For You and Only You
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 176
Format: Hardback
My Rating: ★★★
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 176
Format: Hardback
My Rating: ★★★
Love doesn’t conquer all. Often, it needs a little push.
Joe Goldberg is ready for a change. Instead of selling books, he’s writing them. And he’s off to a good start. Glenn Shoddy, an acclaimed literary author, recognises Joe’s genius and invites him to join a tight-knit writing fellowship in Harvard. Finally, Joe will be in a place where talent matters more than pedigree – where intellect is the great equalizer, and anything is possible. Even happy endings. Or so he thinks, until he meets his already-published, already-distinguished peers, who all seem to be cut from the same privileged cloth.
Thankfully, Wonder Parish enters the picture. They have so much in common. No college degrees, no pretentions, no stories from prep school. Just a love for literature. If only Wonder could commit herself to the writing life, they could be those rare literary soulmates who never fall prey to their demons. There is so much they’re up against, but Joe has faith in Wonder. He will sacrifice his art for hers. And if he has to, he will kill her darlings for her.
Thank you to Tandem Collective for sending me out a gifted copy of the book to read and review!
Love doesn’t conquer all. Often, it needs a little push.
Joe Goldberg is ready for a change. Instead of selling books, he’s writing them. And he’s off to a good start. Glenn Shoddy, an acclaimed literary author, recognises Joe’s genius and invites him to join a tight-knit writing fellowship in Harvard. Finally, Joe will be in a place where talent matters more than pedigree – where intellect is the great equalizer, and anything is possible. Even happy endings. Or so he thinks, until he meets his already-published, already-distinguished peers, who all seem to be cut from the same privileged cloth.
Thankfully, Wonder Parish enters the picture. They have so much in common. No college degrees, no pretentions, no stories from prep school. Just a love for literature. If only Wonder could commit herself to the writing life, they could be those rare literary soulmates who never fall prey to their demons. There is so much they’re up against, but Joe has faith in Wonder. He will sacrifice his art for hers. And if he has to, he will kill her darlings for her.
Thank you to Tandem Collective for sending me out a gifted copy of the book to read and review!
My thoughts:
When we last saw the book version of Joe in 2021’s You Love Me, he was holed up in Florida after his latest romantic entanglement fell apart in a deadly way. Now Joe Goldberg – everyone’s favourite psycho serial killer – is back! And once again he will not let any mortal stand in his way of romantic pursuits.
Fast forward to For You and Only You, and Joe is following his TV counterpart into the world of higher education after being chosen to take part in an exclusive writing fellowship at Harvard. But the fellowship is full of high rolling college graduates - privileged and precocious - some already published. Ani is an award-winning playwright, Sarah Beth the author of a successful mystery series. Mats and Lou have both completed promising first books, and ‘nepo baby’ O.K. hasn’t finished writing a book yet, but her mother is an NPR star.
Of course, Joe yet again finds a new ‘soulmate’ to obsess over in Wonder Parish, who’s just as insecure about her place in the seminar group as Joe is. She is a working-class Bostonian, still living with her family, caring for her wounded veteran Dad, and managing a Dunkin’ store. And she is, as Joe sees when he starts reading her manuscript, Faithful, a truly gifted writer.
Joe knows he and Wonder are destined to become a literary power couple; he just has to remove all obstacles to their relationship. He knows how to handle complications: one murder at a time.
Inside Joe Goldberg’s head is undeniably a dark place to be, but this is very much an up and down series for me. Book one was great, book two appealed to me less, book three regained my attention and, this one, well... I'm not sure it really, totally worked for me.
I felt feel this new addition to the You series definitely lacked the magic held by the others. I can’t see it working successfully as a standalone either, as lots of characters and crimes from the previous novels are touched on but not given much real detail or explanation. It’s very important to remember that the Netflix You series are very different plots to the original books. Only the first series is a faithful adaptation based on the first book, which can make for a complicated and confusing reading experience for those who find themselves dipping in and out of the novels alongside the Netflix shows.
Joe’s character and narration have been far stronger in books one and three for me. I was very much looking forward to a new Joe Goldberg novel, and it shocks me to say it, but reading this made me feel that Joe is starting to get a little boring. Obsession, stalking, murder, just the same old...The first two hundred or so pages of the book were a real struggle to get through, and I just didn’t care as much about what would happen this time around.
I did enjoy the scenes revolving around the Harvard fellowship and witnessing the group discuss their work was interesting to me. With this being a book about books, I think this could have been further developed. Perhaps some extracts from Joe or Wonder’s writing could have been included too?
Joe’s stream of consciousness ramblings, while at times entertaining, were not as fun to read as in the previous books. some of Joe's monologues dragged on, and overall, the book as a whole could have easily been condensed by around one hundred pages or so. Perhaps it is just that I’m no longer so shocked by the terrible behaviour he displays. I can’t help but feel the author has at this point fallen into a repetitive cycle that makes the plot feel repetitive and predictable. Also, having read the whole series so far, I can’t quite get my head around how easily Joe seems to be able to move to a new location and just start a new life with a different identity and barely any consequences from his crimes.
I also found Wonder to not be as engaging or interesting a character as Joe's previous targets, victims, or obsessions. I didn’t find her likeable and her interactions with Joe felt a bit forced, especially with them not seeming to have all that much in common.
All in all, For You and Only You was an entertaining enough read, but it took a lot of effort to work through it. I am not sure about that ending, but I hope this will be the last in the series. All good things must come to an end.
Overall reaction:
When we last saw the book version of Joe in 2021’s You Love Me, he was holed up in Florida after his latest romantic entanglement fell apart in a deadly way. Now Joe Goldberg – everyone’s favourite psycho serial killer – is back! And once again he will not let any mortal stand in his way of romantic pursuits.
Fast forward to For You and Only You, and Joe is following his TV counterpart into the world of higher education after being chosen to take part in an exclusive writing fellowship at Harvard. But the fellowship is full of high rolling college graduates - privileged and precocious - some already published. Ani is an award-winning playwright, Sarah Beth the author of a successful mystery series. Mats and Lou have both completed promising first books, and ‘nepo baby’ O.K. hasn’t finished writing a book yet, but her mother is an NPR star.
Of course, Joe yet again finds a new ‘soulmate’ to obsess over in Wonder Parish, who’s just as insecure about her place in the seminar group as Joe is. She is a working-class Bostonian, still living with her family, caring for her wounded veteran Dad, and managing a Dunkin’ store. And she is, as Joe sees when he starts reading her manuscript, Faithful, a truly gifted writer.
Joe knows he and Wonder are destined to become a literary power couple; he just has to remove all obstacles to their relationship. He knows how to handle complications: one murder at a time.
Inside Joe Goldberg’s head is undeniably a dark place to be, but this is very much an up and down series for me. Book one was great, book two appealed to me less, book three regained my attention and, this one, well... I'm not sure it really, totally worked for me.
I felt feel this new addition to the You series definitely lacked the magic held by the others. I can’t see it working successfully as a standalone either, as lots of characters and crimes from the previous novels are touched on but not given much real detail or explanation. It’s very important to remember that the Netflix You series are very different plots to the original books. Only the first series is a faithful adaptation based on the first book, which can make for a complicated and confusing reading experience for those who find themselves dipping in and out of the novels alongside the Netflix shows.
Joe’s character and narration have been far stronger in books one and three for me. I was very much looking forward to a new Joe Goldberg novel, and it shocks me to say it, but reading this made me feel that Joe is starting to get a little boring. Obsession, stalking, murder, just the same old...The first two hundred or so pages of the book were a real struggle to get through, and I just didn’t care as much about what would happen this time around.
I did enjoy the scenes revolving around the Harvard fellowship and witnessing the group discuss their work was interesting to me. With this being a book about books, I think this could have been further developed. Perhaps some extracts from Joe or Wonder’s writing could have been included too?
Joe’s stream of consciousness ramblings, while at times entertaining, were not as fun to read as in the previous books. some of Joe's monologues dragged on, and overall, the book as a whole could have easily been condensed by around one hundred pages or so. Perhaps it is just that I’m no longer so shocked by the terrible behaviour he displays. I can’t help but feel the author has at this point fallen into a repetitive cycle that makes the plot feel repetitive and predictable. Also, having read the whole series so far, I can’t quite get my head around how easily Joe seems to be able to move to a new location and just start a new life with a different identity and barely any consequences from his crimes.
I also found Wonder to not be as engaging or interesting a character as Joe's previous targets, victims, or obsessions. I didn’t find her likeable and her interactions with Joe felt a bit forced, especially with them not seeming to have all that much in common.
All in all, For You and Only You was an entertaining enough read, but it took a lot of effort to work through it. I am not sure about that ending, but I hope this will be the last in the series. All good things must come to an end.
Overall reaction: