Kepnes was born November 1976 on
Cape Cod,
Massachusetts. Her father was Jewish and Kepnes identifies as "
half-Jewish." During her formative years, she attended
Barnstable High School. After graduation, she commenced her studies at
Brown University. Later, she obtained an undergraduate degree in American Civilization and worked as an entertainment reporter for
Entertainment Weekly. In an interview with the
Boston Globe Kepnes said her first paid writing gig was an article on
boy bands, for
Tiger Beat magazine. Kepnes explained the darkness of
You, which deconstructs the romantic-comedy tropes highlighted in many films and shows by making the protagonist a violent stalker and serial killer, saying it was written in a dark period of her life, the year her father died of cancer, and in which she experienced several other personal challenges. Two years later, it was announced that the series was purchased by
Lifetime and put on fast-track development.
You premiered on September 9, 2018. On July 26, 2018, ahead of the series premiere, Lifetime announced that the series had been renewed for a second season. On December 3, 2018, it was confirmed that Lifetime had passed on a second season and that
Netflix had picked up the series. The second season was released exclusively on Netflix on December 26, 2019. On January 14, 2020,
You was renewed for a third season by Netflix. The third season was released on October 15, 2021. In October 2021, ahead of the third season premiere, the series was renewed for a fourth season. In 2016, Kepnes published a sequel to
You,
Hidden Bodies. For
Hidden Bodies, Kepnes had thoughts for a potential direction before its conception, stating “ Before I was even finished with the first book I knew what my second one was going to be. I wanted to trap Joe somewhere. " Her third novel,
Providence, published in 2018, has been described as romance-suspense-thriller, with supernatural aspects. The third novel and the sequel to
Hidden Bodies, titled
You Love Me was released on April 6, 2021. Kepnes published the fourth novel for the
You series, titled
For You and Only You: A Joe Goldberg Novel released on April 25, 2023. ==Bibliography==