Narrator: Santino Fontana
Length: 13 hrs, 3 mins
Series: You, #2
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Release Date: February 23, 2016
Source: Review copy from the publisher
Rating: ★★★★

Joe Goldberg is no stranger to hiding bodies. In the past 10 years, this 30-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 reemerge 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…

Joe Goldberg is back! He’s my favorite psychopath, the one I feel guilty about loving. HIDDEN BODIES picks up where the first book, YOU, left off. Joe is leaving New York behind and heading to Hollywood, the land of self-absorbed people, all of them “sick with aspirations.” Sure, Joe’s a creepy stalker murderer, but he can’t help it. Society as a whole is just so dang annoying. He’s really just looking for love. Joe’s astute observations and sarcastic wit had me snickering throughout this book.

A big reason why I love the You series so much is the brilliant audiobook narration by Santino Fontana. His performance as Joe is amazing, as well as the voices he creates for the secondary characters. If you’re planning on reading this series, I highly recommend going with the audiobooks.

I enjoyed HIDDEN BODIES as much as YOU, though I do think the first book was creepier and more suspenseful. The second time around, Joe seemed more charming and relatable, which I suppose would make someone like him more dangerous! I’ve got my fingers crossed for a 3rd book.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Format: Audio; 11 hrs, 6 mins
Narrator: Santino Fontana
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Released: September 30, 2014
Source: Review copy from the publisher
Rating: ★★★★

How far would you go for the perfect love? A young man’s dark obsession with an enigmatic, gorgeous writer leads to murderous consequences in this erotic psychological thriller.

When aspiring writer and recent Brown graduate Guinevere Beck strides into the bookstore where Joe works, he’s instantly smitten. Beck is everything Joe has ever wanted: she’s gorgeous, tough, razor-smart, and sexy beyond his wildest dreams. Joe needs to have her, and he’ll stop at nothing to do so.

As he begins to insinuate himself into her life—her friendships, her email, her phone— she can’t resist her feelings for a guy who seems custom-made for her. So when her boyfriend, Benji, mysteriously disappears, Beck and Joe fall into a tumultuous affair. But there’s more to Beck than her oh-so-perfect façade, and their mutual obsession quickly spirals into a whirlwind of deadly consequences…

Dark, masterful, and timely, debut novelist Caroline Kepnes’s You is a perversely romantic thriller that’s more dangerously clever than any you’ve heard before. A chilling account of unrelenting passion, this tale of love, sex, and death will stay with you long after the story ends…

YOU wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but in a perverse way, I did enjoy it. The narrator is a very disturbed character named Joe, and he’s telling his deranged “love” story to you, you as in Beck, the young woman he becomes obsessed with. OMG, the characters in this book! Each one seemed more egotistical, narcissistic, and pretentious than the last, but none could top Joe.

So, Joe sees Beck as the be-all, end-all of women. I have no idea why, because she’s about as deep as a puddle, but that’s beside the point. A precarious relationship forms between them, but of course, Beck is not the perfect girlfriend he’s created in his mind. She disappoints him over and over, and things get ugly.

I thought YOU was a very well written novel, suspenseful, and heavy on the pop culture references, though it lacked the big “gotcha” twist that I was anticipating at the end. A big reason why I enjoyed this book so much was the audio performance by Santino Fontana. His narration was brilliant, one of my all-time favorites on audiobook. He brought Joe and his sociopathic behavior to life, which is actually a terrifying thought!

After reading YOU, I’ll never think of Hannah and Her Sisters, Ikea, or Dan Brown the same way again.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.