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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
At times I think I tend to conflate thrillers and mysteries, expecting both to follow a 'whodunnit' path. Before She Knew Him is a thriller through and through. We're not here to solve anything but rather to explore characters and actions.
Our main character Hen and her husband Lloyd have just moved into a new area and are invited to dinner by Matthew and Mira, their next door neighbors. While there, Hen spots a fencing trophy in Matthew's office that she feels positive is connected to the murder of a young man that she was obsessed with during a manic period in her life. Her bipolar disorder is under control, but she still feels certain that Matthew is the killer. She falls into something of a cat and mouse game with her new neighbor which jeopardizes her relationships and safety. TW for violence and mentions of rape.
The distinction between thriller and mystery here is that we know Matthew is the killer by page 13, if the blurb didn't already make it clear, and so all of the tension in this novel derives from Hen learning more about the extent of his crimes and Matthew welcoming us into his twisted psyche. I don't think that set-up dooms this novel from the start, but I looked down at around page 200 and realized most of the novel had felt like fluff so far. There are so many chapters dedicated to characters thinking and reflecting- Matthew, Mira, and Hen all have plenty of these moments. This can be effective and intriguing, but in this novel it just felt a little meandering and useless. The most interesting parts of this novel were simply told to us, rather than displayed for us to experience.
I suppose Matthew was meant to intrigue and challenge us as we learn more about how he justifies his crimes but for the most part he oscillated between fairly likeable to sort of neutral. Maybe it's because his type of killer feels a little played. I didn't find anything new to explore in his character and all his time spent reflecting didn't make me more intrigued. And I never cared about his victims! I didn't feel satisfied or horrified by their deaths, just again somewhat neutral. The author tried to deepen his motivations in a way that just felt clumsy. Without spoiling anything as well, there were aspects of this novel that felt a little problematic. Hen was a decent lead, but again her character felt squandered. She has bipolar disorder, makes fascinating art for children's books, and is essentially being gaslit by her husband and detectives, and yet none of this felt like it was explored to its fullest extent.
As the novel went on, it felt like the plot became messier and messier and sort of fell apart. There were a few too many points of views and 'shocks' at the end for it to feel coherent. A subplot is developed with Hen and her husband Lloyd that was at best pointless and at worst really irritating. I hated that character- I mean, I was supposed to, but the hate didn't feel productive to the story or, again, useful, so I just stewed in hate for awhile. There was a twist at the end that did make me gasp quite a bit and gave the novel some extra life. And I will say that I can see how some clues were sprinkled throughout, so it wasn't completely random. But still, it felt a little unearned and in my opinion cheapened the novel somewhat. I wasn't expecting or looking for a twist, and I would have preferred to see the story that was "promised" all the way through.
clearly this novel is fairly well liked, so I'm in the minority! Maybe I would have liked it more if I hadn't read some other thrillers this month. This just paled a little, unfortunately.
Our main character Hen and her husband Lloyd have just moved into a new area and are invited to dinner by Matthew and Mira, their next door neighbors. While there, Hen spots a fencing trophy in Matthew's office that she feels positive is connected to the murder of a young man that she was obsessed with during a manic period in her life. Her bipolar disorder is under control, but she still feels certain that Matthew is the killer. She falls into something of a cat and mouse game with her new neighbor which jeopardizes her relationships and safety. TW for violence and mentions of rape.
The distinction between thriller and mystery here is that we know Matthew is the killer by page 13, if the blurb didn't already make it clear, and so all of the tension in this novel derives from Hen learning more about the extent of his crimes and Matthew welcoming us into his twisted psyche. I don't think that set-up dooms this novel from the start, but I looked down at around page 200 and realized most of the novel had felt like fluff so far. There are so many chapters dedicated to characters thinking and reflecting- Matthew, Mira, and Hen all have plenty of these moments. This can be effective and intriguing, but in this novel it just felt a little meandering and useless. The most interesting parts of this novel were simply told to us, rather than displayed for us to experience.
I suppose Matthew was meant to intrigue and challenge us as we learn more about how he justifies his crimes but for the most part he oscillated between fairly likeable to sort of neutral. Maybe it's because his type of killer feels a little played. I didn't find anything new to explore in his character and all his time spent reflecting didn't make me more intrigued. And I never cared about his victims! I didn't feel satisfied or horrified by their deaths, just again somewhat neutral. The author tried to deepen his motivations in a way that just felt clumsy. Without spoiling anything as well, there were aspects of this novel that felt a little problematic. Hen was a decent lead, but again her character felt squandered. She has bipolar disorder, makes fascinating art for children's books, and is essentially being gaslit by her husband and detectives, and yet none of this felt like it was explored to its fullest extent.
As the novel went on, it felt like the plot became messier and messier and sort of fell apart. There were a few too many points of views and 'shocks' at the end for it to feel coherent. A subplot is developed with Hen and her husband Lloyd that was at best pointless and at worst really irritating. I hated that character- I mean, I was supposed to, but the hate didn't feel productive to the story or, again, useful, so I just stewed in hate for awhile. There was a twist at the end that did make me gasp quite a bit and gave the novel some extra life. And I will say that I can see how some clues were sprinkled throughout, so it wasn't completely random. But still, it felt a little unearned and in my opinion cheapened the novel somewhat. I wasn't expecting or looking for a twist, and I would have preferred to see the story that was "promised" all the way through.
clearly this novel is fairly well liked, so I'm in the minority! Maybe I would have liked it more if I hadn't read some other thrillers this month. This just paled a little, unfortunately.
Before She Knew Him By Peter Swanson read like a movie/TV mini series (hint, hint Netflix). I was getting some major Dexter vibes, but without all the gore that Dexter has to offer.
I’ve read a lot of thrillers in my day and I have to say this one was clever and different. There were so many twists and turns, but it wasn’t confusing or hard to follow.
There were some parts that fell a little flat for me, but over all I enjoyed the read. If you are looking for something that’s different, quick, and creepy then check this one out.
Thank you to Edelweiss and William Morrow for gifting me my advance copy. This book will be released on March 5, 2019
I’ve read a lot of thrillers in my day and I have to say this one was clever and different. There were so many twists and turns, but it wasn’t confusing or hard to follow.
There were some parts that fell a little flat for me, but over all I enjoyed the read. If you are looking for something that’s different, quick, and creepy then check this one out.
Thank you to Edelweiss and William Morrow for gifting me my advance copy. This book will be released on March 5, 2019
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m struggling to articulate what I didn’t like about this one - it had an ending I didn’t guess and was relatively fast paced, I just didn’t really get into it. Sometimes I feel like life at the time I’m reading a book can distract me & change my experience, so If you like thrillers, I’d still give it a go!
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
One of those books you get sucked in and just have to know what happens. Hen & Lloyd move into their new home and have dinner with their new neighbors Matthew & Mira. It isn't until Hen is touring that she notices something from her past that has been haunting her for years. Totally thought I had this one figured out but the twist at the end came as a suprise.
I accidentally spoiled the big plot twist for myself…
3.7
Ending was genuinely shocking but for some reason this book never had me totally hooked.
Ending was genuinely shocking but for some reason this book never had me totally hooked.
This is my 3rd Peter Swanson novel and I love how he writes. Great pace and something is always happening or developing. We didn’t go long periods of time with vague allusions to past events. Things happens and the plot moved along. He didn’t continually try to trick or throw you off course but there was a twist that I didn’t see coming until it smacked me in the face. Looking back maybe I was slacking on my detective work because he had some subtly planted hints. Luther, I was not for this book. I still had a few questions in the end but it is a strong book and definitely worth your time. It only took me two days to finish and the first day I only had half a brain after a late Friday night. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Add this to your March BOTM and #tbrlist.
Peter Swanson writes a fantastic, twist-filled novel that didn't go any of the ways I thought it would. The creepy neighbor book has been done before but this was different to say the least. There were multiple narrators and it was great way to see inside the minds of those with different levels of mental illness. The book seemed like it was going to take a certain path and it surely did not. The characters were frighteningly real and I felt bad for many of them. Coincidence does happen to play a significant role in this but its easy to overlook for pure entertainment value. Overall, a great thriller.