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erindipities's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
angelkat556's review
4.0
This was a good, but confusing, book. It had three storylines - a young woman writing about a man accused of sexual harassment, that man's wife, and a mystery from the 40s. I enjoyed all of the storylines, but I think the author tried to tackle too much and then wrap it up neatly, and as a result the ending is confusing and convoluted with too much going on. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 because other than the ending I really enjoyed the book.
cblunier's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ckeller97's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lindsey_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
julethief's review
1.0
Content warnings: Home invasion, discussion of suicide attempt, death by suicide, self-harm, racism (There may be more that I'm unfortunately forgetting now.)
It doesn't seem fair that we're marked by our worst moments. Shouldn't we get to choose what defines us?
Where to begin with this one? This book honestly was hot mess for me, despite the premise sounding so interesting imo. Unfortunately, it didn't deliver, and I spent a good part of it rolling my eyes and making notes about all the things that are wrong with it. It was hard to get into, as well - it just didn't pull me in the way other thrillers do. But also there were a lot of issues within it, as well.
To begin, one of the main characters, Joan, is viciously attacked on the night of her publication party for the article exposing a huge sexual predator. When she's attacked, she hits her head hard enough on her floor to be knocked unconscious. She awakes the next morning. Does she seek out medical help of any kind? No. In addition to the head trauma, she doesn't know if she's been sexually assaulted. Keep in mind she has just written a huge piece on this very subject so she knows how victims feel. But rather than go to the hospital or even a doc-in-the-box, she decides she doesn't want to seek medical help, because she "doesn't want her attack to overshadow the story." She also mentions not wanting her detractors to be able to say she deserved it. So her solution is to ignore the symptoms of a concussion, and later on, to take a pregnancy test. I don't think I need to explain why everything about that is wrong.
Now on to the other incidences that made me hate this book.
Because of the nature of Joan's story, we see many references to the #MeToo movement, including the sexual predator's wife, Melissa, talking about it going too far. However, for Joan's age and her fight against sexual assault, we still weirdly see her refer to sex workers as prostitutes. Someone in her position, and writing to expose a sexual predator, should know the correct terminology.
In addition to talking about the #MeToo movement going too far, Melissa also likes to talk about the "harmless flirtations" that happened in offices back in the day, and they were no big deal. To be clear, she isn't that old - she's 48. She believes women need to learn how to protect themselves without losing the "fun" of those in-office flirtations. Again, I shouldn't have to explain why this is problematic. She also at one point says she hopes that the assault her husband is accused of is just "a little harmless ass pinching, as gross as that is."
Melissa clearly has mental health issues and should be seeing a therapist. She blames Joan's story for upending her life so much that she ends up buying the apartment directly below Joan's in an effort to torment her as revenge. Part of that entails getting into Joan's apartment so she can make her think she's going crazy. At one point, in order to steal keys, Melissa literally fakes swooning/fainting in a cringey, laughable way with one of the doormen. When he catches her, she slips the keys out of his pocket and asks him to fetch her bottled water. Yeah, that happened. Even worse, in another instance, she legitimately smashes her own thumb with a hammer so she can summon a doorman for "help" and then steal his keys from his coat.
Joan is still suffering from her head injury. She cannot read for more than about 15 minutes at a time, so she has a smart assistant gadget read to her. She's paranoid, but also can't recognize the clear signs that something suspicious is going on.
Based on the synopsis, Lillian is meant to play a large role in the story. She doesn't show up until more than 1/3 of the way through the book. And when she does, she's telling her story, which Joan seems to doubt, and also uses the line "poor girl turned prostitute." Again, considering the story that has skyrocketed her to fame and fortune, this is unbelievably insulting and unrealistic.
There are stupid instances of double standards, and not with men vs women and their sexual lives. Melissa wants to meet with Simon, an old friend from college, and purposely dresses in such a way that she hopes to remind him he used to think she looked like Audrey Hepburn. However, when she sees Joan dressing a particular way, she criticizes her for trying to look like Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.
There are a ridiculous amount of name drops in the book. Nevermind the fact that the crime syndicate and the members mentioned are real, we also have to be reminded that Melissa uses services like Fresh Direct, GrubHub, and Daily Harvest (also despite the fact that she's apparently "broke" now). Harney & Sons is also mentioned because of its tea room in the city. It doesn't read as recognizable and familiar, it reads as a rich person so out of touch with the world she needs to remind the reader she's rich.
We repeatedly have to hear about how Joan's mother inherited her own mother's fears and anxieties about the city. It happens so often that you might feel an urge to scream "yes, we get it, they were anxiety-ridden!"
There are multiple instances of racism. Melissa is probably the WASPiest WASP who ever WASPed. At one point, she mentions that the realtor's "talk of gentrification and up-and-coming were code for ghetto." She then goes on to say she's not a racist, she loves Marta (her Spanish maid) and she has "several - well two - Black friends". She also says, when she finds the that the girl is Latina, and "maybe I'll trot out my Spanish later." Later in that same conversation, Melissa is responsible for this gem: "'You're a Dreamer!' I say, excited to meet one."
However, it's not just her. Joan also mentions paths in the city being made by "Indians", and I think someone as young as she's meant to be should probably know that Native American, Indigenous Peoples, or First Nations are the preferred terms to be used today.
Melissa is just generally insensitive and out of touch. One chapter opens with her talking about the "morning news ranting" about a hurricane and proceeds to tell the reader how "Sandy, which was the worst storm New York ever had, wasn't really as bad as everyone made it out to be." She then explains that yeah, they were without power and internet for a couple of days, but it was "kind of fun" because they camped out with the kids, and toasted marshmallows over the fireplace and ate by candlelight.
There's a lot of fog in this book. So much fog. I feel like if there were a word cloud based on this book, "fog" would be one of the largest ones. It's just ridiculous, honestly. At some point it stops creating atmosphere and just becomes cliche.
Melissa spends the entirety of the book in denial about her husband being a sexual predator. She installs spyware on Joan's computer in an effort to suss out details so she can track down the real story and write her own book and ruin Joan's life because Joan ruined hers. But,.
I was completely shocked that Joan refused to get medical treatment, even after months of living with symptoms like headaches, inability to read for long periods of time, and putting up notes but couldn't remember doing.
Also towards the end of the book, we find out the villain is able to get into Joan's apartment because he stole her spare set of keys the night before. A set of keys that, as far as I can remember, weren't previously mentioned at all. And Melissa, for her part in the craziness - repeatedly breaking in, deleting important files of Joan's, tormenting her in multiple ways, spying on her computer - doesn't get in trouble at all. In true rich person fashion, she never even has to admit to what she's done - the book leaves off with Joan not knowing the truth. She may suspect Melissa has been in her apartment before, but Melissa certainly doesn't have a heart-to-heart with her about it; also, fairly certain Melissa doesn't attend any therapy. Instead, she just basically changes overnight and becomes a good person - taking care of Joan and being more involved with her adult children and helping out the Latina Dreamer. She also gets a job, so I guess she's not worried about writing her own tell-all anymore, though she will be interviewed for Joan's book. It doesn't really matter though - I couldn't feel sympathy for either Joan or Melissa, as neither one was very likable in general. By the end of the book, I just wanted the story to be over and I really didn't care how it ended.
Honestly, this book just felt like there was too much going on with no good reason for it. Almost as if the author had a couple of ideas, but couldn't get a full book out of either of them, so she tried to weave them together to make a parallel story and tossed in for good measure, because why not? It was incredibly disappointing, all the way around. So, no, it isn't fair that we're marked by our worst moments - but this book feels like one and has certainly made me wary of reading anything else by this author.
It doesn't seem fair that we're marked by our worst moments. Shouldn't we get to choose what defines us?
Where to begin with this one? This book honestly was hot mess for me, despite the premise sounding so interesting imo. Unfortunately, it didn't deliver, and I spent a good part of it rolling my eyes and making notes about all the things that are wrong with it. It was hard to get into, as well - it just didn't pull me in the way other thrillers do. But also there were a lot of issues within it, as well.
To begin, one of the main characters, Joan, is viciously attacked on the night of her publication party for the article exposing a huge sexual predator. When she's attacked, she hits her head hard enough on her floor to be knocked unconscious. She awakes the next morning. Does she seek out medical help of any kind? No. In addition to the head trauma, she doesn't know if she's been sexually assaulted. Keep in mind she has just written a huge piece on this very subject so she knows how victims feel. But rather than go to the hospital or even a doc-in-the-box, she decides she doesn't want to seek medical help, because she "doesn't want her attack to overshadow the story." She also mentions not wanting her detractors to be able to say she deserved it. So her solution is to ignore the symptoms of a concussion, and later on, to take a pregnancy test. I don't think I need to explain why everything about that is wrong.
Now on to the other incidences that made me hate this book.
Because of the nature of Joan's story, we see many references to the #MeToo movement, including the sexual predator's wife, Melissa, talking about it going too far. However, for Joan's age and her fight against sexual assault, we still weirdly see her refer to sex workers as prostitutes. Someone in her position, and writing to expose a sexual predator, should know the correct terminology.
In addition to talking about the #MeToo movement going too far, Melissa also likes to talk about the "harmless flirtations" that happened in offices back in the day, and they were no big deal. To be clear, she isn't that old - she's 48. She believes women need to learn how to protect themselves without losing the "fun" of those in-office flirtations. Again, I shouldn't have to explain why this is problematic. She also at one point says she hopes that the assault her husband is accused of is just "a little harmless ass pinching, as gross as that is."
Melissa clearly has mental health issues and should be seeing a therapist. She blames Joan's story for upending her life so much that she ends up buying the apartment directly below Joan's in an effort to torment her as revenge. Part of that entails getting into Joan's apartment so she can make her think she's going crazy. At one point, in order to steal keys, Melissa literally fakes swooning/fainting in a cringey, laughable way with one of the doormen. When he catches her, she slips the keys out of his pocket and asks him to fetch her bottled water. Yeah, that happened. Even worse, in another instance, she legitimately smashes her own thumb with a hammer so she can summon a doorman for "help" and then steal his keys from his coat.
Spoiler
Early on, we see hints of haunting, with Joan and Melissa talking about the smell of mildew, soap, and bleach, and then both of them having panic attacks.Joan is still suffering from her head injury. She cannot read for more than about 15 minutes at a time, so she has a smart assistant gadget read to her. She's paranoid, but also can't recognize the clear signs that something suspicious is going on.
Based on the synopsis, Lillian is meant to play a large role in the story. She doesn't show up until more than 1/3 of the way through the book. And when she does, she's telling her story, which Joan seems to doubt, and also uses the line "poor girl turned prostitute." Again, considering the story that has skyrocketed her to fame and fortune, this is unbelievably insulting and unrealistic.
There are stupid instances of double standards, and not with men vs women and their sexual lives. Melissa wants to meet with Simon, an old friend from college, and purposely dresses in such a way that she hopes to remind him he used to think she looked like Audrey Hepburn. However, when she sees Joan dressing a particular way, she criticizes her for trying to look like Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.
There are a ridiculous amount of name drops in the book. Nevermind the fact that the crime syndicate and the members mentioned are real, we also have to be reminded that Melissa uses services like Fresh Direct, GrubHub, and Daily Harvest (also despite the fact that she's apparently "broke" now). Harney & Sons is also mentioned because of its tea room in the city. It doesn't read as recognizable and familiar, it reads as a rich person so out of touch with the world she needs to remind the reader she's rich.
We repeatedly have to hear about how Joan's mother inherited her own mother's fears and anxieties about the city. It happens so often that you might feel an urge to scream "yes, we get it, they were anxiety-ridden!"
There are multiple instances of racism. Melissa is probably the WASPiest WASP who ever WASPed. At one point, she mentions that the realtor's "talk of gentrification and up-and-coming were code for ghetto." She then goes on to say she's not a racist, she loves Marta (her Spanish maid) and she has "several - well two - Black friends". She also says, when she finds the
Spoiler
star witnessHowever, it's not just her. Joan also mentions paths in the city being made by "Indians", and I think someone as young as she's meant to be should probably know that Native American, Indigenous Peoples, or First Nations are the preferred terms to be used today.
Melissa is just generally insensitive and out of touch. One chapter opens with her talking about the "morning news ranting" about a hurricane and proceeds to tell the reader how "Sandy, which was the worst storm New York ever had, wasn't really as bad as everyone made it out to be." She then explains that yeah, they were without power and internet for a couple of days, but it was "kind of fun" because they camped out with the kids, and toasted marshmallows over the fireplace and ate by candlelight.
There's a lot of fog in this book. So much fog. I feel like if there were a word cloud based on this book, "fog" would be one of the largest ones. It's just ridiculous, honestly. At some point it stops creating atmosphere and just becomes cliche.
Melissa spends the entirety of the book in denial about her husband being a sexual predator. She installs spyware on Joan's computer in an effort to suss out details so she can track down the real story and write her own book and ruin Joan's life because Joan ruined hers. But,
Spoiler
then she finds a star witness, and hears her account and one recording of her husband threatening said witness and that's literally all she needs to believe all of Joan's article about her husbandSpoiler
Lillian is a ghost. Yes, on top of all of this other ridiculousness, there's a ghost.Spoiler
Simon and Wally were the villains. Simon actually killed Cass because Cass blackballed him from getting into a private club. And Wally was assisting because she was hell bent on keeping her life intact, and couldn't have her husband's connection to Cass's incident at the private club (the Hi-Line Club) come out because it would ruin her husband's career and her life.I was completely shocked that Joan refused to get medical treatment, even after months of living with symptoms like headaches, inability to read for long periods of time, and putting up notes but couldn't remember doing.
Spoiler
This was done entirely so that four months after her attack, at the end of the book, she could suffer an aneurysm and her sightings of Lillian, who apparently didn't exist, could be explained away as hallucinations. However, it's made pretty clear based on some things she knew that Lillian was there, telling her story, and that she was a freaking ghost. Also, Melissa is the one to suggest to the EMTs taking Joan away that she "hit her head 4 months ago. It could be an aneurysm."Also towards the end of the book, we find out the villain is able to get into Joan's apartment because he stole her spare set of keys the night before. A set of keys that, as far as I can remember, weren't previously mentioned at all. And Melissa, for her part in the craziness - repeatedly breaking in, deleting important files of Joan's, tormenting her in multiple ways, spying on her computer - doesn't get in trouble at all. In true rich person fashion, she never even has to admit to what she's done - the book leaves off with Joan not knowing the truth. She may suspect Melissa has been in her apartment before, but Melissa certainly doesn't have a heart-to-heart with her about it; also, fairly certain Melissa doesn't attend any therapy. Instead, she just basically changes overnight and becomes a good person - taking care of Joan and being more involved with her adult children and helping out the Latina Dreamer. She also gets a job, so I guess she's not worried about writing her own tell-all anymore, though she will be interviewed for Joan's book. It doesn't really matter though - I couldn't feel sympathy for either Joan or Melissa, as neither one was very likable in general. By the end of the book, I just wanted the story to be over and I really didn't care how it ended.
Honestly, this book just felt like there was too much going on with no good reason for it. Almost as if the author had a couple of ideas, but couldn't get a full book out of either of them, so she tried to weave them together to make a parallel story and tossed in
Spoiler
a ghostsnikelfritz's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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
3.0
mhill7723's review
1.0
DNF at 8%. It was going well until the author has the main character get dropped in a neighborhood and say “thank god for gentrification” so now she feel safe. That comment was completely tone deaf in this day and time. Gentrification has displaced many Black and Brown people and the comment by the anatomist followed by comments about how safe the neighborhood is now and how her mom had a fit when she found out she was moving there just didn’t sit well with me. As a Black woman it was a turn off and something I cannot support.