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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
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
4.5/5
Not my favorite Freida McFadden work, but still so good! I think I didn’t love the characters as much as I loved them in her other stories, but I appreciated how imperfect they were. They each made mistakes in their actions and that worked well for the storyline.
Not my favorite Freida McFadden work, but still so good! I think I didn’t love the characters as much as I loved them in her other stories, but I appreciated how imperfect they were. They each made mistakes in their actions and that worked well for the storyline.
Freida McFadden is the sole reason I utilized the Kindle Unlimited subscription that came with my Kindle. I may have even paid for a month of it just to read a handful more of her books.
So I raced to finish this one before my subscription officially cancelled on the 15th. One last hurrah before I moved on to the other couple thousand books waiting for me. We were going to part ways (for a little while at least) in the most bittersweet fashion.
Well I thought we were anyway...
In The Coworker, there is no stereotypical creepy setting that this author often loves to use. No big house. No mental ward. No prison. No basements or attics with mysterious locked doors. Mostly our characters are just hanging out at an office or in normal homes (with no secret nooks or crannies!). While I love a good creepy atmosphere, I was excited to see how thriller-y we could get in the workplace.
And at first this was really working for me. While it wasn't exactly creepy in the workplace, it was full of workplace snark and drama. After working in that environment for over a decade and now being home all the time, I almost felt claw marks from all that cattiness going on. Good stuff (in a book).
Also one of the main characters has the same name as me, which always makes me feel special for some childlike reason. Yes, she may or may not be a killer or at the very least a grown-up mean girl, but that is neither here nor there.
Add in the Freida Special of multiple timelines and POVs, and I was content as a cucumber.
And that is how I stayed. Content. Content is not a word you want to use while sailing through a thriller.
The characters were flat and unbelievable and dull as dishrags. My namesake was an absolute moron. A "ONE-OFF" NIGHT OF SEX WITH SOMEONE WHO IS NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND IS STILL CHEATING EVEN IF YOU CALL IT A "ONE-OFF." ALSO NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR STUPID 5K "RACE." ALSO YOU CAN SETTLE DOWN ON THE TRAINING TALK; IT IS A 5K AND NOT THE BOSTON MARATHON.
The topics were (under any other circumstance) heavy and didn't really fit in this type of story, as they were treated as potential convenient motives rather than the true trigger topics they are. And the representation of Dawn was pretty outlandish and not entirely respectful (yes, I know it doesn't specifically say she is on the spectrum but c'mon).
This was also largely predictable and seemed like it would have been an earlier book by the author and not one of her most recent. Definitely not one of my favorites.
But at least I learned some stuff about turtles? Sort of?
2 Stars
So I raced to finish this one before my subscription officially cancelled on the 15th. One last hurrah before I moved on to the other couple thousand books waiting for me. We were going to part ways (for a little while at least) in the most bittersweet fashion.
Well I thought we were anyway...
In The Coworker, there is no stereotypical creepy setting that this author often loves to use. No big house. No mental ward. No prison. No basements or attics with mysterious locked doors. Mostly our characters are just hanging out at an office or in normal homes (with no secret nooks or crannies!). While I love a good creepy atmosphere, I was excited to see how thriller-y we could get in the workplace.
And at first this was really working for me. While it wasn't exactly creepy in the workplace, it was full of workplace snark and drama. After working in that environment for over a decade and now being home all the time, I almost felt claw marks from all that cattiness going on. Good stuff (in a book).
Also one of the main characters has the same name as me, which always makes me feel special for some childlike reason. Yes, she may or may not be a killer or at the very least a grown-up mean girl, but that is neither here nor there.
Add in the Freida Special of multiple timelines and POVs, and I was content as a cucumber.
And that is how I stayed. Content. Content is not a word you want to use while sailing through a thriller.
The characters were flat and unbelievable and dull as dishrags. My namesake was an absolute moron. A "ONE-OFF" NIGHT OF SEX WITH SOMEONE WHO IS NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND IS STILL CHEATING EVEN IF YOU CALL IT A "ONE-OFF." ALSO NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR STUPID 5K "RACE." ALSO YOU CAN SETTLE DOWN ON THE TRAINING TALK; IT IS A 5K AND NOT THE BOSTON MARATHON.
The topics were (under any other circumstance) heavy and didn't really fit in this type of story, as they were treated as potential convenient motives rather than the true trigger topics
Spoiler
suicide, bullyingThis was also largely predictable and seemed like it would have been an earlier book by the author and not one of her most recent. Definitely not one of my favorites.
But at least I learned some stuff about turtles? Sort of?
2 Stars
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Not very compelling writing or plot. I was interested enough to finish it, but mostly because it was a quick read.
Definitely felt like the author had a tab open of all autism stereotypes when writing Dawn.
Definitely felt like the author had a tab open of all autism stereotypes when writing Dawn.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
everyone is terrible
I really enjoy McFadden’s books. Whenever I am in a reading slump, I know that I will definitely be able to get through them. This one was okay to me. It may be that I am on a thriller burn out, but something fell flat for me. I don’t think it had the shocking twist that usually happens in her books. That is not to say that certain elements of the books weren’t twisty. I do feel that every character in this book is AWFUL though.
I really enjoy McFadden’s books. Whenever I am in a reading slump, I know that I will definitely be able to get through them. This one was okay to me. It may be that I am on a thriller burn out, but something fell flat for me. I don’t think it had the shocking twist that usually happens in her books. That is not to say that certain elements of the books weren’t twisty. I do feel that every character in this book is AWFUL though.