Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

70 reviews

queenfury's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

1.0

This was a mess of a book for me, full of cliches, predictable "twists," and unlikable characters.

The writing was not very good, either. The similes were numerous, awkward, and unnecessary, and I knew immediately that the author was a man (every woman the narrator sees had her breasts mentioned at least once). The editor(s) needed to go through the manuscript a few more times, as I found quite a lot of the prose added nothing to neither the story nor Anna's character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Car accident

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, and Violence

Extreme gaslighting of main character by everyone around her.

rosita's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I was trapped in the book, the same way that the protagonist is trapped in her house. I seriously couldnt put it down, and finished it very fast.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Ableism, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

jazful's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Car accident

Moderate: Addiction and Mental illness

abitofapoet'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

holy crap, this book was a rollercoaster. just when i thought i had something figured out, another plot twist knocked me off my feet. and that last twits literally made me sick to my stomach. A little slow paced at the beginning but TOTALLY worth it if you want to read a good thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction and Sexual content

Minor: Violence and Murder

jesscoast's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Tore through this in 4 days! Just my kind of book. Domestic thriller, set in modern day. Lots of tension, great details, clues and hints everywhere. Couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

thatsssorachael's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

The first 100 pages weren't working for me. I found them really choppy, and I don't like feeling confused while reading. But it did get better, and by about 3/4 way through I was totally, completely hooked. 

But then I guessed the twist. I had hoped it couldn't possibly be what I thought, but it was. So I don't spoil it, that's all I'll say. 

If you're new to thrillers, you will probably really enjoy this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

alysalongo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, and Car accident

Minor: Chronic illness, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

leahrosereads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This one started off slow, fair warning.  It took around 120 pages to get interesting, and honestly, that's just too many pages to build a character for me.  After that though, this book really took off.  Unfortunately, I didn't like most aspects of it.  While I'm not an avid reader of the thriller/mystery genres, I was able to guess most every twist, without trying, and that always really bums me out.  I prefer to be shocked, and I just wasn't here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Grief

Minor: Animal cruelty and Body shaming

a_robin_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Information:

• Library book & Storytel audiobook
• Choose your own adventure challenge from the Goodreads group: Middle grade madness 

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Review:

What an awesome thriller! Loved the slow build and the twists at the end. Loved Anna as a character as well and really learned something from her.

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I read The woman in the window by AJ Finn. I read this book for the Choose your own adventure challenge from the Goodreads group: Middle grade madness. 

I also loved this book! Going very well, mood reading is doing me good :). I enjoyed this book a lot, because most of the time women get portrayed really annoying I think, but in this one that wasn't the case. In this one, Anna the MC, was very vulnerable and it makes sense how she reacts. It feels way more real then other thrillers I've read with a female MC (for example: the girl in the train). The story itself was a slow build, but I really liked that in this one, because you really got to know Anna well. I loooved the twist! It was so good! Therefore I gave this 5 stars, it was awesome. Audiobook was also very good, highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Medical trauma

cleverhans's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

One day, I'll find a thriller with an agoraphobic main character written with skill and empathy. This was not that thriller. AJ Finn seems to feel contempt for most of his characters, which really isn't my favorite vibe. The writing was fine, the plot was average, and I experienced about equal measures of frustration and suspense. It's a decent book to get you through a flight or train ride, but I don't think this is an author I'll be returning to any time soon.