Hidden Bodies.

That weird, confusing moment of happiness when an evil, charming, psycho killer comes back into your life.

YOU is one of my favourite thriller books of all time, and like many, I have been hanging out to read Caroline Kepnes sequel Hidden Bodies. I was apprehensive because I have a knack of building things up in my mind which reality can never match, but with Hidden Bodies I wasn’t disappointed at all.

YOU Caroline Kepnes

Joe Goldberg is back. He tries ever so hard to put his murderous ways behind him when he meets new love Amy Adam, who is different, better and more beautiful than his last girlfriend Beck; but when Amy has the upper hand, old habits are hard to buried and he heads from New York to LA to settle a score.

Caroline Kepnes nails the prose here and I found myself getting anxious, frustrated and feeling the intense, dark moments and near misses rising up from the pages. Joe is still as charming, funny, cutting, smart, detached and conniving. He is a character you know you shouldn’t root for and side with, but I couldn’t help myself. I had to keep reminding myself of the heinous things Joe had done, which lead to some confusing feelings!

If you loved YOU, you will love Hidden Bodies. If I had to mention one downside, I would say that the book drags a teeny tiny bit in the last third. However, the ending brings the book solidly back up to par and I love the way the turn of events at the end of the book reflects American culture, wealth and greed, which will spark questions and discussion amongst Hidden Bodies bookworms!

Hidden Bodies

4.5 stars from me.  Buy now at Book Depository!

The Book Jacket

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 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: 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.

See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Hidden-Bodies/Caroline-Kepnes/9781476785622#sthash.phr457wO.dpuf

 

Thanks to Simon and Schuster for allowing me a copy of this book for honest review.