For You and Only You
A Joe Goldberg Novel
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
New York Times bestselling author Caroline Kepnes, whose acclaimed YOU series inspired the hit show on Netflix, follows “addictively charming antihero” (The Washington Post) Joe Goldberg to the hallowed halls of Harvard, where he leaves crimson in his wake.
“Twisted . . . delightfully creepy.”—Rolling Stone
A POPSUGAR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Joe Goldberg is ready for a change. Instead of selling books, he’s writing them. And he’s off to a good start. Glenn Shoddy, an acclaimed literary author, recognizes Joe’s genius and invites him to join a tight-knit writing fellowship at Harvard. Finally, Joe will be in a place where talent matters more than pedigree . . . where intellect is the great equalizer and anything is possible. Even happy endings. Or so he thinks, until he meets his already-published, already-distinguished peers, who all seem to be cut from the same elitist cloth.
Thankfully, Wonder Parish enters the picture. They have so much in common. No college degrees, no pretensions, no stories from prep school or grad school. Just a love for literature. If only Wonder could commit herself to the writing life, they could be those rare literary soulmates who never fall prey to their demons. Wonder has a tendency to love, to covet, but Joe is a believer in the rule of fiction: If you want to write a book, you have to kill your darlings.
With her trademark satirical, biting wit, Caroline Kepnes explores why vulnerable people bring out the worst in others as Joe sets out to make this small, exclusive world a fairer place. And if a little crimson runs in the streets of Cambridge . . . who can blame him? Love doesn’t conquer all. Often, it needs a little push.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Kepnes's puckish fourth Joe Goldberg novel (after 2021's You Love Me) finds the obsessive serial killer at Harvard after a fictionalization of all his "tragic, no-good love stories" earns him entry into author Glenn Shoddy's writing fellowship. Joe assumes the other "Shoddies" will be undiscovered autodidacts like himself; instead, most are accomplished elitists. The only other misfit is Wonder Parish, a working-class Bostonian who manages a Dunkin' Donuts and lives with her family. Joe knows he and Wonder are destined to become a literary power couple; he just has to remove all obstacles to their relationship, then convince an insecure Wonder and a derisive Glenn of Wonder's potential—and of Joe's brilliance. The Shoddies' fixation on a whodunit podcast linked to Joe's past vexes, but he knows how to handle complications: one murder at a time. Kepnes waggishly satirizes the publishing industry, and her outsized characters' egos and anxieties lay the foundations for delightfully deranged plot twists. The book feels overlong, but Joe's stream-of-consciousness narration engages throughout, rendering readers both confidante and accomplice. Kepnes reliably entertains.