The Book:
You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes
Published April 6th 2021 by Random House
Date read: May 4, 2021
The Characters:
Joe
Mary Kay
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Joe is done with the cities. He’s done with the muck and the posers, done with Love. Now, he’s saying hello to nature, to simple pleasures on a cozy island in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in a long time, he can just breathe.
He gets a job at the local library—he does know a thing or two about books—and that’s where he meets her: Mary Kay DiMarco. Librarian. Joe won’t meddle, he will not obsess. He’ll win her the old-fashioned way… by providing a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand. Over time, they’ll both heal their wounds and begin their happily ever after in this sleepy town.
The trouble is… Mary Kay already has a life. She’s a mother. She’s a friend. She’s… busy.
True love can only triumph if both people are willing to make room for the real thing. Joe cleared his decks. He’s ready. And hopefully, with his encouragement and undying support, Mary Kay will do the right thing and make room for him.
Note: I listened to this on audio, so please excuse any name misspellings
The Twist:
Seamus was raping Nomi; Molanda and Mary Kay’s husband were having an affair. Nomi is a bit of a sociopath and pushed Mary Kay down the stairs, and now she’s in a coma.
Seamus kidnapped Joe, Oliver killed Seamus and released Joe so he could keep extorting him.
The Ending:
Joe moved to Florida and opened the bookstore he and Mary Kay had talked about. Shocker, he meets someone else right at the end of the book.
The Review:
The absolute best part of this book is the audio narrator. If you’re wondering, his name is Santino Fontana. He’s much more attractive than Penn Badgley, but Penn is way more fitting for Joe in that he does the creepy aspect SO well on screen. But Santino’s voice is magic, and he nails Joe’s creepiness in the audio. I’ve never flipped through a physical copy of this book, but I feel like I’d get annoyed by all the RIP’s and euphemisms for Mary Kay’s vagina. Listening to it, though, it works.
Now, this is not amazing high-brow literature by any means, but man is it entertaining. Nothing shocking happened in this book that you wouldn’t expect if you’ve read the rest of the series, but I’ve loved Joe from the beginning and was definitely interested to see where the story would go.
Similar to the previous two books, the epilogue leaves an opening for a possible fourth book. I’m hoping there won’t be another, because I don’t want things to get too overdone and ruin the series! You Love Me was on the verge of repetition as is, and while enjoyable, I think the series should stop where it is. That said, I would absolutely love to see what else is in Caroline Kepnes’s twisted mind, and would certainly read anything else she writes.
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