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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
3.5--I like a lot of things about this thriller, but one of the twists isn't my favorite thing
Worth it.
So, Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson should have been a five star thriller, if not for one nagging little detail which I won't mention because it's a spoiler but for those who've read it, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.
Don't get me wrong. It's got great characterization, a slow burning pace that filled me with dread with every turn of the page, fingernail biting suspense, and a strong prose.
The plot is something out of a Hitchcock film: Hen and Lloyd decide to meet their neighbors, Mira and Matthew. Hen discovers something in Matthew's study that reminds of her a murder she'd researched obsessively. Matthew realizes that Hen is beginning to realize that he is the murderer. And that's just the first couple of chapters. Swanson drives the plot with ease, giving the reader little bites of the main characters personalities. Some twists are easier to spot than others, but this isn't a whodunnit as much as it is awhydunnit. He has a way of giving his plots the Hitchcock feel, giving the lead heroine and her husband questionable moral without sounding contrived.
Every plot point falls neatly in place; nothing feels out of the blue or written just for the sake of surprise. I felt like Swanson guided me into the action instead of dropping bombs like some thriller authors are fond of. Out of the four Swanson books I've read, this falls into third place, but not because it's terrible in any way. I found that even though I appreciated the suspense, I had been anticipating a few major twists, like in All the Beautiful Lies or The Kind Worth Killing. Despite this, the suspense alone and intriguing plot were enough to turn this thriller from a good read to a great one. Well worth it.
So, Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson should have been a five star thriller, if not for one nagging little detail which I won't mention because it's a spoiler but for those who've read it, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.
Don't get me wrong. It's got great characterization, a slow burning pace that filled me with dread with every turn of the page, fingernail biting suspense, and a strong prose.
The plot is something out of a Hitchcock film: Hen and Lloyd decide to meet their neighbors, Mira and Matthew. Hen discovers something in Matthew's study that reminds of her a murder she'd researched obsessively. Matthew realizes that Hen is beginning to realize that he is the murderer. And that's just the first couple of chapters. Swanson drives the plot with ease, giving the reader little bites of the main characters personalities. Some twists are easier to spot than others, but this isn't a whodunnit as much as it is awhydunnit. He has a way of giving his plots the Hitchcock feel, giving the lead heroine and her husband questionable moral without sounding contrived.
Every plot point falls neatly in place; nothing feels out of the blue or written just for the sake of surprise. I felt like Swanson guided me into the action instead of dropping bombs like some thriller authors are fond of. Out of the four Swanson books I've read, this falls into third place, but not because it's terrible in any way. I found that even though I appreciated the suspense, I had been anticipating a few major twists, like in All the Beautiful Lies or The Kind Worth Killing. Despite this, the suspense alone and intriguing plot were enough to turn this thriller from a good read to a great one. Well worth it.
Oh man that twist. I really liked this change up of knowing who the murderer is but then going along for the ride to see what happens next. I was utterly drawn in and it took me until I was about 2/3 through to kind of start piecing things together and having my suspicions about what was up. Definitely a great psychological thriller. I almost cried for Matthew. Poor guy. It’s time to de-stigmatize mental illness!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The book was disturbing! But, it was page turning to see what would happened next.
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
This book was fine. It was a nice, quick thriller listen. And I was intrigued by Matthew and his white knight bullshit.
However, I saw the twist coming from a mile away. Blame it on DID being a plot twist a lot recently or whatever but I knew Richard was Matthew. So the big reveal wasn't that shocking and it was mostly me waiting to be told what I knew.
That being said, it was a fun listen. And the reveal that Dustin had been about to rape Hen was surprising. But I just kept waiting for the "reveal" so we could move on.
Also, some sentences were really clunky. Because I listened, it's hard to quote but I noticed a lot of repeated words within sentences which is something that really irks me (ie "he brought a pipe to connect to his exhaust pipe.").
And I felt like Hen escaped from Richard way to easily. I assumed he was pretending to be Matthew to get her to reveal her plan but nope.
All in all it was a fine time. 3.5
However, I saw the twist coming from a mile away. Blame it on DID being a plot twist a lot recently or whatever but I knew Richard was Matthew. So the big reveal wasn't that shocking and it was mostly me waiting to be told what I knew.
That being said, it was a fun listen. And the reveal that Dustin had been about to rape Hen was surprising. But I just kept waiting for the "reveal" so we could move on.
Also, some sentences were really clunky. Because I listened, it's hard to quote but I noticed a lot of repeated words within sentences which is something that really irks me (ie "he brought a pipe to connect to his exhaust pipe.").
And I felt like Hen escaped from Richard way to easily. I assumed he was pretending to be Matthew to get her to reveal her plan but nope.
All in all it was a fine time. 3.5
I did not expect that. Wow.
I thought this was going to be a hopeless woman with issues trying to convince everyone that her neighbour is a murderer but no one believes her and the murderer got away with it by threatening her. But no. This made me feel uneasy at first, to the point I hesitated to continue reading this book with that scenario in mind, but once things started to pick up, I could not put this book down and it certainly wasn't like what I thought AT ALL. Really deserved the 5 stars.
I thought this was going to be a hopeless woman with issues trying to convince everyone that her neighbour is a murderer but no one believes her and the murderer got away with it by threatening her. But no. This made me feel uneasy at first, to the point I hesitated to continue reading this book with that scenario in mind, but once things started to pick up, I could not put this book down and it certainly wasn't like what I thought AT ALL. Really deserved the 5 stars.