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sjexley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I haven't read a scary book in a long time and this one creeped me out! A mom and her two kids are home alone during a blizzard when she sees an intruder in the house. She grabs her sleeping kids and they rush to hide in a secret room. What happens next is nothing short of nightmares, and that's just the present day plot. This book jumps around bw the past and present and really had me unsure of who to believe. It was so suspenseful, I couldn't read parts of it fast enough! Do not recommend if you are anxious about intruders bc you may never sleep again. Also, this is the first book I've read that takes place during Covid but the pandemic ITSELF wasn't a huge character. It was interesting to read a story where it was referenced but not focused on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Terminal illness, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, and Body shaming
Minor: Blood
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
4.5
I picked this up because it is the Literally Dead Book Club pick for the month of April.
"Nightwatching" follows a mother one blizzarding evening as she is home alone with her two young children. She is awoken to a noise and quickly realizes that they are not alone in the house. Now, she is determined to get herself and her children to safety.
I ran the gambit of emotions during this book. I was scared of the intruder and what might happen to the children, I was angry that the main character was seemingly dismissed by everyone, and I was inspired by her love for her children, no matter what.
The book dragged a little bit for me in the beginning because the author chose to go into a lot of detail about what was happening with the intruder. I think for a lot of people this was probably an appealing aspect because it increases the anxiety of whether or not they will make it out of the house unscathed. However, for me, I just wanted to move on. I wanted to see the fallout of whether they made it out or not. I was very pleased to see the story progress forward.
This book really solidified for me how little I like cops as a general rule. They always seem so quick to dismiss women, and that was definitely the case for the mother in this book. I also HATED her father-in-law. There are a lot of themes of misogyny in this book that fueled the fire.
The mother is not a trained cop or detective, but she did her own investigating in a way that I think anyone would have given the circumstance. It was very believable how she investigated what truly happened, and whether or not the situation was solved.
I will definitely be picking up more from Tracy Sierra, and I highly recommend this book, just read it with the light on.
"Nightwatching" follows a mother one blizzarding evening as she is home alone with her two young children. She is awoken to a noise and quickly realizes that they are not alone in the house. Now, she is determined to get herself and her children to safety.
I ran the gambit of emotions during this book. I was scared of the intruder and what might happen to the children, I was angry that the main character was seemingly dismissed by everyone, and I was inspired by her love for her children, no matter what.
The book dragged a little bit for me in the beginning because the author chose to go into a lot of detail about what was happening with the intruder. I think for a lot of people this was probably an appealing aspect because it increases the anxiety of whether or not they will make it out of the house unscathed. However, for me, I just wanted to move on. I wanted to see the fallout of whether they made it out or not. I was very pleased to see the story progress forward.
This book really solidified for me how little I like cops as a general rule. They always seem so quick to dismiss women, and that was definitely the case for the mother in this book. I also HATED her father-in-law. There are a lot of themes of misogyny in this book that fueled the fire.
The mother is not a trained cop or detective, but she did her own investigating in a way that I think anyone would have given the circumstance. It was very believable how she investigated what truly happened, and whether or not the situation was solved.
I will definitely be picking up more from Tracy Sierra, and I highly recommend this book, just read it with the light on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny
Moderate: Kidnapping and Gun violence
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