You Love Me [by Caroline Kepnes]

 When You was published, it was like nothing I had ever read before, or since, for that matter. I was in the head of Joe Goldberg, an obsessive murdering stalker who made you root for him. And it was amazing. So amazing, that Netflix optioned it and made it into a series, which is equally amazing even if it doesn't follow the book plot the way all of us book nerds would like.

Then Caroline Kepnes [who you should really be following on Twitter because she's hilarious] wrote a follow-up, also starring Joe Goldberg, titled Hidden Bodies. Because the first book was so amazing, I had high hopes for the second, which is usually disappointing. And this was too - the book was great, but not as great as the first, and I figured this is where the series would end. The writing was great but the plot was a little too fantastical.

But I'm a huge fan of Kepnes, so when You Love Me, the third in the installment, was announced, I of course pre-ordered on Amazon because even if it was bad, it would still be good. And it was great. This time the plot was also a bit fantastical, but you didn't care because she did such an amazing job creating the characters and actually making you care about them [Sorry Caroline, but Love was unlikeable].

I can't reveal much plot because there's a lot that happens and there are a lot of surprises. Suffice it to say, Joe Goldberg is trying to reform but can't help falling in love with a seemingly unattainable prospect. Wow, there really isn't much else I can say except there are probably three twists you won't expect, and probably two twists that you will expect - but not in an annoying way.

There's nothing worse than both an overly predictable twist where you're left thinking "why did the author think that was surprising when they left so many breadcrumbs?" OR a twist that's so unpredictable you're left thinking "ummmm...... what? That makes no sense and I don't even want to finish this book." These twists were neither. Kepnes did a good job honoring the first book with not only references for the hardcore fans, but with enough breadcrumbs that made you wonder but still care what happened.

And the final twist, I think I can say with authority, nobody could have guessed in the best way and it was a great way to wrap things up without truly wrapping them up. According to her Twitter account, Kepnes IS working on a fourth book, and I can't wait. I even want to re-read Hidden Bodies because I'm starting to think I was in the wrong mood to read it and it is maybe more fabulous than I thought.

Unsurprisingly, she gets an A+ or 5 stars or however you want to rate it, especially within the genre. Keep writing screwed up characters because we love them! And if you haven't watched the Netflix series yet, read the books first and then watch - trust me. You will feel differently about Becks. 👍