Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I love all of the books in the You series so far. This one did not disappoint either!

"Karma doesn't kill people, people kill people."

Joe Goldeberg is back and is hitting the cobblestone streets of Cambridge, Ma. after earning a fellowship at Harvard being held by one of his favorite authors. He's finished a book, Me, and is ready for the admiration of the world and all the money that comes with it.

While there he meets Wonder Parish, Dunkin worker by day and an aspiring writer, and Joe falls head over heels for her but why does everyone keep trying to get in the way of their budding relationship?

Another installment in the YOU series and it definitely lacked the magic held by the others. I can't even believe that I am going to say this but Joe is starting to get a little boring. The first 20% of this book was a struggle and, in fact, I almost set this down but once Joe got murder on his mind it did start to pick up. Still, his stream of consciousness ramblings, while at times entertaining, had me at other times wanting to tell him to just shut the F up already. I'm so torn about this. I also wasn't fond of Wonder Parish. I didn't find her remotely interesting and I couldn't understand what all the fuss was over her.

What I did enjoy was the locality. Being a Massachusetts native I loved all the local nuggets of information. Fenway and the Red Sox, mentions of Chronicle and Shayna had me dying - I love that show! Heck, even having Wonder work at a Dunkin was perfect. I kid you not when I say there's a Dunkin on every street corner in Massachusetts. Oh, and the terrible driving, we've got that too.

"When we get to my Tesla you take the wheel - this is your town, not mine - and you drive like a Masshole. No turn signals and no regard for life."

Cue the guitar:

"The bar is too loud - fucking Massholes, can they go five minutes without blasting "classic" rock?"

This one put a smirk on my face:

"You tell Lou that you already read his book - you won a galley in a Goodreads giveaway - and ah. You're a Goodreads girl. You "love to read" - good - and you're all about freebies - bad."

Guilty as charged!

All in all this wasn't as great as I was hoping for but it wasn't terrible by any means. I just think the Joe schtick may be running it's course. The ending does leave possibilities for more Joe and I wouldn't be completely opposed to it though I will temper my expectations in the future. 3 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for my complimentary copy.

Joe is back and just as pretentious and in love as ever. Caroline has an incredible way of writing a somehow sympathetic psychopath and making you question your own morals. We are once again fully immersed in Joe’s narrative that is rife with simile and metaphor which at times is maybe a little inaccessible to the casual reader. However, her ability to make you feel just as anxious as Joe does when he feels like he’s on the brink of getting caught is exactly why I keep coming back to these Joe Goldberg novels. I will say that this one went on just a bit longer than I would have liked and one point I was hoping that “kill your darlings” would be more than just a literary tool for writing. I will, however, continue to read Joe’s thoughts for as long as I can.

Kepnes knocked the park out of this one. While I loved You, the second and third books in the series were tough for me to connect to. This novel, however, returns to that spark that is Joe Goldberg with a biting commentary on the way that we all perceive ourselves.

Looking forward to seeing where Joe's journey takes us next.

Ooh I don't feel good about this, but I have to say it. This was not a good read for me. I was oh so bored. I did not care for Wonder or anyone in close proximity to her. It was all a bore. Joe was a disappoinment. His kills were ho-hum. The ending was a snooze.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

Another thrilling Joe Goldberg book! I loved diving back into Joe’s story as it took him to Harvard. His adventures are always surprising and interesting. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC!

Huge thank you to NetGalley and RandomHouse Publishing for this ARC! When I saw Caroline had written another Joe Goldberg I jumped at the chance to read it before it was released, because I have loved this series since book one. I really wanted to give this book 5 stars and at the start I had every intention of doing so. I love how Caroline writes Joe and it’s the reason I enjoy this series. For You And Only You felt a bit drawn out to me at times. It was over 400 pages that I felt could have been 350 or even 300. However, this one like the other You books was entertaining and I liked how it ended.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Will I read another You book? Freaking yes!

I love Caroline Kepnes Joe Goldberg novels and will read everything about Joe that she puts out (and I hope that she continues to write books about him)! This latest one didn't quite grab a hold of me as hard as the others, but I still really enjoyed it.

Oh, Joe. You never disappoint!! This was a fantastic read, and I was consistently at the edge of my seat waiting to see how Joe will get out of yet another tense predicament. Definitely recommend this book!!

What a clusterfuck of a book!

I was so excited to be able to read this easy via netgalley. Every book of this series I have been blessed with an early copy and I have loved the series but this book was disappointing.

There was too much going on, I lost interest halfway through and Joe is so captivating but he lost his touch in this book.

The quick wit is usually easy to follow and read but this book took me a week to read because I really didn’t want to pick it up.

Reading the last 50 pages was a struggle and I did not care for the end at all.

Well, I’m sad. I just read 400 and something pages and this just didn’t feel like the other 3 books. I understand that this storyline is always going to be formulaic to a degree…. Joe sees girl, Joe obsesses over girl, Joe kills and manipulates his way into girls life, and then he eventually realizes that, shocker, she’s a normal person with flaws, so he inevitably loses feelings, or somehow he ends up with the girl and something horrible happens. Moral of the story is that he never gets his happily ever after.

I don’t mind this formula, and usually it’s a comfort to know that I’m about to read him go through some crazy shit. Like, I wholeheartedly expect and look forward to the chaos that is Joe Goldberg, but this one just… I don’t understand what happened.

Joe meets Wonder at a fellowship at Harvard, they are both writers who have written their own books (you go, Joe!), and they both received scholarships to attend, whereas everyone else in the fellowship is rich, privileged, and connected. He sees Wonder wearing a tight graphic t-shirt and it was love at first sight.

Everything felt rushed, but then at the same time the book DRAGGED. He spent most of the book just talking to himself as if Wonder lives inside his head and the kills were anticlimactic. I only enjoyed the very beginning when there was one solid twist.

In addition, the dialogue was just painful, this was nonstop author banter and endless evaluations of both of their novels and everyone else in the fellowship. I felt like maybe if I was a writer myself maybe I would have connected more, but there were endless evaluations of Wonder’s Goodreads reviews and we get that mouse in the house shit (Dr. Nicky throwback) brought up again SO many times. This entire book was Joe just being nervous and self conscious over his book and trying to succeed, while simultaneously trying to help Wonder succeed. I can see Caroline Kepnes was kind of making this a love letter to writers and readers, but it just didn’t work for me.

Now in regard to Wonder, Wonder herself had no personality! If Beck was a better writer, was more kind/empathetic, and had zero friends; that’s Wonder. However, she is smarter than Beck. I liked Wonder for her instincts, and her constant intuition that Joe wasn’t always honest. She was the strongest of all his female love interests, but she wasn’t developed enough. After reading all of those pages I feel like I barely knew her, but maybe that was the point. I feel like maybe in this book Joe just slid further into insanity and that’s why he felt more unhinged in this one.

All in all, I love being in Joe Goldberg’s mind and Caroline Kepnes does an amazing job with these books, but I hated the setting and overall execution of this one. Joe felt sloppy and for much of this book it felt like nothing was happening and that was a huge bummer.

I’ll still read the next one, but I do hope it’s a final book because the ending was so lackluster I couldn’t even believe it was over.

Thank you NetGalley, Randomhouse Publishing Group, and Caroline Kepnes for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

For You and You Only is the 4th book in the You series written by Caroline Kepnes. The narrator speaks directly to the reader by referring to the subject of the book (Wonder) as "You," just as he did in previous books with the woman he'd fallen in love with. In the previous three books, Joe Goldberg (narrator) essentially kills his love interest when she doesn't love him the way he wants or needs to be loved. These books must be read in order, or you'd never understand the history and complexity of his mind. That said... as much as we should hate Joe for killing about ~10 people at this point (and not getting caught), we love him. But by this book, I admit, I'm starting to waver about his appeal.

Joe's fallen in love before, sometimes with a girl we don't necessarily like. Wonder is a lot like Beck in that way, but she's also seemingly ordinary and not his type, so I didn't quite care if they were together whereas in the past, I wanted him to win the girl. At many points in this book, I rooted for Joe, but there were chapters that bored me for several pages. I kept plugging along and would hit moments that were sheer brilliance, and then I found myself intrigued with one of the fellows is writing group, Sara Beth. While the relationship and plot between them expands, it doesn't go where it should have gone, and quite honestly, it would have been the perfect ending.

All that said, it's not as good as the first in the series (none usually are) but it fits well within the overall theme of the larger story. Fans should read it. Newcomers shouldn't start here. I hope the books end here because there isn't a lot more to do with Joe unless he goes to prison or a psychiatric hospital where he falls in love with a guard, warden, nurse or doctor! But Kepnes is a strong writer, and amid the ethereal literary fiction droppings and silly Goodreads references, there's a woman with a deep and profound understanding of human nature.

For You and Only You by Caroline Kepnes
Publishing Date - April 4th 2023
Rating (4/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an eARC from Netgalley on this 4th installment of Caroline Kepnes’ You series. I enjoyed the first 3 books so I was beyond excited when I received an eARC!

In this fourth installment , we meet up with Joe at Harvard. He wants to be a writer. He becomes obsessed with Wonder who is also a writer in the fellowship program. He meets new enemies and struggles to keep his past secrets buried.

I really enjoyed this one! While the fourth installment kept me turning the pages , I was a little disappointed by the ending. I really hope she continues this series.

my mind is blown by how good this book was.
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any new release from the YOU series proceeds similarly: ecstatic that I got it, enjoy consuming it for a few days at most, sad that it’s over. FOR YOU AND YOU ONLY is no exception.
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content warnings for toxic relationship, stalking and murder.
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brief synopsis: our favorite narrator/protagonist/serial killer/monogamist Joe Goldberg is a WRITING FELLOW AT HARVARD. this means two things: 1) the book is a love letter to books/writers/writing, & 2) everything takes place in THE LAND OF DUNKIN! seriously, the object of Joe’s obsession is a writer named Wonder whose day job is at Dunkin.
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being from Barrington, RI, I loved the scene(s) that take place on Route 6 in Seekonk, MA! Joe also ventures to Cape Cod to the home of the rich ‘Hornblower’ family. prose is sharp, insightful, & funny as always.
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notable quotation: “it wasn’t enough for people like us to be readers, that we would only be loved for who we are if we became writers.” perfect timing for me after my first book deal! further, “you ran online to tell everyone about every book you devoured, as if your private communication with a novel wasn’t enough.” @ me next time Caroline Kepnes ❤️
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while YOU series fits one of my favorite genres, social media psycho thriller, where the murderer hides in your DM’s not the closet, THE FIRST FEW PAGES CONTAIN CYBER STALKING VIA GOODREADS! Goodreads makes it into the fictional cyber-stalking.
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overall the kind of book that made my whole week. I can’t wait to re-read via audio post-publication. I want to gather all the bookish Internet culture references and also create a Spotify playlist for all the great songs referenced. tbh maybe I should do those before then.

When we meet up with Joe, he is on his way to a fellowship program at Harvard. He spent his time during quarantine writing a book and is sure that it's the next Great American Novel.
But Joe wouldn't be Joe, if he didn't have a new obsession, which is where Wonder comes in. Also in the fellowship program, Wonder is the first woman Joe becomes fixated on that puzzles me. Seemingly picked at random, or rather out of convenience, the connection is loose the entire novel. In fact, at several points I wondered if he even liked her. But, desperate to not be alone, he clings to her whenever, or especially, he feels her drifting away.
Which is often, because Wonder is also the first woman who doesn't appear to need saving. She likes her life and her choices.
I found this to be a very entertaining read. A tiny bit too long, which is my only complaint.
Selfishly I hope that this isn't the end of Joe's journey. I'm in it to the end with him.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRQCLgTe/
Initial review above, will be mentioning again on the release date.

What happened? This was boring. Not like earlier books(or movies). ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

E-ARC provided by NetGalley for a review! I listened to the first three books in the series as audiobooks, narrated by the incredible Santino Fontana, and so this was the first of the series I actually read on paper. Kepnes’ characterization of Joe is so strong, and he’s such a realistic person(while still being a terrifying psychopath) that his voice just jumps off the page.
In For You and Only You, the fourth book in Caroline Kepnes’ Joe Goldberg series, we follow Joe to Cambridge. Post-COVID, Joe’s been accepted to a Harvard writers fellowship and moves up from Orlando where he meets the latest object of his obsession, Wonder, another aspiring writer who also happens to be a Goodreads Girl. This book does get a little meta, diving into writing and the publishing industry, and Kepnes gives herself a voice in some of the characters, breaking the fourth wall a bit. I wish there had been more of Joe trying to be with his son in this book-there was barely a mention of him in this one and that was a pretty big focus of the last book.
Overall, this is a strong fourth installment, but the ending feels like a little bit of a let down. The previous books have a strong buildup to a climactic ending, but I didn’t feel that with this one. Maybe Kepnes was trying to escape criticism that this book is just more of the same from Joe? Obsession, fixation, murder, his relationship not quite working out for whatever reason, more murder to try and fix things, and then his life blows up because he can’t keep juggling everything and he has to move away and become obsessed with someone else… I haven’t watched the Netflix show but I’ve heard it doesn’t stay true to the books in the more recent seasons, and that seeing Joe grow as a person is more compelling. I think with this ending, she was trying to show that Joe was growing as a person, but it felt a little like a cop-out. I do think that fans of this series will enjoy this latest book (I did, and I was thrilled to be approved for this ARC) but it left me wanting more from this book than excited and dying to read the next installment.

“For You and Only You,” by Caroline Kepnes, is the fourth in the Joe Goldberg “You” series. I’ve read the three previous books, though I did have to jog my memory a bit for some of the names mentioned in passing in this book. While I think one can read this one as a stand-alone, I think at least reading the first book (or maybe watching the show? I don’t know, having never watched the program) would be beneficial as to how Joe Goldberg ticks. One of the things I greatly enjoy in this series is just how powerful Ms. Kepnes uses the second person (you). Joe is his usual self, with his little zingers of humor (I had a smile at the word autodidact being tossed about). I found Joe’s love interest, Wonder, a bit flat this time - she seemed very young and whinged a lot at least on paper. Maybe that was part of Joe’s attraction to her - that she was different from the others he’d fallen in love with. I do like seeing things through Joe’s eyes - from his obsession to his self-justification of his actions. I did fly pretty quickly through this book, but at times I found the pacing a bit slow and some of the side stories seemed to detract from Joe and Wonder more than I would’ve liked. But, overall, another good book in this series that held my attention.

Thanks NetGalley for the arc. Thoroughly enjoyed reading about Joe at Harvard. Hoping there will be another book in the series. Joe fans are going to love this one.

Thank you to #Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

It’s a post-COVID world in Massachusetts, and Joe Goldberg has entered a writing fellowship at Harvard. He sets his eyes on a new “you” and quickly becomes enamored with Wonder (eye roll, yes that’s her name). We see the typical *no spoiler alert* stalking, obsessions, half-cocked ideas, narcissism, delusions of grandeur, but now Joe has written a novel! His love interest/stalking victim is also an author. Joe has his ups and downs through his relationship with Wonder, but all in all it just falls flat. There is a plethora of unlikeable characters, but sadly only 2 get murdered…

I was beyond excited to receive the advanced reader copy of this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed You, Hidden Bodies, and You Love Me, therefore I anticipated devouring this one. Unfortunately, this was my least favorite of the series thus far. This time there wasn’t enough character development for me to be invested in the character. I understand that character growth was intended and that he’s now “breaking his cycle,” but I really just didn’t care about any of it.

In You, I was invested in Beck. In Hidden Bodies, we fell in love with Love and loved to hate Forty. In You Love Me, Mary Kay was relatable, and her death came as such a shock in the end. Wonder is forgettable, whiny, and one-dimensional. I am choosing to look at this entire novel as a plot device to move Joe’s story forward and hoping that #5 will return to the original intrigue and excitement. 3/5 stars.