Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes | Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Have you ever felt almost betrayed from a book? That's the only way I can describe just how I felt about Hidden Bodies, the highly anticipated sequel to You. Admittedly, I am a little late to the party when it comes to Kepnes' bestselling duology but when I read You earlier this year, I was blown away by the subtle creepiness in it. One of the things I loved most about You was the fact that it made me feel so unsettled and on the edge of my seat. Throughout the course of the book, I wanted to crawl out of my skin in the best way possible.

There was no doubt in my mind that I had to get my hands on Hidden Bodies. About a quarter of the way through this sequel, however, I felt my interest dwindle almost entirely. Kepnes' writing has grown stronger in terms of prose, however, there was a bit of a standstill when it came to the plotline of this book. I felt like Joe was arguably a different character--there was still that little kick of murderous madman in his blood but he also appeared to be a little more romanticized in this. And I hated that.

What made You so enjoyable was the lines blurring between Joe's violence and his almost serene sense of romance. In this novel, it felt like the writing was trying too hard to excuse his actions and that's just not something I can get into. It's gross. It's unwelcome.

I only just gathered my thoughts well enough to check out what readers are saying about the book and one reviewer in particular stood out to me and made sense. Giselle was pretty straight forward and practically read my mind in saying this, "This was just a hyped-up version of a man murdering people for the fun of it." 

For a great deal of time, I felt trapped in reading Hidden Bodies. It was just so much messier and underdeveloped compared to its predecessor and overall was one of the biggest letdowns in my mind. 

Truly, what I loved most about You was nowhere to be found. This was not my cup of tea.