I am definitely not the target audience for this book, although I found the concept/summary intriguing. As a young adult read, though, I think it will find a good audience; it would have been interesting to see what the author might have done with this as a work aimed at an adult audience, though.

So.. my goodness there is a lot going on in Providence. I wish that the author would have had a message etc that reveals her message or inspiration for this one.

I'm not into sci-fi/fantasy genres and felt that this was a tad bit towards that direction. So.. H.P Lovecraft's book is a strong theme in this one... which is totally fine but I'm not familiar with this at all. I feel like those that enjoyed Lovecraft will enjoy this one :). There are some elements that left me scratching my head a few times and I admit was pretty lost.

This was my first novel by Caroline Kepnes and unfortunately my first experience was not a good one. I was really bored while reading this one and skimmed the last half of the book. It was just dragging on and dragging on :(.

I think you're either going to love this or hate it. Sadly, we can't all love the same novels and unfortunately this one just wasn't for me.

2 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced arc.
Published to GR: 5/13/18
Publication date: 6/19/18

Providence is the story of childhood friends, Jon and Chloe. Jon is a geek and Chloe is sort of popular, but she and Jon are still friends. Jon is kidnapped by a substitute teacher who gives him special powers that Jon doesn't understand, but some people who come into contact with him die. Since he loves Chloe, he distances himself from her. Eggs is a detective who is investigating the unexplained death by heart attack of healthy people.

This book is very different and the characters are interesting and very well developed. I enjoyed how it was written as though the characters were talking to you. I felt as though I knew them and that was what kept me reading.

3 - 3.5

I remember years ago, reading The Casual Vacancy from J.K. Rowling and giving it a 5-star rating while everyone around me seemed to hate it. It’s not Harry Potter! It’s rubbish! Burn it! Were some of the comments I found around. I was very familiar with HP, of course, but I had not yet read the books. The Casual Vacancy was my first experience with her writing, and I am glad that was the case. Authors have the right to explore other universes and characters whether the world demands them to keep writing the same tale over and over again.

With Providence, Caroline Kepnes takes that chance. She steers away from Joe Goldberg (who I love with all my.heart), and gives us a story with a different set of people and adds a touch of supernatural elements for additional spice. I am glad she wrote the book and took her chances. She deserves a life outside of Joe, and hopefully, she’ll find her talent appreciated for doing so. Caroline Kepnes is a terrific writer. Her writing style is clean and effective.

I feel ambivalent about Providence, and it has nothing to do with comparing it to her previous novels. The main storyline is about Jon, “the Basement Boy”, who was kidnapped and later returned “changed.” Young people are dying from suspicious heart attacks, and the events may be connected. That’s a good premise. It just wasn’t enough for me. The book is written under three POV angles. Jon, Chloe, and Eggs.

Detective DeBenedictus “Eggs” saved the book for me. While Jon an Chloe are having their “thing” throughout the years, it was all blah, blah, blah for me. All I cared about in the book was getting to know more and more about Eggs and Lo. His passion for work, his love for Lo, his struggle as a father, his determination. His thoughts were insightful. I found him likable and relatable.

The whole H. P. Lovecraft thing was sort of interesting. Neil Gaiman talks so much about him in The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction. Perhaps one day I’ll give him a shot. I just didn’t connect with the integration of Wilbur, The Dunwich Horror, and Providence. In the end, I still got lost with Jon’s insight about the whole thing.

Reading other reviews prior to writing mine, I found some disappointment from readers due to this novel being so different from You, or Hidden Bodies. Although I can say I expected it, it still saddens me a bit. Although I didn’t love this book, it’s not a bad book. I was relieved to discover she is versatile. I just found Providence a bit too long (half of Chloe’s chapters could have been eliminated, and Jon’s too if I must be honest), too Lovecraft-y in references, and it took me forever to finish it.

Will I be requesting an ARC of her next novel? Heck yeah! Count on it. This one just wasn’t my favorite.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishers for the opportunity to read an ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review. You guys are extremely generous.

Caroline Kepnes is one of my favorites so I couldn't be more excited to read and review this. While this was a fantastic read, it didn't quite meet the caliber that You did. I did enjoy the supernatural elements of the story ad it gave it a new and exciting twist. Overall, a great read geared towards the present millennial generation. Another hit. 4/5

Providence is a very emotionally driven book. At times I had to put the book down thinking about what I was reading. The story uses a lot of pop culture reference as well as really odd humor that at times your not sure if you should be laughing or crying.
This is the first book I have read by Caroline Kepnes and I found it hard to connect with the characters but it could be her writing style is very different from what I have been reading recently.
The story does becomes heavy handed during different points of the book and those were the times I had to put the book down.
Providence is a mix between science fiction, what some might consider real life and a story of love.

I love how Carloline Kepnes writes. She knows how to keep the story moving and you feel connected to the characters. In Providence we meet Jon and Chloe. Two young teens who are friends, but maybe more. Jon is picked on by a classmate causing him to choose a path through the woods to school one morning and he's kidnapped. What follows is alternating viewpoints from Chloe, Jon, and an obsessed cop named Eggs.

If you enjoy stories that are about the characters and a peek into their lives then you will enjoy Providence. It's part mystery, part sci-fi, and a little bit of horror all rolled into a love story. While I wish the ending was a bit different I'm hoping it means we're not done with Chloe and Jon...

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House - Lenny for this ARC.

Providence is a compelling story that captured my interest right away. There are several themes explored throughout the book: love and loss, good and evil, control and submission to name just a few. If the reader is able to put aside what they believe is possible, their imagination will get a workout.

Jon and Chloe are childhood friends. Chloe is Jon's only friend. He is a great friend who accepts Chloe unconditionally. He's also the kind of kid who bullies know they can easily dominate.. One day on the way to school Jon disappears without a trace of evidence to suggest what happened.

The book spans several years and is told from several different view points that allows the reader to see what happened to Jon, Chloe and the detective who becomes involved in this case. The three points of view kept the story fresh and added to character development. I highly recommend Caroline Kepnes writing and this book.

Not recommend. The first chapter almost had me abandon the book immediately. I stuck with it ... for a while. Ultimately, I just did not finish this one.

Honestly? I managed to make it about 45% of the way through this book, but it became so tedious and repetitive that I couldn't stick with it. These two characters were people I'd like to slap up-side the head. My thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for letting me read and review a preview copy.

I loved Kepnes’ other books You and Hidden Bodies. Like those, this is a page turner. During the last third of the book, I couldn’t put it down! The middle part of the book was a bit dull and I wanted more suspense and for the story to move along more. A bit of sci-fi but for those, like myself who are not into sci-fi, it's not enough to turn you off. It's about love and lust and friendship and the unfairness of life.

Nuanced and with such interesting characters, Caroline Kepnes once again kept me entranced, touched, and entertained. As with her first two books, I couldn’t stop reading, thinking, and feeling. This was deeply moving and tragically beautiful. At times I was reminded of Stephen King; high praise indeed. Definitely a home run, well done!

In YOU and HIDDEN BODIES, the love was toxic. In PROVIDENCE, it’s sweeter, purer, but no less dangerous. My favorite of Kepnes’ books so far, PROVIDENCE is a real heart-stopper.

I was pretty excited to read Providence, as I really enjoyed "You" by Caroline Kepnes when I read it recently. However, where "You" is definitely more of a psychological thriller/mystery, Providence.. is not, at least not at nearly the same level.

Providence focuses on three main characters - Jon, Chloe, and Eggs. As a teenager, Jon goes missing, and Chloe is heartbroken. However, time passes - Chloe moves on (to an extent), and things are relatively normal.. until Jon returns, and can't remember much of anything for the last four years. Unfortunately, when he returns, nothing is the same, much less normal. The rest of the book chronicles Chloe and Jon as their lives are passing by, and Eggs makes an interest as a local detective to investigate some peculiar happenings that he's picked up on.

For me, this book just kind of dragged on. It had a sci-fi taste to it, which is admittedly not my preferred genre, but it also just felt long. I felt like it started out strong - Jon gets kidnapped - and then the next several hundred pages were waiting for something to happen. The ending left a little bit to be desired for me as well - it felt a little bit rushed to me, and I felt like there were multiple questions left unanswered.

Now - for the good - Kepnes did a really good job with character development. All of her character felt real - had true emotions, ups, and downs in their lives. I thought she did a good job of aging them appropriately and showing their growth over a timespan of several years. Additionally, I give her major props for tackling using one of her characters to tackle a major health problem that is often unfairly stigmatized - this probably stood out to me more because I'm a nurse, but still, good for her. Her writing kept things interested enough to keep me involved in the plot, and I genuinely enjoyed the last 100 pages or so. It's a good book - and part of my slight disappointment is probably due to the anticipation of reading something more similar to "You".

All in all, I'd give this a solid 3 stars, maybe a 3.5 if I'm being generous. And, if you're willing to suspend belief a bit, and sci-fi is more of your thing - you'll probably enjoy this more too.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I just have to say, with Providence Caroline Kepnes proves she can write a whole new cast of characters and in such a way that I still can still tell she wrote this story through her writing. I would also like point out that this story is totally different then anything out there on the market right now. I was a little skeptical when I heard there is a paranormal element to the book but after finishing this book I see that it was done in such a.....classy way, so to speak. Providence has a Romeo and Juliet vibe to it, love separated by circumstance but that is where the similarities end.
We start off when our MC Jon, who is a bit of a social outcast and really only has this one friend named Chloe, goes missing. Fast forward 4 years and Jon miraculously comes home but he isn't the same. Jon realizes he is different and this change has really made it hard for him to have human contact with his only friend, Chloe. After some unfortunate events Jon makes the decision to leave his home yet again.

The plot really does move along seamlessly and that made me want to know what will happen next. This "power" Jon was given seems more like a curse and keeps him away from all the people he loves and his only friend Chloe. We see Jon throughout some time and realize that he is very isolated and is trying to figure out a way to deal or fix what was given to him. Ms. Kepnes has created one of my all time favorite characters (Yes, Joe Goldberg) but she can really write about human nature and our way of thinking in a way that when you read it, your like "yeah I totally think like that" and not even realize that we do these things on a day to day basis, people can have weird quirks and ticks and this author has a way of writing it into her story's and make her characters so real and relatable.

I also had read reviews where people kept saying that the author keeps referencing to HP Lovecraft and how they felt like they needed to read it cause they were confused. I did not have that issue at all. I loved how she incorporated a book within a book to show the parallels between the two main characters in Providence and in Lovecraft stories.

While this book couldn't be anymore different from her first 2 books I'm ok with that because it just shows you how versatile Caroline Kepnes writing is. While I could go on and on about this author I think I will stop here and say I think everyone should give Providence a try, it is different and the writing is excellent.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley who provided me with a ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read and loved “You” and “Hidden” so I was excited to read this. I was not disappointed. The character development was spot on, and I loved the different perspectives that brought the story alive. I hope there is a sequel because I just love her writing! #netgalley #arc

I imagine that Providence will really polarize readers; they will love it or hate it. I am definitely not in the love it camp. The characters and the story are both too far out there for my tastes.

I love Caroline Kepnes but this was not my favorite. There was repeat after repeat and I got tired of reading about Jon

My first thought after tearing through PROVIDENCE, my first Carolyn Kepnes novel, was "amazing". I loved the way the book was laid out - the chapters alternating between characters, each told in the first person. Each character was fully developed; I felt I was inside their head.

In some ways this reminded me of very early (1970-80's) Dean Koontz and John Saul, but with outstanding writing and research. That's a good thing, btw. 

This is mystery, thriller, paranormal with a dash of science fiction, but at its heart it's a love story as all the best stories are. I highly recommend PROVIDENCE, especially to those of you looking for something new. Then, like me, you can grab all of Carolyn Kepnes past books and feast!

I am a HUGE Caroline Kepnes fan but Providence strayed a little too far from what I love most about her writing. I think it just tried to do too much in a short span of time and it didn't really work for me.