You Love Me
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Published by: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Pages: 400
Format: Hardback
My Rating ★★★★
Published by: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Pages: 400
Format: Hardback
My Rating ★★★★
Joe Goldberg is back. And he's going to start a family - even if it kills him.
Joe Goldberg is done with cities, done with the muck and the posers, done with Love. Now, he's saying hello to nature, to simple pleasures on a cosy island in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in a long time, he can just breathe.
He gets a job at the local library - he does know a thing or two about books - and that's where he meets her: Mary Kay DiMarco, Librarian. Joe won't meddle, he will not obsess. He'll win her the old-fashioned way ... by providing a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand. Over time, they'll both heal their wounds and begin their happily ever after in this sleepy town.
The trouble is ... Mary Kay already has a life. She's a mother. She's a friend. She's ... busy.
True love can only triumph if both people are willing to make room for the real thing. Joe cleared his decks. He's ready. And hopefully, with his encouragement and undying support, Mary Kay will do the right thing and make room for him.
Joe Goldberg is done with cities, done with the muck and the posers, done with Love. Now, he's saying hello to nature, to simple pleasures on a cosy island in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in a long time, he can just breathe.
He gets a job at the local library - he does know a thing or two about books - and that's where he meets her: Mary Kay DiMarco, Librarian. Joe won't meddle, he will not obsess. He'll win her the old-fashioned way ... by providing a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand. Over time, they'll both heal their wounds and begin their happily ever after in this sleepy town.
The trouble is ... Mary Kay already has a life. She's a mother. She's a friend. She's ... busy.
True love can only triumph if both people are willing to make room for the real thing. Joe cleared his decks. He's ready. And hopefully, with his encouragement and undying support, Mary Kay will do the right thing and make room for him.
My thoughts:
You Love Me is the highly anticipated new thriller in Caroline Kepnes's hit You series, now a blockbuster Netflix show. The story picks up after Joe has been in jail for nine months while being held for trial, and ultimately released, for his crimes. The Quinn family paid his legal fees because Love was pregnant with their son, Forty (named after Love's deceased brother). After his release, they paid him to walk away from Love and the child, threatening to kill him otherwise.
Joe is now living on Bainbridge Island and has his eye on his new boss, Mary Kay DiMarco, a librarian at Bainbridge Public Library who has dreams of owning her own bookstore some day. She has a teenaged daughter, Noni. With his new start, Joe is determined to resist his impulses, and he promises himself he will not kill for Mary Kay. Joe and Mary Kay become closer. They finally kiss, but Mary Kay says she just wants to be friends. Still, Joe continues to build up a relationship in his head. Then, one day, he finds out Mary Kay is married. Joe scolds himself for trying to be a "good guy" and not reverting back to his old ways.
The strength of the book is in the writing. I was mesmerised by Joe’s voice, the style of writing, how effortlessly the story unfolded. I got lost inside Joe’s mind, in his unyielding efforts to be a good person. Caroline Kepnes has created a character that you really want to root for, regardless of how wrong it actually is. She’s done a phenomenal job because at times in the book I really did root for Joe.
But people kept getting in his way – and we all know how Joe deals with obstacles. Still, he tells himself he’ll try his best to keep on track, because he is in love, and it is real this time. The beauty of these books is finding out what happens next through him. What is he going to do now? How is he going to handle the most recent problem that has landed in front of him? I've never hated a character so much yet been so fascinated by them.
This book is a slight departure from the first two, in that Joe is trying to be 'well behaved'. The deaths keep happening - I'm pretty sure that will always be a staple of these books - but his relationship with Love has changed him. Slightly. This makes for an interesting dynamic and a further sense of foreboding at what Joe will get up to next.
This book kept me on my toes for the entire duration. The end of chapter cliff-hangers are so shocking that you can't just stop there.
I think it's important to read the first two books before this one if you can, mostly because it’s been a fascinating ride to witness Joe’s behaviour from the very beginning to where he is now. You Love Me provides more character development for Joe, reading through his twisted psyche, as he navigates trying to have a real relationship without killing.
All in all, this is a satisfying novel in the You series and an absolute triumph for Kepnes. I could simply not wait to devour the third book in this series and it really didn’t disappoint. I hope a fourth instalment will follow!
Overall reaction:
You Love Me is the highly anticipated new thriller in Caroline Kepnes's hit You series, now a blockbuster Netflix show. The story picks up after Joe has been in jail for nine months while being held for trial, and ultimately released, for his crimes. The Quinn family paid his legal fees because Love was pregnant with their son, Forty (named after Love's deceased brother). After his release, they paid him to walk away from Love and the child, threatening to kill him otherwise.
Joe is now living on Bainbridge Island and has his eye on his new boss, Mary Kay DiMarco, a librarian at Bainbridge Public Library who has dreams of owning her own bookstore some day. She has a teenaged daughter, Noni. With his new start, Joe is determined to resist his impulses, and he promises himself he will not kill for Mary Kay. Joe and Mary Kay become closer. They finally kiss, but Mary Kay says she just wants to be friends. Still, Joe continues to build up a relationship in his head. Then, one day, he finds out Mary Kay is married. Joe scolds himself for trying to be a "good guy" and not reverting back to his old ways.
The strength of the book is in the writing. I was mesmerised by Joe’s voice, the style of writing, how effortlessly the story unfolded. I got lost inside Joe’s mind, in his unyielding efforts to be a good person. Caroline Kepnes has created a character that you really want to root for, regardless of how wrong it actually is. She’s done a phenomenal job because at times in the book I really did root for Joe.
But people kept getting in his way – and we all know how Joe deals with obstacles. Still, he tells himself he’ll try his best to keep on track, because he is in love, and it is real this time. The beauty of these books is finding out what happens next through him. What is he going to do now? How is he going to handle the most recent problem that has landed in front of him? I've never hated a character so much yet been so fascinated by them.
This book is a slight departure from the first two, in that Joe is trying to be 'well behaved'. The deaths keep happening - I'm pretty sure that will always be a staple of these books - but his relationship with Love has changed him. Slightly. This makes for an interesting dynamic and a further sense of foreboding at what Joe will get up to next.
This book kept me on my toes for the entire duration. The end of chapter cliff-hangers are so shocking that you can't just stop there.
I think it's important to read the first two books before this one if you can, mostly because it’s been a fascinating ride to witness Joe’s behaviour from the very beginning to where he is now. You Love Me provides more character development for Joe, reading through his twisted psyche, as he navigates trying to have a real relationship without killing.
All in all, this is a satisfying novel in the You series and an absolute triumph for Kepnes. I could simply not wait to devour the third book in this series and it really didn’t disappoint. I hope a fourth instalment will follow!
Overall reaction: