For You and Only You

Caroline Kepnes just keeps it coming with her fourth entry into the Joe Goldberg series. This book is For You and Only You. For those not in the know, the Joe Goldberg series is now a binge-watching worthy Netflix series.

Joe Goldberg has been through a lot. He’s ready for a change, so he’s decided to switch from selling books to writing them. He starts off well by gaining a writing fellowship at Harvard taught by Glenn Shoddy. Shoddy is an acclaimed literary author, and he is impressed with Joe’s writing. Joe thinks he has finally earned his spot in a place where pedigree doesn’t matter as much as talent.

However, when he meets his fellow writers, he sees problems already. One is an author of successful thrillers. One is an Obie-winning playwright. Another one has all kinds of connections in the literary world. One hasn’t written anything much, but she gained her spot possibly through nepotism as her mother is a famous author.

Enter Wonder Parrish. Wonder is late to class. She’s wearing a t-shirt with the words “They hate us ‘cause they ain’t us.” She’s drinking a Coolatta from Dunkin’. She just doesn’t seem to fit in. When Shoddy mentions that neither Joe or Wonder have gone to college, one of the fellows condescendingly calls them autodidacts.

Joe has just been introduced to Wonder, but he is already smitten. He thinks she is a true writer even though he hasn’t read a thing that she has written. However, Wonder is nothing like what Joe fantasizes. He envisions her as solitary, yet Wonder lives in a duplex with her Vietnam vet father, her sister, and her niece. Wonder is her father’s main caretaker.

Joe begins talking to Wonder in his mind, making her the “you” of this book. As he fantasizes and talks to her, it quickly become obvious that Joe is not a reliable narrator. Joe always makes himself out to be the good guy, but he is so not that person. He spies on Wonder and begins to stalk her.

To make things worse, Shoddy is not at all the mentor he envisioned. Shoddy talks more about biking than about writing. He comes to class in bike shorts and brags about a screenplay that the Coen brothers are basing on his book. Joe’s not so struggling fellow writers are no help at all. They all seem to be backstabbers, looking for their own moment in the sun.

Joe’s past creeps in to haunt him when a new topic of discussion is a true-crime podcast called The Body on Bainbridge. Bainbridge would be the area that Joe used to live in. The questions start. To liven things up a bit, Shoddy turns up dead.

This book is full of twists. Joe is up to his usual antics but maybe someone will be twisting Joe around this time around. Read to find out!