You Love Me is the third book in the You series, a series made popular on a global scale with its Netflix adaptation. I’ve previously reviewed You and Hidden Bodies, so it was only right that I reviewed this one. Did I enjoy it as much as the others? Let’s talk about it…
You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes | Buy from Amazon US | Buy from Amazon UK
About You Love Me
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: April 6, 2021
Pages: 400
Book Description
You Love Me is the third book in the You series. Joe Goldberg has served time for his misdeeds, and now it’s time for him to enter back into the real world. But when he tried to return to L.A and find his ex-girlfriend Love and their newborn boy, Forty, Joe discovers that he’s not wanted in L.A. Joe is forced to leave his past behind and settle into the small island of Bainbridge in Washington state. And it’s there, in Bainbridge, were Joe finds his calling as a library assistant. But with this new calling, comes a brand new obsession. That obsession is Mary Kay. Will Mary Kay cause Joe to fall into his old ways? Or can Joe change his ways and win Mary Kay’s heart without resorting to murder and manipulation?
My Thoughts
When I read the first book in this series (You), I fell in love with how Caroline Kepnes brought Joe to life. We got to experience New York through his eyes, and it was his snappy internal-monologue that made him feel like a real person. Someone who could be living among us every day.
Joe is a character who’s very relatable because of his snarky remarks and unhealthy love of literature. But what made most people resistant to liking him in the first two books was his creepy and murderous nature. Joe is someone who will orchestrate the kidnapping or murder of anyone who gets in the way of the woman he loves. And he’s the type of person who will stalk his love interest instead of simply letting them know how he feels about them. And these actions are what make most people reluctant to admit that they secretly adore Joe Goldberg.
You Love Me aims to rectify this feeling. Joe has gone through a notable change after his incarceration. He’s more self-aware about his misdeeds and he actively aims to avoid killing. And although this change is immediate very early on, Joe doesn’t lose any of his other quirks that make him interesting. He has the same snide internal-monologue that I enjoyed reading in the previous books, and these are often the parts that I enjoy reading the most. And while there will still be some who find Joe completely unlikable, Kepnes has made it so that readers can feel better about being on Joe’s side without feeling like they’re condoning hurtful and malicious behavior. (Even though I personally feel that liking a character in a book doesn’t represent your real-world views, but I know others disagree.)
Another positive about You Love Me is that the love interest feels like a real person in comparison to Hidden Bodies’ main love interest…Love. Mary Kay is a library manager with a teenage daughter (Nomi), who has a real fleshed out history that leaves footprints all over the small Island of Bainbridge. We get a real sense of how small this community is because everyone knows one another and they’re all aware of each other’s secrets. People talk, and when you’re in a small community, you’re reminded of how much your business gets around each day. This makes Joe’s pathway to Mary Kay’s heart all the more interesting. And this time around, we get a sense that the feelings between Joe and Mary are developing on a mutual level as opposed to feeling like Joe is simply being a forceful creep. But love is never that easy. There are a number of obstacles in Joe and Mary’s way. One of them being Mary’s feminist friend who publicly calls out Joe early on.
A problem I had with Hidden Bodies is that some of the murders were too convenient, which made the story feel less plausible than the original book. The second book strayed too far into an unrealistic direction, but You Love Me draws the realism back a few paces. Are there parts of You Love Me that are a little convenient? Yes! But these are conveniences with grey areas that you can apply some form of logic to. For example, a character goes missing (I won’t say how), and for a long time you’re left wondering when someone is going to figure out what happened, or at least do some digging. But this moment never comes. But although it seems slightly unrealistic that nobody would try to find this lost character again, Kepnes laid just enough groundwork to explain why the community might not wish to find this character. We have enough threads to convince ourselves that this situation might make sense, instead of having to gloss over plot-holes in order to retain the story’s immersion.
Joe’s quest for love with Mary Kay is full of bumpy roads. The two characters will go through a series of hurdles. And these hurdles are what keeps the suspense flowing throughout the story. Kepnes knows how to keep her readers turning the pages, and this talent is ever more apparent here. I also think that Kepnes wrote this book with the Netflix series in mind as I feel this book will make great TV once it’s adapted.
Most of the characters in You Love Me are new, but there are a few surprises in the story that involve returning characters from Joe’s past. And these moments are key in revealing Joe’s growth of character throughout this trilogy.
Verdict
I’ve seen a lot of mixed-feelings about how Joe Goldberg has changed as a character in this book. But in my opinion, he has changed for the better. His growth over the three books is reflected in You Love Me, and there’s nothing wrong with that, because people do grow and evolve in real life. Incarceration is enough to change anyone. And even with the major differences in Joe’s actions, he still retains the condescending, snide and self-righteous inner-monologue that makes him an interesting character to read. For that reason, I hold this book in high regard. I would rank You Love Me higher than Hidden Bodies, but the original book is still my favorite of the series.
If you’ve already found yourself sucked into the Youniverse then there’s absolutely no reason that you shouldn’t read this book.
You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes | Buy from Amazon US | Buy from Amazon UK
