Scan barcode
geminisoul's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion
zarakoconnor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pedophilia and Pregnancy
Minor: Antisemitism
brookey8888's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
fkshg8465's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
david_slack110507's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
To begin with, I do like the aspect of Joe having to not kill due to the circumstances of the last book, which is that he is now in the good graces of the Quinn family and must abide by their rules to continue to live this life of relative luxury in Bainbridge Island. It created some interesting dynamics rather than having Joe just kill anyone in the way of his "love" for Mary Kay DiMarco (This book's central love interest or shall I say Joe's later obsession and fascination, though for this one he does seem to tone it down just a little but many of the usual Joe shenanigans take place still). However, I do feel like while this is a positive aspect of the book, it could also be seen as a lazy one as any issue that needs the removal of a person from a situation to result in Joe's best outcome often happens by chance, for example when Joe has kidnapped Melanda (Mary Kay's best friend), she ends up committing suicide and when Seamus (Another friend of Mary Kay and has a far more sinister relationship with Mary Kay's daughter, Nomi, than expected) kidnaps Joe, he is killed by Oliver (A private investigator sent by the Quinn family to monitor Joe's activities whom also catches Joe in the act of disposing of the recently deceased Melanda's body). Some could see this as a way of writing out situations to get to the next one rather than letting it have any real lasting consequences but for me, it mainly works.
Another thing I liked about You Love Me is that once again, like with how Hidden Bodies, picked up threads from the original You novel, You Love Me does the same with its predecessor but to a much larger capacity as the Quinns and Forty/Henry are much more present in this book in comparison to Amy Adams from the last book and I actually quite liked that the Quinns still had an influence in Joe's life even without being there. When the situation is fully addressed, I do think it is once again done a little too cleanly as Joe gets away pretty much scott-free with only some relationship drama for him to tend with as a result of his conclusion to his relationship with Love.
Something that I noticed in this book is that social commentary is much more present this time around. Social commentary has always been present in the You series/You books both explicitly and implicitly, but I found that this one featured it more heavily, particularly with Joe. In this book, Joe is much more socially aware and he comments on this throughout. I like to think that his inner monologues about being pro-feminism have a deeper meaning or are actually just a deeper message that Caroline Kepnes is trying to convey using Joe as the vessel with which to do it - Either, Joe is doing this to feed into his superiority complex in that he is better than most guys for Mary Kay because he actually respects her or it's a message to show how people use and abuse social movements and ideas to better themselves either for their own good or to portray a better public image. I may be reading too much into it, but I thought it was an interesting thought.
My main issue with this book was the ending, not only did it come out of nowhere and feel quite poorly handled but it also felt like there needed to be something to cause a situation so serious enough that Joe could not be with this family in the next book despite the fact that a chapter or two prior to the end of the book, had seemed to be in the picture-perfect ending (Or at least the picture-perfect ending for a book like this and for a guy like Joe). This twist along with the fact that Nomi had been sleeping with and seeing Seamus, wasn't great and the lack of buildup beyond those two chapters was pretty much non-existent. I know that I have more positives than negatives so maybe that doesn't justify the 3-star rating (Which is actually rounded down from a 3.5) but something just didn't hit the same with this one like the others, but it was still an enjoyable listen.
Graphic: Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, and Pregnancy
taleofabibliophile's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and Pedophilia
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Sexism, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Abandonment
fartplatinum's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Medical content, Abortion, and Alcohol
Minor: Mass/school shootings
emmmapayne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Rape
ellaticonstellation's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
sassykassy08's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting