You First
- Judith D Collins
- May 31
- 6 min read
Updated: May 31
A Joe Goldberg Prequel
Book #5 YOU
By: Caroline Kepnes
Narrator: Santino Fontana
ISBN: 9780399591464
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 06/09/2026
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
“The most distinctive voice in thrillers is back.”—Lucy Foley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List and The Midnight Feast
How did Joe Goldberg become Joe Goldberg? What led to his first love . . . first obsession . . . first kill? Find out in the highly anticipated prequel to New York Times bestselling author Caroline Kepnes’s hit You series, which inspired the blockbuster Netflix show.
Joe Goldberg is ready for his life to start. He’s seventeen years old, working in Mr. Mooney’s bookshop, falling in love with every girl on the subway all while wondering who will be the one. He knows what he needs: A woman who will force him to get his GED, go to night school, and make something of himself. But who would ever fall in love with him?
Then he spots it: MISSED CONNECTION, NYC Bookstore Babe.
Someone is looking for Joe. And that someone is Vail Gunderson, a production assistant with a passion for rom-coms. The only catch: she’s twenty-four, which means that Joe has no choice but to lie about his age…and, naturally, nearly everything else in his life. Joe thinks he’s found true love, but when Vail needs more convincing that Joe is her happily ever after, he’s determined to convince her…no matter what it takes…
With her incisive and darkly comedic prose, Caroline Kepnes captures Joe poised on the edge of manhood, entering the vicious, dog-eat-dog New York dating scene for the very first time, and buffeted by forces that will determine what kind of man he will become—and how he will write his own twisted love story.
My Reiew
A dark, wickedly funny, and addictive antihero origin story.
"A nostalgic and unsettling Y2K prequel that provides a brilliant, funhouse-mirror portrait of literature's most infamous stalker before he became a monster."
How Joe Goldberg Became Joe Goldberg.
In YOU FIRST: A JOE GOLDBERG PREQUEL, New York Times bestselling author Caroline Kepnes departs from Joe’s usual cross-country adult rampages to deliver a deeply atmospheric, early-2000s psychological thriller.
The story hinges on a naive, seventeen-year-old Joe Goldberg who clumsily navigates his very first obsessive relationship in the dog-eat-dog New York dating scene. Teen anxiety vs. the dark birth of a classic literary psychopath.
Before the Cage, There Was a Missed Connection.
Elevator Pitch
Before the glass cage, the bodies, and Guinevere Beck, a lonely seventeen-year-old bookstore clerk was searching for "The One" on the subways of New York. When Joe spots a "Missed Connection" ad from an older woman obsessed with rom-coms, he weaves a massive web of lies about his age and life to force a real-life happily ever after—accidentally taking his very first step down a lethal path of total obsession.
Setting
The gritty, pre-smartphone era of Y2K New York City. The setting shifts between the dusty, suffocating aisles of Mr. Mooney’s bookshop, crowded subway cars, and the nostalgic pop-culture landscape of early-2000s Manhattan.
Vibe
Darkly comedic, nostalgic, and deeply unsettling. It perfectly blends the awkward, hormone-fueled desperation of adolescent anxiety with the chilling, slow-burn origin of an unhinged mind
Genre
Psychological Thriller / Suspense / Antihero Origin Story.
Watching an optimistic, lonely teenager systematically harden into a cynical societal predator.
Themes
~The Blueprint of Obsession
~Pop Culture as Reality
~The Power of the Lie
The Loss of Naivety
JOE & VAIL: THE FIRST MISSED CONNECTION
Turning an innocent romantic trope into a blueprint for a lifelong stalker.
Standout Characters
~Joe Goldberg:
Naive, optimistic, yet deeply fractured; a 17-year-old trying to fast-track manhood through a toxic cocktail of lies.
~Vail Gunderson:
A 24-year-old production assistant obsessed with classic cinema and rom-com templates, completely unaware of the unstable teenager she has reeled in.
~Mr. Mooney:
The deeply creepy, gross, and overbearing bookstore owner whose harsh guidance actively molds Joe’s darker survival instincts.
Author Writing Standout
Kepnes’s distinctive voice and sharp, biting internal narration shine brighter than ever. She masterfully captures the specific flavor of early-2000s New York—right down to Fruit Stripe gum and Sex and the City analysis—while avoiding standard prequel traps, making Joe’s mental degradation feel terrifyingly grounded and realistic.
Takeaway
The most terrifying monsters do not emerge fully formed; they are carefully built out of adolescent loneliness, societal rejection, and a desperate desire to be seen.
Title Significance
You First acts as an ironic, double-sided nod to the deadly cycle of Joe's life. It highlights his initial, clumsy attempt to put a woman's desires before his own, while signaling the terrifying moment he officially chooses to put his own dark obsessions ahead of everyone else's survival.
Metaphor
The "Missed Connection" newspaper ad serves as the central metaphor of the novel. It represents the illusion of fate—a tiny, manufactured spark of hope that Joe uses to justify a vast, multi-layered trap of his own creation.
Why You Should Read
Read this if you are a fan of dark, satirical psychological suspense like American Psycho meets You've Got Mail, or if you want an essential piece of Goldberg lore that completely recontextualizes the entire You series.
My Thoughts
The novel succeeds beautifully in executing a nostalgic blast from the past while maintaining an incredibly tense dual dynamic between Joe's internal naivety and his blooming dark side. Joe is an unforgettable, deeply repulsive lead; his biting wit, internal rationalizations, and sheer stubbornness make his internal dialogue incredibly gripping. The pacing delivers a visceral, grounded look at his early psychological fractures, ensuring longtime fans will be hooked from the very first page.
Verdict: 5 /5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"A dark, masterfully written Y2K antihero origin story that pairs brilliant pop-culture satire with a genuinely chilling psychological portrait."
Recs
For more standout psychological suspense by the author, Caroline Kepnes, I highly recommend:
~You, the legendary, explosive first book that started it all.
~For You and Only You, the masterful fourth installment exploring Joe's dark literary ambitions.
~The Collector by John Fowles (for a classic, slow-burn psychological masterpiece focusing on isolation and dangerous obsession)
Special thanks to Random House and NetGalley for sharing an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Creator & Host of #AuthorElevatorSeries
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: June 9 2026
June 2026 Must-Read Books
Praise
“The most distinctive voice in thrillers is back with a master class in tone and tension. A deliciously dark treat—Caroline Kepnes is in a league of her own.”
—Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Feast
“Joe Goldberg at his most raw and vulnerable before love curdled into violence . . . Caroline Kepnes delivers a dark, disturbing, and utterly compelling origin story that feels chillingly authentic, with writing so sharp and character work so precise it makes every turn feel inevitable.”
—Liv Constantine, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish
“A Y2K setting, adolescent anxiety, laugh-out-loud details, and a drum-tight, propulsive plot: This book is everything you ever wanted in a You novel and then some. Buckle up, because Teen Joe’s mind is a dark, dark place—and I loved every second of my visit.”
—Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Ferry Out
“At last, we have the answers to who Joe is. . . . Caroline Kepnes has created an unnerving, astounding psychological portrait, a book you can’t close until the last page is turned. Deep, dark, twisted and beautifully written.”
—Catriona Ward, USA Today bestselling author of Nowhere Burning
“American Psycho meets You’ve Got Mail in this scathing, brilliantly written antihero origin story that asks, When it comes to love, are we all monsters?”
—Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors
“Unsettling, intimate, and oddly hot, darkly seductive and impossible to put down, You First creeps under your skin.”
—Lukas Gage, author of I Wrote This for Attention
About the Author
Caroline Kepnes is the New York Times bestselling author of You, Hidden Bodies, Providence and You Love Me. Her work has been translated into a multitude of languages and inspired a television series adaptation of You, currently on Netflix. Kepnes graduated from Brown University and then worked as a pop culture journalist for Entertainment Weekly and a TV writer for 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She grew up in Cape Cod, and now lives in Los Angeles. WEBSITE
