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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Audio narrator/character speech annoyed me greatly.
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
Psychological thrillers are a dime a dozen these days, and the author needs to have a very distinctive voice in order to stand out from the crowd and make a mark on the genre. This book - for me - failed to do that in every way that matters.
The Serial Killer's Wife is about an upstanding family living in a small village outside of London. Tom, Beth and their daughter Poppy seem very happy. Tom has a good job and Beth runs one of those cafes where you paint vases and drink coffee. When the police knock on the door one evening, Beth is at first worried - has something happened to Tom? But no, it's the opposite.
Tom may have happened to someone else. His ex-girlfriend, who is missing and presumed dead.
From there, the story spools into rather endless chapters of meandering - from Beth's every thought, to Tom's past, to the village gossip and Beth's burgeoning friendship with a local widower, whose wife died the year before from anaphylactic shock. It's all just sort of... there. Nothing really happens until the last few chapters, when the big "twist" is revealed - and yes, it's a big one and it's satisfyingly evil, but at the same time, I felt no glory in that discovery because I hadn't enjoyed the journey.
One of the main problems for me was the flat dialogue (NO ONE talks the way these characters do) and the unwillingness to really let Tom's inner monologue reveal what a horrific person he truly is. There's a sense of fakeness, of blandness and of holding back. Part of me thinks that's because the author didn't want to chance that she'd inadvertently reveal the twist. And that's a problem - as I've ranted before, the notion that all books must have these enormous, Gone-Girl twists, is maddening.
Books can absolutely be thrilling and special without flipping the narrative on its head in the final pages. I promise.
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Serial Killer's Wife is about an upstanding family living in a small village outside of London. Tom, Beth and their daughter Poppy seem very happy. Tom has a good job and Beth runs one of those cafes where you paint vases and drink coffee. When the police knock on the door one evening, Beth is at first worried - has something happened to Tom? But no, it's the opposite.
Tom may have happened to someone else. His ex-girlfriend, who is missing and presumed dead.
From there, the story spools into rather endless chapters of meandering - from Beth's every thought, to Tom's past, to the village gossip and Beth's burgeoning friendship with a local widower, whose wife died the year before from anaphylactic shock. It's all just sort of... there. Nothing really happens until the last few chapters, when the big "twist" is revealed - and yes, it's a big one and it's satisfyingly evil, but at the same time, I felt no glory in that discovery because I hadn't enjoyed the journey.
One of the main problems for me was the flat dialogue (NO ONE talks the way these characters do) and the unwillingness to really let Tom's inner monologue reveal what a horrific person he truly is. There's a sense of fakeness, of blandness and of holding back. Part of me thinks that's because the author didn't want to chance that she'd inadvertently reveal the twist. And that's a problem - as I've ranted before, the notion that all books must have these enormous, Gone-Girl twists, is maddening.
Books can absolutely be thrilling and special without flipping the narrative on its head in the final pages. I promise.
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
با انتظار کتابی مثل دریاچه مهآلود رفتم سراغش ولی ناامیدم کرد.