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gabbyeleene's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Stalking and Pregnancy
Minor: Vomit
sharlapeggy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A good book. I enjoyed it, didn’t see the twist coming and I wanted to find out more. I liked the dual perspectives in this book too. That helps keep me interested! But I doubt I’d read it again and it’s one of her more forgettable ones compared to the others I’ve LOVED and rated 5 stars (ward D, the teacher, the housemaid and housemaids secret).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Confinement, Blood, Child death, Torture, Gore, Animal death, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical content, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Death, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Murder
vj_thompson's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
4.5
4.5/4.75. I see why everyone likes this book out of all the books Freda McFadden has written. The ending was flippin nuts. There was a lull in the middle once the pieces fell into place, I was sucked into the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit
tori_irl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Torture, Death of parent, and Violence
courtnetto's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
5.0
Oh my goodness.
I thought I had worked out everything in this book, but then by the end I had not gotten anything correct and could not believe that I was so wrong about everything and everyone!
Tricia and Ethan just seem like normal, everyday people. A husband and wife who have found their new dream home, only Tricia becomes weirded out by noises she hears and things she sees while they are at this house. She tells Ethan and he doesn’t seem to believe her - only soon after she tells him she’s pregnant and he then blames everything she’s said on pregnancy paranoia. We also meet Luke Strauss and Adrienne Hale. Adrienne has been missing for 3 years, and it was believed Luke was behind her murder this whole time. The house that Tricia and Ethan have fallen in love with, is no other than Dr. Hale’s… but everything in the house remains, no furniture etc was removed from the home which is what creeps Tricia out, and keeps saying things like “how could I wear a dead woman’s clothes?” or “why would I live in a dead woman’s house?” but there was never any proof that Adrienne was even dead, did Tricia know something about Adrienne’s disappearance?
Is Ethan as normal as he seems or is he hiding something?
I definitely recommend reading this book, it really has you on the edge of your seat. I just couldn’t put it down, I just had to keep reading to see what was going to happen next. I can safely say, this book really surprised me with all the twists and turns.
I thought I had worked out everything in this book, but then by the end I had not gotten anything correct and could not believe that I was so wrong about everything and everyone!
Tricia and Ethan just seem like normal, everyday people. A husband and wife who have found their new dream home, only Tricia becomes weirded out by noises she hears and things she sees while they are at this house. She tells Ethan and he doesn’t seem to believe her - only soon after she tells him she’s pregnant and he then blames everything she’s said on pregnancy paranoia. We also meet Luke Strauss and Adrienne Hale. Adrienne has been missing for 3 years, and it was believed Luke was behind her murder this whole time. The house that Tricia and Ethan have fallen in love with, is no other than Dr. Hale’s… but everything in the house remains, no furniture etc was removed from the home which is what creeps Tricia out, and keeps saying things like “how could I wear a dead woman’s clothes?” or “why would I live in a dead woman’s house?” but there was never any proof that Adrienne was even dead, did Tricia know something about Adrienne’s disappearance?
Is Ethan as normal as he seems or is he hiding something?
I definitely recommend reading this book, it really has you on the edge of your seat. I just couldn’t put it down, I just had to keep reading to see what was going to happen next. I can safely say, this book really surprised me with all the twists and turns.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Vomit, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Stalking, Infidelity, and Blood
Minor: Car accident
xxthefoolonthehillxx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was a fun, easy read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Violence
pokemon_baker's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was slow at first but it was totally worth the read the ending was amazing. I totally recommend it to anyone who likes a good chilling mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Torture
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Death of parent
bringmybooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Review: Um. WHAT. That was ... wild? and ... weird? and ... addictive? but ... wow? Filled with tons of tension + lots of twists, only about half of which I'd guessed. This was my first Freida McFadden, and I know she's a bit of a divisive author but I'm not entirely sure why (maybe because they're really formulaic?). I don't necessarily know if I'd pick up another one, but there's a fair amount on Kindle Unlimited, and I imagine if I found myself in a bit of a book slump I wouldn't be adverse to picking one of these up hoping I couldn't put it down!
Overall Rating: ★★★★ / 4.38
Rating each element of the book out of 5★
Characters ★★★★
Atmosphere ★★★★
Writing ★★★
Plot ★★★★
Intrigue ★★★★★
Logic ★★★★
Enjoyment ★★★
Pacing ★★★★★
Dialogue ★★★
★ did not like / ★★ it was okay / ★★★ liked it / ★★★★ really liked it / ★★★★★ loved it
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Infidelity, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Gore, Murder, Confinement, Stalking, Death of parent, and Vomit
brebeingwell's review against another edition
dark
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
The entire first half of the book is infuriating because one, the husband is a dick. Two, the main character is not only lying to herself but to the reader as well. She appears to be gaslighting herself (with the help of her husband) about someone being or not being in the house. She's also weirdly keeping a pregnancy from her husband. If she thinks he will be mad about the pregnancy- why would she fucking marry someone who she is afraid to tell basic life things like that to?
The 70% mark is where things truly got stupid. Not only is everyone apparently capable and willing to commit murder in this book, aside from one person, but they all get away with it?
The plot planning was poor, the writing was juvenile, and overall this was just an awful book.
Idk, I will probably never read another Frieda McFadden book again in my life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual harassment
caroras's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
So at the beginning of this book, I thought that I had already figured out the plot twist. I was really disappointed and thought “what a cheap fucking twist”, but I’m glad I kept on reading to discover the “real” twist.
I don’t think I could’ve ever seen the actual plot twist coming. It was a clever twist, and could have worked… It had big potential.
Unfortunately Freida did not make this work well.
The more I think about this book and the plot, the more I dislike it. At first when I finished the book I thought it was a 4.5⭐️ book.
But as my day went on, and I was thinking about it, more and more didn’t make any sense.
So at this point I’m giving it 2.75⭐️.
To be fair, I couldn’t really put this book down, but I was disappointed at the end.
There were quite a bit of inconsistencies, which I won’t mention due to spoilers.
90% of the inner dialogue makes the characters seem like they’re stupid.
I think Freida came up with the twist before she wrote the first half of the book, and just really tried to make it work.
Unfortunately it didn’t. Some events during the first half of the book make NO sense after we find out the twist.
I didn’t like any of the characters. I didn’t connect with any of them, and they felt very unrelatable.
I felt some of their decisions were really stupid and based on nothing.
Like any book, it had its moments. I don’t regret reading it, but I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone.
I don’t think I could’ve ever seen the actual plot twist coming. It was a clever twist, and could have worked… It had big potential.
Unfortunately Freida did not make this work well.
The more I think about this book and the plot, the more I dislike it. At first when I finished the book I thought it was a 4.5⭐️ book.
But as my day went on, and I was thinking about it, more and more didn’t make any sense.
So at this point I’m giving it 2.75⭐️.
To be fair, I couldn’t really put this book down, but I was disappointed at the end.
There were quite a bit of inconsistencies, which I won’t mention due to spoilers.
90% of the inner dialogue makes the characters seem like they’re stupid.
I think Freida came up with the twist before she wrote the first half of the book, and just really tried to make it work.
Unfortunately it didn’t. Some events during the first half of the book make NO sense after we find out the twist.
I didn’t like any of the characters. I didn’t connect with any of them, and they felt very unrelatable.
I felt some of their decisions were really stupid and based on nothing.
Like any book, it had its moments. I don’t regret reading it, but I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Minor: Kidnapping, Car accident, Death, and Vomit