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3.07 AVERAGE
3.07 AVERAGE
I added this book to my TBR list because I really like Blake Lively but I also wanted to know what I was getting myself into before diving into the movie. Am I the only person who does that?
Anyway, A Simple Favour by Darcey Bell fell a little flat for me. I liked the first half but the second half really lost me. It felt like Gone Girl but with less finesse. Which is sad because I really wanted to like it.
The first half focuses on Stephanie and her blog and I liked the juxtaposition of the real and projected selves. Who Stephanie is and who she pretends to be online are rather different and I wish this was explored more. Wouldn’t it be smashing if it turned out there was an additional layer to Stephanie and she was being the ultimate unreliable narrator? Alas, it was not meant to be.
I would also have preferred it if Bell had only used Stephanie and Emily as narrators because really, these two characters should be strong enough to carry the book. In my opinion, it was during Sean’s narrations that I felt the tension flag. Or maybe I just want my complex female characters.
Still, this was an entertaining enough read that pulled me through a rather slow day. I just don’t think I’m impressed enough to watch the movie..
Anyway, A Simple Favour by Darcey Bell fell a little flat for me. I liked the first half but the second half really lost me. It felt like Gone Girl but with less finesse. Which is sad because I really wanted to like it.
The first half focuses on Stephanie and her blog and I liked the juxtaposition of the real and projected selves. Who Stephanie is and who she pretends to be online are rather different and I wish this was explored more. Wouldn’t it be smashing if it turned out there was an additional layer to Stephanie and she was being the ultimate unreliable narrator? Alas, it was not meant to be.
I would also have preferred it if Bell had only used Stephanie and Emily as narrators because really, these two characters should be strong enough to carry the book. In my opinion, it was during Sean’s narrations that I felt the tension flag. Or maybe I just want my complex female characters.
Still, this was an entertaining enough read that pulled me through a rather slow day. I just don’t think I’m impressed enough to watch the movie..
I don't know if it's a stupid book or a decently written book about impossibly stupid people. Either way, I was entertained. I've never read a story that was bad enough to make me physically flinch. It's a rare book that manages to be such an example of the proverbial trainwreck you can't look away from.
And the shamelessness of the Gone Girl hack... I mean, it's paid off, obviously. She got the movie rights sold, so Darcey Bell is winning, no matter how low I rate this book, but this is such a shameless rip, it should be punished with a lawsuit. It really shouldn't exist.
Incest, secret twins, fake deaths...
The fastest book I’ve read in awhile. It kept me hooked. I couldn’t put it down. The dialogue made the characters so real. I loved getting to read their thoughts.
Reading multiple points view was great. At times it was funny because you’d read the thoughts of one character on the same topic as another and know things they didn’t. It was like watching them walk into a trap.
It was chilling at times too. Emily is so calm and casual in the way she does things. SO CREePY!Stephanie is the classic mindless assistant that does whatever she’s told and believes anything. She too is creepy the way she genuinely believes all the lies and convinced herself she didn’t see or hear what she did.
The lies and deception seemed like something that could happen today. You really worried about Sean. I kept wondering what will happen? How will it end? Poor man getting framed for EVERYTHING. When he is innocent! It was just so good!
Reading multiple points view was great. At times it was funny because you’d read the thoughts of one character on the same topic as another and know things they didn’t. It was like watching them walk into a trap.
It was chilling at times too. Emily is so calm and casual in the way she does things. SO CREePY!Stephanie is the classic mindless assistant that does whatever she’s told and believes anything. She too is creepy the way she genuinely believes all the lies and convinced herself she didn’t see or hear what she did.
The lies and deception seemed like something that could happen today. You really worried about Sean. I kept wondering what will happen? How will it end? Poor man getting framed for EVERYTHING. When he is innocent! It was just so good!
A good read with tons of twists and turns. I enjoyed it as much as the movie (which I saw before reading the book), for different reasons. There was enough of a difference between the two that I wasn’t constantly comparing both of them. The ending was particularly satisfying, even leaving it at such an open end!
Melodramatic and outlandish and I hated every character but I couldn't stop reading. Really want to see the movie.
This was alright. I definitely wanted to find out what was going to happen, and it was a quick, easy read. But I found there were a lot of things left unexplored. Basically Stephanie's entire character history was mentioned a bunch of times, but it added nothing to the story or the outcome and I was left wondering why it was even mentioned. I also found the ending to be too easy. How did everything turn out so perfectly for this one character? There wasn't even any exploration of how it might have gone wrong and how they managed to get themselves out of this situation. It was just too easy to be believable.
Better than Girl on the Train. Not as good as Gone Girl, but will anything ever be? The twists are only somewhat surprising.
I flat out hated this book. I feel like each plot twist “bomb”was just slowly rolled into the scene to maybe (or not) detonate instead of being dropped in true thriller style. I never felt any element of mystery because just as I started to wonder about something, the narrator would go ahead and explain it. Never was there a shocked, oh wow moment for me. Most of the story was told without dialogue, which quite honestly, sucks. I hated all the characters, as one dimensional as they were. Stephanie had the sense and vocabulary of a middle schooler. I kept wondering if the author was writing her stupid or if that was really the extent of the author’s writing skills. Emily was psychotic but like, for no reason. Out of boredom? Yet she was an idiot too. Sean was just another dumb asshole. Also, why was the weird incest element even necessary? Most of the book was completely ridiculous and implausible. Who would buy any of the crap these people are selling? Seriously, I hope the movie is a hell of a lot more interesting than this dumpster fire.
This might actually be the worst book I’ve ever had the mispleasure of listening to.
The only reason I got through it is because it was my last borrow of the month for November and I needed something at work to listen to.
How this person got a movie deal is beyond me.
One star.
The only reason I got through it is because it was my last borrow of the month for November and I needed something at work to listen to.
How this person got a movie deal is beyond me.
One star.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Murder