Review: For You and Only You

For You and Only You by Caroline Kepnes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for gifting me an early copy. Below you'll find my honest review.

Joe Goldberg, you are a special person. You always have been. From that very first "meet-cute" with Guinevere Beck, you grabbed my attention and held it hostage. How am I rooting for a stalker, a murderer, a sociopathic narcissist? Yet every book, you found a way to make me cheer for you.

Not since You have I felt so strongly on Team Joe. Don't get me wrong, Hidden Bodies and You Love Me still had me standing on the sidelines with pom-poms and a short skirt and a witty rhyme. But this one had me diving deep into your prose, right beside you pushing for your love and your success with you. I watched the group push you aside, put you down, poison her mind against you, and I rooted for you.

This is my favorite Joe novel, aside from the first, which was so original and visceral that it completely changed my worldview on how thrillers should go. And this one flips that on its head by altering my perception OF JOE HIMSELF. Joe shows some serious growth in this one, aside from a slip up at the beginning. He considers the consequences of his actions. He doesn't jump straight into killing. And honestly, for the first time, I think he might actually care more deeply than I realized in other books.

It's a strange sight, seeing someone as dark as Joe in a new light, and I'm here for it. Kudos to Kepnes on shifting the narrative enough to reinvigorate my love of Joe.

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