Entertainment

Author Of 'You' Reveals A 3rd (And 4th) Book So We Can Follow Joe Goldberg Forever

by Julie Scagell
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Originally Published: 
Netflix

Caroline Kepnes says Joe Goldberg’s story isn’t over

Fans of the Netflix series You and the recently dropped season 2 of the show are in for even more good news — the author who wrote the books the show is based on — Caroline Kepnes — isn’t done with Joe’s story. (If you haven’t finished season 2, spoilers ahead.)

Fans of Kepnes’ books, “You” and “Hidden Bodies,” will be thrilled that the author is not only committing to writing a third book, but is already working on a fourth. According to Entertainment Weekly, the details are sparse but Kepnes did say, “Joe is really proud of himself because a lot of people in his position descend into darkness after having been through what he’s gone through in book two and then in the beginning of book three.”

But wait, there’s more.

Joe’s character “decides that he’s going to be a better person and he’s very proud of himself for that. Having dealt with Love’s family and dating someone with this close relationship with their twin brother, he’s very focused on the idea that he should be the one with the family. But yeah, the main thrust of it is that he’s very proud of his strength.”

As far as the books are concerned, “Hidden Bodies” ended when Joe Goldberg, who found himself recently engaged to a pregnant Love Quinn, was headed for jail. “That could never be the end because it’s such a moment of suspense,” Kepnes says of the book’s ending. “I feel so thrilled that I get to keep telling that story, because that wasn’t the end.”

Excited fans tuned into Netflix on December 26th when season 2 dropped (some even argued the first season was a sequel to Gossip Girls), following Joe’s story to LA after he left a trail of bodies in season 1. One body he thought was deceased but wasn’t was that of his first love, Candace, who promises to make his life a living hell wherever he goes. This season, though it didn’t follow Kepnes’ second book as much as the first, was equally as binge-worthy.

For Penn Badgley, who plays the wicked Joe, the season 2 ending was also a surprise. “When I found out where it was headed, I was kind of crestfallen because, just selfishly, I wanted there to be a more positive resolution,” Badgley said. “But just like Beck dying in the first season, I realized that this was the most accurate, the most reflective of reality, the most responsible to be like, ‘No, Joe doesn’t get to have that.’”

Kepnes is bound to keep us all on the edge of our seats, much like her current Twitter bio, which reads in part, “Yes, I’m writing a third Joe book. And a fourth. No, I’m not done yet.” This is the best news I’ve heard all year.

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