LibraryNinja Book Reviews

published 6/9/26

Caroline Kepnes keeps us on our toes, but this time it’s the prequel, letting us know how Joe Goldberg grew up.

Trust me, this riveting first-person point of view is not to be missed. You’re left with a stream of consciousness – the terrible childhood he suffered, how he stayed alive on the mean streets of New York, and how he eventually became a killer. Joe starts out as an ordinary 17-year-old boy, working in a bookshop, looking for love and for his REAL life to start. He thinks he sees love all the time and then one day, he spot’s a description of himself in the “Missed Connections” of the local paper.

Vail Gunderson is a PA on SATC and is 24- something that Joe make sure to keep his age under wraps. Their meetings, dates and lives thereafter are changed forever.

Kepnes’s uncanny observations of the most mundane yet essential details are extraordinary. The way she writes his narrative is eerily similar to any coming-of-age story, other than its a serial killer.

I’d like to thank Harper publishing for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
#carolineKepnes #YouFirst #libraryninja📚