Caroline Kepnes

Hidden Bodies : (a You Novel)

Still mourning the loss of his girlfriend, bookstore employee Joe Goldberg falls for a co-worker who mysteriously vanishes, prompting a cross-country move to Los Angeles to search for her.

A Novel

Hidden Bodies

kemi

Megan Murray 

Didn't love this one as much as the first, although with the last chapter or two playing out the way it did I'm of course interested in reading the third one. I find Joe to be entertaining, and I also enjoy Love, but felt that there was alot of unnecessary bits and bouncing around in this book.

*** Can't wait for the next series of YOU? Then don't miss this, the sequel, now a major Netflix series *** YOU was a word of mouth bestseller around the world -- and now Joe Goldberg is back! Joe Goldberg came to Los Angeles to start over, to forget about what happened in New York. But in a darkened room in Soho House everything suddenly changed. She is like no one he's ever met before. She doesn't know about his past and never can. The problem is, hidden bodies don't always stay that way. Praise for You: 'THRILLER OF THE YEAR' Daily Mail 'I am RIVETED, AGHAST, AROUSED you name it. The rare instance when prose and plot are equally delicious' Lena Dunham 'Hypnotic and scary' Stephen King ‘Brilliant thriller with attitude, guts and true insight into the nature of obsession' Sophie Hannah 'A fantastically creepy thriller…. The kind of book you put your life on hold for' Glamour 'Clever and chilling' Elle 'A brilliant tale … It's Gone Girl meets a sinister version of Girls' Marie Claire 'An addictive thriller!' Closer

The sequel to Netflix smash hit YOU

Gwyn Dill

I didn't like this book as much as the first. Bouncing between 3 & 4 stars. I could've read You & been happy. Hidden Bodies is an unnecessary addition to the story. I enjoyed maybe the first 1/2 of the book and then felt like it was getting... old. Maybe if it had ended differently? Anyway- You was a worthy read. Hidden Bodies... meh.

Allie Reynolds

I started this book series to be able to compare the show from the books. I did enjoy that it was very different from the tv show. I did find it quite boring though. I found myself skimming through some pages. I am hoping the third book is a bit better. Unfortunately, this one was a snooze fest. 

Bookworm

Anna Ureta

Wow.
 Just wow.
 I’m just going to come right out and say it, and what I’m about to say some of you might not agree with or think is a bit much, but I have to give an honest review.
 I’m not going to lie, I was pretty disappointed. After reading YOU and how much that book mind-blew me I thought Hidden Bodies would be a continuation of that. But I’m sad to say that this book was a huge disappointment for me.
 Perhaps I expected too much from it given its predecessor but, come on now.

Joe Goldberg has moved on with his life and is now in love with Amy Adam. She’s perfect, she gets him, they do everything together and he believes this is it for him. But Amy suddenly disappears, stealing from him and that’s something he can’t tolerate. Joe flies across the country to search for her in Los Angeles, the city of Hollywood and Actors. Here he can be anyone he needs and wants to be in order to find Amy (and kill her), and it is here he learns how real and how misleading people can be, and what it means to find love – real Love.

I had very high hopes when I found out there was going to be a sequel.
 Here is this perfectly normal looking man who lives a perfectly average life and you find out that he’s not normal, that he’s actually pretty messed up, and you actually find yourself agreeing with how messed up he is.
MIND-BLOW.

Hidden Bodies started out strong, started off with a sense that you were going to ease into the story and not jump right into the crazy. Then the crazy happened! Slowly but surely, and then somewhere….I don’t know what happened, it just died… I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I just felt that the book lost all its magic, all its crazy, all the real murderous intent and the moral conflict the reader should have or felt like in the first book.

Honestly, I felt bored, and just wanted the story to be over. I can’t explain, but there was just no conflict, no drama, Joe was just…in the background and it was just boring. He was taken advantage of, tossed aside, became a secondary character in the background, and I didn’t feel like there was anymore passion, like he would just sit there and take it – live this new lifestyle and forgo what he was supposed to be doing all along. JOE CHANGED and not for the better.

I will say that the book did manage to pick up towards the end, but even then everything felt super rushed for some reason – either because I just wanted to finish the book right away, or just the way the events moved seemed to feel really fast.
 The end was the best part for a number of different reasons, because that’s when you get to see old Joe, his thought process, and then you question whether or not he’s actually sane.

All in all, this book fell extremely short for me and I would have rather that You be a standalone.

2.5/5 Hearts of Love

*** Can't wait for the next series of YOU? Then don't miss this, the sequel, now a major Netflix series *** YOU was a word of mouth bestseller around the world -- and now Joe Goldberg is back! Joe Goldberg came to Los Angeles to start over, to forget about what happened in New York. But in a darkened room in Soho House everything suddenly changed. She is like no one he's ever met before. She doesn't know about his past and never can. The problem is, hidden bodies don't always stay that way. Praise for You: 'THRILLER OF THE YEAR' Daily Mail 'I am RIVETED, AGHAST, AROUSED you name it. The rare instance when prose and plot are equally delicious' Lena Dunham 'Hypnotic and scary' Stephen King 'Brilliant thriller with attitude, guts and true insight into the nature of obsession' Sophie Hannah 'A fantastically creepy thriller.... The kind of book you put your life on hold for' Glamour 'Clever and chilling' Elle 'A brilliant tale ... It's Gone Girl meets a sinister version of Girls' Marie Claire 'An addictive thriller!' Closer

4.5 starts
 Wow this book had A LOT going on. So many twists and turns! I loved it, so much more than the first one. Can’t wait to read the next one to see what Joe will do next!!

Shareca

Hidden Bodies 🧢
Caroline Kepnes
★★★ + 🌶🌶 + 🔪🔪🔪

You #1 ★★★★★
Hidden Bodies (You #2) ★★★

It may seem as if Joe Goldberg is a caricature of a serial killer, but the purpose for which he exists cannot be overlooked. With the second installment, Joe has become even more careless, but he has also become vengeful. In his quest for love, he becomes motivated to commit murder again. If you thought 'You' was an experience, 'Hidden' has so many bodies that I lost track of the number of people. With the stakes raised, the bonds between Beck, Amy, and Love are beautiful; it is obvious how each girl is connected. The way Joe thinks is absolutely comical, which makes him nothing short of hilarious. Being in his mind is an experience and it enhances the witty and clever plot.

Despite Joe becoming somewhat tedious by the end, it is superior to the second season. It is understandable that the arc has changed between the two versions, however, throughout 'Hidden' Joe is portrayed in a way that continually blurs the distinction between what is right and what is wrong. It is an important character component that I do not believe the series is able to accomplish effectively without the grumsome murders.

What makes 'Hidden' so remarkable is the murders themselves. All of Joe's murders are justified — “in some way.” He is motivated by the negative attributes of the people he murders in order to “justify their murder,” disregarding what good they are able to provide to society as a whole by being a piece of shit. Because they have offended him personally, they deserve to die, which is quite amazing, isn't it? This is truly astonishing from the standpoint of larger moral principles and it raises many questions regarding the validity of our beliefs.

While 'Hidden' did not reach the same level as 'You', it was a very good read and developed Joe's character in an excellent way 👏🏾 Joe exposes every character for who they truly are — it makes for an enjoyable reading experience ☺️

High Fidelity

2,5/5
So we keep up with Joe who goes to Hollywood only to find Love and more troubles.

+i have so many problems with this story but i cant go into it right now. +

Dee B. 

That ending gave me blue b*lls and so I deducted a halfstar. But suitably squicky. 4.5

Mariane Ferrantino 

Goodreads needs half stars!!! This was more like a 3.5. Definitely a page turner, and the author has skillfully crafted an anti-hero that you somehow simultaneously root for to succeed and root for to get caught. Can’t wait to see how Netflix adapts this into the second season.

Fraser Simons

While the ending of You is pretty perfect, if there was going to be a sequel, having Joe go to L.A in search of a girl only to make his way through a sea of fake people is a pretty perfect continuation of the themes established in book 1. 

Once again personalities and archetypes are stripped away by Joe’s creepily keen and disgustingly sexual gaze as he interacts with sad and legitimately terrible people. Rich people, poor people, authority figures and everything in between. 

It’s not as tight as You but it still has the same authorial voice that is unsettling, hilarious, unfiltered. I was pulled in all the same and wasn’t sad about it in the least.

Krystal 

3.5* Not as intense as the first book, but that plot twist was very unexpected. Excited to see where the story goes from here.

✨Tyler ✨

this was a slog. I really enjoyed "you" and blew thru it pretty quickly. this was not "you". the change in location was not compelling and Joe just felt like a murder machine with no real motivations besides being annoyed at everything. his relationship with love was also less than compelling.

Caitlyn Hagen

** spoiler alert **
           The first book I found was pretty similar to the first season. Some characters are changed or taken out but the base plot stays the same. 

Also shout out again to Santino Fontana. Really good performance. 

This book is way different in comparison to the second season. 

Candance is replaced by Amy (I mean they aren't the same character) . Love and Fourtys character are pretty different from age to occupation. Delilah is way different. Why Joe went to LA is different.

Basically the adaptation is loose so if that's gonna bug you, heads up. 

I did like the book but going in after watching the second season was jarring but I think it is good in its own right, maybe even a little better. It ends way different then the show as well and I am very excited for both the 3rd book and season which are coming out this year.

Etel Yamilette Conde Gonzalez

Took me longer than expected. Was a bit slow..

Megan Oiler 

Did not finish. I didn’t feel like it was worth renewing my loan from the library. I LOVED the first one. This one? I found myself daydreaming so much, couldn’t get into it. Just didn’t suck me in like the first one. Moving on!

sara chahine

my favorite of the books in the series! 
again, the narrator really does well at capturing joe. 

Bailey Sawka

I did not find nearly as much enjoyment while reading this book as I did when I read "You." (not that it's enjoyment as much as creeped out or thinking omg is that really what's happening right now). I found this book to be a lot weaker than the first in the series and it felt a little all over the place. The beginning plot seemed to completely disappear or be like a trap door opening and it all of a sudden comes back at the end. I did not like the ending, I thought it was a bad way to try to set up for a third book and just try to get the reader re-invested. Overall, not my favorite read in a long time. I hope the next book is better.

KADY BURNS

Didn't like it as much as the first book. It an interesting turn of events and I look forward to the third one, but it dragged so much in the middle with actions that really have no consequences.

chloe mcpherson

What. Was. The. Point. Of. This. 
After finishing this one I just wanted to throw it away and forget everything I just read. 

I read You and it was okay, I watched the series and I loved it. And I thought okay, why not read the sequel. What a disappointment, hopefully the second season in the series does not follow the lead of Hidden Bodies. 

I had to switch to the audiobook because I was struggling to get through the book. 
Waste of my time, that is all.

Kath Lau

" . . . the real horror of my life is not that I've killed some terrible people. The real horror is that the people I've loved didn't love me back."

Our hopeless romantic pyscho is back!

Joe is now with his new girlfriend Amy and he is more than happy. They are perfect together and Joe thinks that he had finally found the right girl for him until Amy did a very terrible thing. Knowing Joe (yes I feel like I personally know him which is weird), he will not let this pass. If you've read the first book, YOU, then you should know by now that you don't want to mess with Joe!

YOU was in my Top Ten Favorite Reads in 2016 and Joe became one of my favorite characters. He's hilarious and charming that you can't help not liking him. I read the book and listen to the audiobook as well and it was a great experience. My expectations for Hidden Bodies was so high (can you blame me?) eventhough I was quite hesitant at first because majority of my friends weren't pleased about it but I wanted to see (or hear) it for myself. I chose to listen to the audiobook version because I really enjoyed Santino Fontana's narration in YOU. It took me a month to finish Hidden Bodies. A month and 3 days to be exact. (I finished YOU in 4 days.) Sadly, I ended up not loving this book as much as I loved YOU.

The beginning got me so hooked but I got bored after Joe moves to LA. It is still beautifully written (no doubt about that) but in my opinion, it wasn't thrilling like how I was expecting it to be. The surprise factor was somehow not there. Probably because Joe became too predictable (and annoying at times) or maybe there were just too many unnecessary things (and characters too) happening in the story that I didn't know what's going on anymore. I enjoyed some parts of the story but some are quite dull and unbelievable. I also didn't buy Joe's new LOVE interest in this book. Their romance felt force and boring. I didn't care if they'll end up together or not.

The story picked up towards the end which made my heart skip a beat and with that ending, I think I will most likely read (without expecting too much) the third book when it comes out. I want to find out what will happen to Joe.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Hidden Bodies and Joe is still my favorite character. If you love YOU then I think you will still enjoy Hidden Bodies but just don't expect too much.

Ruth Parker 

Save yourself some time and don’t bother with this one. Watch the TV show instead. You is much better as well!

Tanya Sutton

"The real horror of my life is not that I've killed some horrible people. The real horror is that the people I've loved didn't love me back." 
 
New location, same crazy. It's still hard to dislike Joe (despite his being a murderous psychopath) because he really does have some great insights on life and relationships. Sure, he murders people, but the people he murders are insufferable assholes. He even shows tremendous self restraint in not murdering some people despite there being compelling evidence that they might deserve it. His observations about LA life were spot-on, too. Joe unfortunately doesn't adjust well to LA – people are just too loud, to open, and too casual for Joe's liking. They start to get on his nerves and, like Joe says, "It's the little things that make you want to kill someone." Kepnes did a brilliant job (again) in making me nervous for Joe – not because I wanted to stop him from committing these heinous crimes, but rather because I was worried he'd get caught. 
 
I also appreciated how unpredictable the plot was, despite being a sequel. Every new death (or non-death) was a surprise and the strange circumstances Joe continually found himself in added an element of unpredictability for the reader. The plot dragged a bit in the middle but the development of Joe as a character, with a good side that complimented his bad side, made up for the uneven pacing. Another surprise was the cliff-hanger ending Kepnes chose to close this installment with. You could have ended where it did and been a brilliant stand-alone novel. Hidden Bodies ends in such a way that I'm now eagerly anticipating the next installment. Joe had just begun what could be the start of a redemption arc so it will be interesting to see how that gets carried through to the next novel. 
 
Overall this book wasn't quite as good as the first book but I think part of that is because Joe's personality and behavior aren't new to the reader anymore, which was part of the charm of You. On the bright side, the new environment, new characters, new revenge angle, and new love interest all worked to create a reading experience that managed to be familiar and fresh all at the same time. I can't wait for the next book!

Praise for Caroline Kepnes and You: “Hypnotic and scary.” —Stephen King “I am RIVETED, AGHAST, AROUSED, you name it. The rare instance when prose and plot are equally delicious.” —Lena Dunham In the compulsively readable follow-up to her widely acclaimed debut novel, You, Caroline Kepnes weaves a tale that Booklist calls “the love child of Holden Caulfield and Patrick Bateman.” Hidden Bodies marks the return of a voice that Stephen King described as original and hypnotic, and through the divisive and charmingly sociopathic character of Joe Goldberg, Kepnes satirizes and dissects our culture, blending suspense with scathing wit. 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 neighbour. 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: truelove. 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...

Ipshita Kanungo

3.9⭐ So...it's definitely good. The start will get you, and some characters would get on your nerves, but Joe is always surrounded with that kinda people, isn't he? Anyway, it's definitely worth your time. Joe is trying to move on, with a fine girl this time, but things again take a turn when.....well that's for you to find. The storyline tho this time, it was kind of messy tbh, atleast I felt that. Something seemed off and I can't put my finger on that. The only way it gets 4 stars out of me was one of the characters I liked. But if you are looking for the thrill you felt with the first one, you need to find another book bcoz Caroline couldn't bring that to this and the next one. But if we put the comparison down, it's a fine read and some great twists await you. 

Hidden Bodies : (a You Novel)

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