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sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The first was the dual storyline. I felt as soon as I was getting sucked into the murder mystery story, the letters would come in and bring me out of it, reminding me that the murder mystery story wasn't real in the context of the story. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed both storylines but they felt like two different stories to me. I also would've liked to see the two stories connect a bit more at the end.
The ending also confused me a bit.
The murder mystery storyline was interesting, though there were only four main characters with one being the narrator so that left only a few options for who did it. The big reveal didn't absolutely shock me but I hadn't quite pieced it all together, so it was not a horrible conclusion to that storyline. But, like I said before, I wasn't as invested in this part as I could've been knowing that it wasn't a real timeline of events in the context of the story.
I enjoyed the characters, despite them being not the most developed, and I liked getting to know Cain's backstory and how it wove into Hannah's story.
I felt like this book had good moments that sucked you in, but ultimately the two different parts of the story didn't quite work together as well as they could've for me. In saying this, I still enjoyed my time reading this and there was some good exploration into the extent to which real world issues can and should be woven into stories.
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, and Stalking
displacedcactus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Moderate: Violence and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault and Child abuse
racl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Freddie, the main character, feels like a blank slate to me in a lot of ways - what we know about her is circumstantial, and her actions are fairly often contrary to her own perception of self.
The fiction within fiction gimmick was enjoyable - for me it helped separate the main mystery into more manageable chunks while adding another layer on top.
I won't read it again, but I had a good enough time with it.
Minor: Stalking, Blood, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
heather_harrison's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The Woman in the Library is a murder mystery, which begins in the Boston library with a group of young(ish) adults with the transfixing scream of a mystery woman. Our protagonist, Freddie (Winifred), toys with the idea of using the other three at her table as inspiration for her writing, and a friendship is quickly struck up within the group.
Each chapter is ended with email correspondence to Hannah, the writer of the above tale, from her 'beta reader' Leo. As the story progresses, his input becomes more forceful and dark, and alludes to something very chilling.
White this did first through me a bit and was a little confusing, once I acclimatized I enjoyed the meta aspect of the story, and felt like it really lifted it from the usual murder mystery template.
I also enjoyed the corrections of her Australian writing colloquialism from Leo, and the 'discussion' around whether or not to acknowledge the COVID-19 pandemic. Otherwise his correspondence was unsettling which certainly reflects well on Gentill's writing skills.
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Stalking, Racism, and Domestic abuse
paronomaniac's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Vomit, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Sexual assault
amberinpieces's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Death, Cursing, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Body horror, Classism, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Gun violence
acosyreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
Minor: Stalking
readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Racism, and Alcoholism
ireadinbed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I think the story within a story and how symbiotic they were really gives it an extra edge.
Unfortunately the letter story kind of ended up not feeling resolved and obviously that bled into the main story at the end. Just knicked the ending off enough to leave me feeling disappointed. But still a really good read.
Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, and Gun violence
Minor: Racism
vmontori's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
In regards to Freddie’s side of things, I didn’t find any of the characters really likable, which made it hard to become invested in any of them. I hate when a group meets and is established as close, with the excuse that was just meant to be. Freddie herself was kind of boring and her romance was empty and shadowed her common sense. Cain’s personality was so blank in spite of his crazy past. Marigold was a stalker and never really got criticized for it. Whit, while being so integral to the plot, was also absent for a majority of the book.
Overall, the best part of the book was how fast it was to read.
Moderate: Violence and Stalking
Minor: Addiction and Sexual assault