I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from Netgalley and Random House. This has not impacted my rating and this review is voluntary.
- Genre: Thriller, Suspense
- Published by: Random House
- Publish date: April 25, 2023
- Number of pages: pages
- Author’s website: https://www.carolinekepnes.com/
- Support local! Buy the book on BookShop!
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.
Rating: 3/5
This was my least favorite of the Joe Goldberg book so far but I’m so invested that I will read them for as long as they come out. We reconnect with Joe in Boston attending a Harvard workshop with esteemed author Glenn Shoddy. As someone who recently moved from Boston and finds herself missing the book community — there are so many bookstores and coffeeshops and libraries — it was fun to here’s Joe take on the intellectual and historical city including the hard-to-swallow but well-intention liberals.
But man oh man, did Caroline Kepnes come for us Goodreads, bookstagram, and booktok girlies!! Joe flat-out uses Goodreads to stalk his next “You”. This book is amusing at least.
At most, it dragged on and I think the author was trying to find a way to flip the plot of the first three books but instead of it being creative, it just read as unorganized. I’m thinking hope is not lost and this can be written off as Joe being off his game for some reason. I don’t know, we shall see if there’s another one! I know I’ll be reading it if there is.
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to know!
Musings by Michelle 