Joe from You is probably the closest we get to Amy Dunne in millennial male form, and even though he’s a serial killer, he’s a fun character to have and share books with. It’s not a perfect closing to these books (I am not entirely clear we’re done here, but it ends in a most satisfying way), but I think we’ve covered quite a bit of territory skewering white liberal alternative space pretty well. We started with East Coast intelligentsia, moved to Hollywood, and now we’re dealing with the Pacific Northwest, alt/indie music, and crunchy hipster culture. And there’s plenty of kidnappings and murders. Joe has a bunch of money in his pocket, has bought a house on Bainbridge Island in Washington, and started volunteering at a local library where he’s fallen hard for Mary Kay.
The issue with this book is the issue with all the You books. There’s plenty of drama and excitement, but sometimes Joe feels a little too untouchable. Joe’s voice is the best part of these books, and there’s plenty here to enjoy, but sometimes the plotting puts too much in his path without the right pacing to balance things out. There is, however, at least one small reference to the tv show, and as always, a solid reading list contained here.
“…I get home and there’s a box on my front porch. My serotonin surges and Jeff Bezos is a rich man because he knows how much we all just love to get a present, even if it’s a present we bought for ourselves.”
“There’s nothing more annoying than good advice from someone who makes a lot of bad decisions.”
(Photo: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54847920-you-love-me)