Scan barcode
heidikundin's review against another edition
2.0
Oh, Joe. YOU are the villain that we all hate to love, so it saddens me to say that your storyline has gotten incredibly stale and formulaic. With Joe, we all know what's coming in the plotline, we just don't know HOW it's coming, but this time, even those aspects fell really flat for me.
After reading You Love Me last year (and rating it only two stars), I wasn't sure that I was willing to give Joe Goldberg another chance. Naturally, though, I can't seem to say no every time he comes back around, so when For You and Only You was released, I jumped at the chance to snag an ARC. Sadly, after finishing this book, I hate to say it, but I think Joe and I are breaking up for good.
I actually thought that the Harvard setting and the premise of the literary fellowship were totally perfect, and there was SO much potential there, but then we are introduced to all of the characters who were more like caricatures. Filled with stereotypes, most of the fellows read as incredibly shallow and flat characters, and the ones that did get fleshed out were unlikable at best.
I have no idea why Joe even became interested in Wonder in the first place other than her autodidact-ness because she was about as interesting as a dishrag. Her weak and wishy-washy character made it really hard to believe that THIS relationship was what Joe was fighting for, but apparently, he's gotten desperate, and the pickings must be slim.
I really, really hoped that this book would pick up toward the end and become deserving of a higher rating, but alas, Joe, even with all of his idiosyncrasies, has morphed into Joe Average, and 3-stars was the best I could do.
Side note: Netflix has definitely done its job well because I couldn't read this book at all without hearing it narrated in Penn Badgley's voice, and I'm not actually sure if that helped or hindered my enjoyment of the book.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
After reading You Love Me last year (and rating it only two stars), I wasn't sure that I was willing to give Joe Goldberg another chance. Naturally, though, I can't seem to say no every time he comes back around, so when For You and Only You was released, I jumped at the chance to snag an ARC. Sadly, after finishing this book, I hate to say it, but I think Joe and I are breaking up for good.
I actually thought that the Harvard setting and the premise of the literary fellowship were totally perfect, and there was SO much potential there, but then we are introduced to all of the characters who were more like caricatures. Filled with stereotypes, most of the fellows read as incredibly shallow and flat characters, and the ones that did get fleshed out were unlikable at best.
I have no idea why Joe even became interested in Wonder in the first place other than her autodidact-ness because she was about as interesting as a dishrag. Her weak and wishy-washy character made it really hard to believe that THIS relationship was what Joe was fighting for, but apparently, he's gotten desperate, and the pickings must be slim.
I really, really hoped that this book would pick up toward the end and become deserving of a higher rating, but alas, Joe, even with all of his idiosyncrasies, has morphed into Joe Average, and 3-stars was the best I could do.
Side note: Netflix has definitely done its job well because I couldn't read this book at all without hearing it narrated in Penn Badgley's voice, and I'm not actually sure if that helped or hindered my enjoyment of the book.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
bestkasescenario's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I really love the You series…. But this one just feels like a repeat. It’s getting very boring and I don’t know if I’ll want to read the last book.
julianam's review
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cayleightaylorsversion's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
first half was slow but it got better, also fully thought this was the last book its not!
blurrypetals's review against another edition
4.0
A Goodreads girl, Joe? Really?
Despite my frustration and boredom with the previous book, You Love Me, I couldn't bring myself to skip this one. I enjoyed the fourth season of the television adaptation well enough, too, so I was intrigued to see how it might compare.
And man, where You Love Me was a big letdown that felt like a more boring retread of You and ditched plotlines and characters set up in previous books, For You and Only You was a hilarious joyride of insanity that by contrast uses its episodic nature only to its benefit.
I think one of the reasons this was so much more fun to me will be obvious for those who know me at all: the writing angle. I've always been very amused by Joe's musings on literature as well as media in general, but having him go in on writing, writers, and, perhaps most important and entertaining of all, the pretentiousness surrounding writing, writing groups, and the publishing industry.
I also found Joe's latest obsession, Wonder, to be the most interesting since Love in Hidden Bodies, and even then, Love was really only interesting right at the very end, where Wonder stayed the same disastrous person the whole time, which was absolutely the point. I enjoyed how much friction she and Joe had in their relationship, how there were very few moments of reprieve for the two of them, a huge contrast to Joe's past victims in that sometimes it felt like Wonder was intentionally punishing him for his crimes when she was just that frustrating to him even with his rose-colored glasses on and the way their story ends is refreshingly different and interesting by contrast compared to the other books and victims.
The supporting cast was also interesting in a big way; Sarah Beth is almost as wonderfully terrible as Peach was in the first book, and all her scenes with Joe were very fun.
All in all, I felt like this was a massive improvement over You Love Me and, to be honest, I might even have liked it more than Hidden Bodies. I still think I'd prefer Kepnes to write something new and different instead of revisiting Joe Goldberg over and over again, but if she keeps writing them like this one, I definitely can't be too mad about it either.
Despite my frustration and boredom with the previous book, You Love Me, I couldn't bring myself to skip this one. I enjoyed the fourth season of the television adaptation well enough, too, so I was intrigued to see how it might compare.
And man, where You Love Me was a big letdown that felt like a more boring retread of You and ditched plotlines and characters set up in previous books, For You and Only You was a hilarious joyride of insanity that by contrast uses its episodic nature only to its benefit.
I think one of the reasons this was so much more fun to me will be obvious for those who know me at all: the writing angle. I've always been very amused by Joe's musings on literature as well as media in general, but having him go in on writing, writers, and, perhaps most important and entertaining of all, the pretentiousness surrounding writing, writing groups, and the publishing industry.
I also found Joe's latest obsession, Wonder, to be the most interesting since Love in Hidden Bodies, and even then, Love was really only interesting right at the very end, where Wonder stayed the same disastrous person the whole time, which was absolutely the point. I enjoyed how much friction she and Joe had in their relationship, how there were very few moments of reprieve for the two of them, a huge contrast to Joe's past victims in that sometimes it felt like Wonder was intentionally punishing him for his crimes when she was just that frustrating to him even with his rose-colored glasses on and the way their story ends is refreshingly different and interesting by contrast compared to the other books and victims.
The supporting cast was also interesting in a big way; Sarah Beth is almost as wonderfully terrible as Peach was in the first book, and all her scenes with Joe were very fun.
All in all, I felt like this was a massive improvement over You Love Me and, to be honest, I might even have liked it more than Hidden Bodies. I still think I'd prefer Kepnes to write something new and different instead of revisiting Joe Goldberg over and over again, but if she keeps writing them like this one, I definitely can't be too mad about it either.
bonnieebrown's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
akiikomori's review against another edition
4.0
I dont know what it is but I think I liked this better than You Love Me.
Man the ending. And just the character profiling.
And yes I'm reacting to the book, not letting it sit for a week before I write a review haha
I feel like this is becoming a new thing- authors doing commentaries on readers and potential other authors and writers.
I very much enjoyed this book and wonder if there's anymore in store for Joe. I know the show is completely different and that's okay too.
Man the ending. And just the character profiling.
And yes I'm reacting to the book, not letting it sit for a week before I write a review haha
I feel like this is becoming a new thing- authors doing commentaries on readers and potential other authors and writers.
I very much enjoyed this book and wonder if there's anymore in store for Joe. I know the show is completely different and that's okay too.
usc_kel's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5