REVIEW: Hidden Bodies (#2) - Caroline Kepnes

Title: Hidden Bodies (#2)
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Series: You
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: E-Book
Pages: 449 Pages
Rating: ⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

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…

Thoughts

SPOILERS AHEAD

I grabbed this as I wanted to know Joe's fate, to see if he had really got away with the events of You.

I really did want to enjoy this book, but it just seemed to drag on quite a bit in places. Some places of this book I was gripped, and then it just went so slow when Joe seemed to be having his inner monologue.

I found the introduction of Love and Fifty to somewhat shake the story up, but these characters didn't really scream out to me. Love seemed to be a bit of a flake, and Fifty was just drunk or high all of the time.

I will admit that the ending did and didn't surprise me, I wasn't surprised when  Joe was caught as he did need to be caught. What did surprise me was that when Love found out about what Joe had done in New York, she was helping him to cover his tracks. It really was a perfect relationship for Joe, Love has the same moral compass as he has.

Overall, I think this book was OK in places but it would have been better leaving it at just the one book. It has also been announced that Caroline Kepnes is writing two more books about Joe. I will admit that I probably will pick them up to see what happens after the events of Hidden Bodies.