Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes

Published January 14th 2016

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…

I read You earlier this year and it blew. my. mind. I was so amazed by it and I ordered Hidden Bodies within an hour of finishing You. I started Hidden Bodies the same day I got it in the mail and it took me almost an entire month to finish it. After the first 70 pages, I had a hard time getting into this book. It just didn’t hit me like You did. I struggled to even finish Hidden Bodies. If it had been completely separate from You, I’m pretty sure I would have loved it. But it just didn’t have the same magic I was expecting after finishing You. Joe is still a creeper and super scary but I didn’t feel as scared of him as I was in You. He was just super annoying in this book. And every girl in this book loved him. They all wanted to be with him. You’re telling me that not a single girl got a weird vibe from Joe? Not one girl? There’s not a single girl in the world who hasn’t gotten a bad vibe from a seemingly normal man. We have a radar for these kinds of things. And not one girl steered clear of Joe. I don’t buy that for a second.
Overall, Hidden Bodies was okay. I didn’t love it near as much as You and I can’t say I would recommend Hidden Bodies. But if you loved You as much as I did and you feel like you need to see what Hidden Bodies is about, I don’t blame you. Just don’t go in with high expectations.