Hidden Bodies: (a You Novel) (You, #2)

by Caroline Kepnes

THE RIVETING SEQUEL TO THE HIT BOOK YOU, NOW A NETFLIX SERIES

"Kepnes hits the mark, cuts deep, and twists the knife." --Entertainment Weekly

"Delicious and insane...The plot may be twisty and scintillating, but its Kepnes's wit and style that keep you coming back." --Lena Dunham

"Hypnotic and scary." --Stephen King

"Obsessed." --Jessica Knoll, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive

In the compulsively readable sequel to her widely acclaimed debut novel, You, Caroline Kepnes weaves a tale that Booklist calls "the love child of Holden Caulfield and Patrick Bateman."

Joe Goldberg is no stranger to hiding bodies. In the past ten years, this thirty-something has buried four of them, collateral damage in his quest for love. Now he's heading west to Los Angeles, the city of second chances, determined to put his past behind him.

In Hollywood, Joe blends in effortlessly with the other young upstarts. He eats guac, works in a bookstore, and flirts with a journalist neighbor. But while others seem fixated on their own reflections, Joe can't stop looking over his shoulder. The problem with hidden bodies is that they don't always stay that way. They re-emerge, like dark thoughts, multiplying and threatening to destroy what Joe wants most: true love. And when he finds it in a darkened room in Soho House, he's more desperate than ever to keep his secrets buried. He doesn't want to hurt his new girlfriend--he wants to be with her forever. But if she ever finds out what he's done, he may not have a choice...

• ISBN10: 1476785627
• ISBN13: 9781476785622
• Publish Date: 23 February 2016 (first published 14 January 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[kiracanread]

I didn't feel as though Hidden Bodies had a leg to stand on when compared to it's prequel, 'You'. This book was somewhat predictable, very slowly paced and hard for me to get hooked on - I felt as though I had to make quite the effort to get to the end of this book.

[Joni Reads]

I read the first book called You by Caroline Kepnes and was blown away! I had to read Hidden Bodies and I am so glad that I did.

Joe is the type of person that makes me scared of the world we live in. He is dark, psychotic and also totally normal to the naked eye. He could be the cashier at Walmart, the drive thru worker at McDonald's or the bank teller who cashes your pay check. It's frightening to think about, really.

After his search for love went horribly wrong in You, Joe thinks he has found the perfect girl until she takes off for Los Angeles. Joe puts his internet sleuth skills to work to discover where exactly she went and then does what any other "normal" person (sarcasm) and he follows her across the country.

In typical Joe style he finds success and he finds love. But he is constantly worrying if his past trangressions will catch up with him.

The thing that gets me is that he is obviously insane but you almost want him to get away with it. He seems so sincere in his actions and he truly believes he has done no wrong. It's frightening to think about but because this book is written from his perspective as the reader its difficult to not be secretly cheering for him as he continues to evade the police.. It's almost like reading an episode of the Investigation Discovery show I Almost Got Away With It.

Will Joe get away with his crimes? Will he find love? Or will his past catch up with him even across the country? Well I'm not going to tell you. You're just going to have to read Hidden Bodies to find out.

[Leah]

This was SUCH an intriguing read. Although, I'll say it now: I have no idea if Love and Forty were supposed to be caricatures, because who names their little girl Love, or their little boy Forty?!?!? It threw me for a loop. But everything else was amazing.

Joe Goldberg is such an amazing protagonist, and I can't believe what went down at the end of this book. It was insane, and now we have to wait for two OTHER books to be published before Kepnes is going back to Joe's story - the wait may kill me. There's just something about Joe, I don't condone his actions by any means, but I kind of understand his rationale, and I kinda get a bit excited when he's planning the next person who actually has to die, oh God, I'm secretly a serial killer, aren't I?!?!?

[Eve1972]

3.5 Stars

YOU was one of my absolute favorite books so far this year, probably all of last year also. So you can imagine my delight when I found out that there is a sequel. More Joe, who wouldn't be excited...



Unfortunately, this one didn't quite rise to the greatness of the first book. The badass, twisted Joe of YOU was missing for most of the book here. Oh, he would pop in now and then, and that's what kept me reading along, but for the most part what we get in this book is a watered down version. A lot of the time he came across as weak, and easily pushed around. The secondary characters in this one were also boring. I loathed LOVE, she was incredibly uninteresting, and I didn't believe for a second Joe would be that enamored by her. FORTY (who spoke like Leo Dicaprio in The Great Gatsby) was to much of a caricature with his constant use of "Old Sport"

I was also disappointed that the whole Amy situation was just pushed to the side. This felt way out of character for the Joe we got in the first book. Also, the name dropping and product mentions in this one was WAY OTT. It really took away some of my enjoyment in reading this because it became ridiculous with almost every other page having a celeb name drop or a product mention. In anycase, I did finish it, and I really want to read how Joe is going to get himself out of his current situation. So even though this wasn't as phenomenal as YOU I still think it is worth a read.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Five reasons to listen to Hidden Bodies

• Caroline Kepnes weaves a wicked, sometimes disturbing tale around her protagonist Joe Goldberg. Joe is a sociopath who falls for the perfect girl. That is until she disappears, and Joe finds himself leaving the East Coast and traveling to Los Angeles in search of Amy. As he settles in LA, he meets characters who drive him insane. In his pursuit of Amy, he meets Love Quinn, a social media goddess who may just be his perfect match.


• Kepnes weaves humor, murder and stalking into her story. Somehow, she manages to make the listener laugh aloud even as they shiver at Joe’s cold calculating ways. Joe’s thought process is eerily clever and diabolical, but Kepnes adds snark and an over the top narrative that allows you to get Joe.


• Just getting inside Joe’s head and seeing how his thought process works makes Hidden Bodies and the You series worth a listen. Seeing how he manipulates, justifies his actions and works around problems will send shivers down your spin. We also see just how volatile Joe is and sense that at any moment he could completely lose his shit. Joe is hilarious and twisted but being inside his head is quite the experience. His inner dialogue is some of the best I have ever read. I found myself rooting for him and getting angry at the characters who messed with his plans. I had to remind myself that he would kill me without an ounce of remorse. This odd cocktail of a character makes him memorable.


• Kepnes delivers an intense plot as Joe hunts for Amy, and ultimately meets Love Quinn. She introduces a cast of colorful and unique characters from LA hippies to a cop who longs to rub shoulders with the “Hollywood in crowd. “ The story was addictive, and while I felt it dragged a little in the middle, the last three-fourths of the book had me listening non-stop as Joe’s world faces peril.


• Listening to Hidden Bodies intensified the story. Santino Fontana brilliantly portrayed Joe making our trip inside Joe’s mind a total mind f@ck. Fontana also did a bang up job with the other characters from their voices to the intense situations.

Audio received from publisher. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer