” brings to mind the word “strain” and how it can morph into different while similarly negative meanings. I felt mental strain throughout the pages of the majority of the narrative. Joe, our lovable anti-hero, was constrained by an unfortunate obstacle he stumbled across in his machinations to win MK’s heart. Worst of all, even when he was not actively constrained by a factor outside his control, he was restraining himself from a litany of actions during the pursuit of his concept of happiness. Strain, constrain, and restrain all combined to form a big bout of general pain.I did enjoy Joe and Mary Kay, the Librarian, sharing together their feelings about the ending of Hannibal by Thomas Harris. I also wanted Clarice and Hannibal to be together. That was a big smile moment because I argue about the ending with my better half all the time. SOL is my favorite movie, and the books featuring Hannibal and Clarice (SOL and Hannibal) I dearly loved.The first 75% of this novel either made me want to snooze or booze. It was infuriating to muddle through Joe’s absurdly obstinate machinations to surveil Mary Kay and to thwart the activities of other people in her sphere who were interfering with him fashioning a happy little family of three with her. It was equally maddening to see Joe so insanely attracted to a flake like Mary Kay. It occurred to me in one of my more “What The—(Heck)?” moments to wonder if this third installment was some kind of a character arc that Kepnes was documenting. Joe is ostensibly attempting to refrain from violence and murder to achieve his mundane, stupidly obsessive goal of a life with MK and the Meerkat. Then in the final 25% of the book, all hell breaks loose and the author throws a half dozen plot twists in a blender and splatters the reader with the contents. No spoilers.I have been a fan of Caroline Kepnes and her Joe Goldberg Series but this installment really let me down. It is my intention to read her new Book 4 “You and Only You” and hope to renew my membership in the Joe Goldberg Fan Club.

A must read. Nothing like the show.It’s like a whole new YOU story to enjoy and experience. A wild ride!