For You And Only You by Caroline Kepnes (2023)
I never imagined I'd end up writing a review like this about this author's 4rth novel featuring her sociopathic psycho stalker Joe Goldberg.
A one star review.
By now everyone's realized that Joe's murderous misadventures in Caroline Kepnes's books bear little or no resemblance to the ongoing Netflix series starring Penn Badgley.....the books and the series have parted company, going their own separate ways......
While I haven't yet caught up with the new season of "You", I eagerly dived into what I suppose you'd call the Literary Joe.....,and holy homicide, what a severe, crushing disappointment.
So sorry to report, "For You And Only You", was a mind-numbingly boring, tedious slog to get through. As I rolled my eyes trying to plow through hundreds upon hundreds of pages of Joe's endless, repetitive narration, I couldn't recall the previous three books ever coming across as so dull.
As usual Joe's trajectory follows the same path......a new girl becomes his designated Object Of Obsession and and woe to any individuals unlucky enough to stand as roadblocks to his wooing of her for his very own. And also as usual, you can safely bet Joe's pursuit of his new designated dreamgirl will go awry for him in multiple ways, forcing him to dig his way out of pitfalls that could finally render him jailed for life.
Somehow, Joe's invited into a Harvard Fellowship group comprised of of both aspiring and established writers. In weekly sessions, they present samples of their novels-in-progress for critical analysis..... with pages they sweat blood over critiqued by their fellow Fellows and most importantly, by their group leader Glenn Shoddy, a best selling literary lion.
And Joe finds himself now pursuing not one but two burning ambitions....publishing his novel, a fictionalized (of course) account of his previous lethal exploits ,and winning the heart and mind of Wonder, a Fellow-mate and Dunkin Donuts manager with her own novel-in-progress.
Caroline Kepnes takes some sharp witty fun in steeping the book deeply into the world of writers, struggling would-be writers, and avid readers. Witty asides referring to books and authors abound and even the Goodreads universe takes more than a few satirical hits.
But sadly, those humorous, knowing nuggets are stuck in the swampy quicksand of Joe Goldberg's interminable, pace-deadening internal monologues. And if you've read all his blathering in the three previous books, there's nothing new to read or learn here.....just more and more and more of it. To the point where you'd be tempted to skim through Joe's perpetual blah-blah-blah in the hopes of eventually reaching a plot development.
Along with Joe's expected reversals-of-fortune, Kepnes does throw in a few twists new to the series, but nothing that frees up the glacial movement the book maintains from start to finish. And what's also grown beyond tiresome......Kepnes over and over repeating her favorite jokey trope......the instant contrast between Joe's real thoughts and the exact opposite lies he speaks out loud to everyone he encounters
Bluntly, I couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief upon reaching the last paragraph. To borrow that popular phrase used so often by creative writing instructors.....maybe it's time for Caroline Kepnes to 'kill her darling'.........1 star (*).
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