Reviews

DNF @ 11%, unrated. Although I’ve liked other J.P. Delaney books, I should have read trigger & content warnings as pregnancy/infant loss was described in too much detail for me.

amyhungerford's review against another edition

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3.0

Hi, my name is Amy and I have a horrible addition to domestic thrillers.

I will read them all even if most of them suck in the end. This one wasn't the worst, but it also wasn't the best.

I actually didn't completely dislike it until the last 2 chapters or so. It seems like the hardest part for most thrillers is rounding out the ending without it feeling like a bullshit cop out. Sadly, this did not clear that particular hurdle.

thisiserintehe's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.75

emleemay's review against another edition

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1.0

"Yes, daddy. Yes."

No. Please no.

I feel like somebody noted the success of books like [b:Gone Girl|19288043|Gone Girl|Gillian Flynn|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397056917s/19288043.jpg|13306276] and the success of [b:Fifty Shades of Grey|10818853|Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1)|E.L. James|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385207843s/10818853.jpg|15732562] and thought: wouldn't it be great if we had a book that combined the two? No, actually. No, it wouldn't.

[b:The Girl Before|28016509|The Girl Before|J.P. Delaney|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1470880789s/28016509.jpg|48027180] failed on so many levels, and I say that as a reluctant fan of these "domestic thrillers". I've enjoyed everything from [b:The Girl on the Train|22557272|The Girl on the Train|Paula Hawkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484134679s/22557272.jpg|41107568] to last year's ridiculous but fast-paced [b:Behind Closed Doors|29437949|Behind Closed Doors|B.A. Paris|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1458854462s/29437949.jpg|45981530]. I expected I'd like this one too, but all I got was a weird relationship with "rules", another guy called Edward, and transparent twists.

The book alternates between the perspectives of Emma (Before) and Jane (After) as they move into the techno-minimalist apartment at One Folgate Street. Though beautiful, there is almost no furniture, absolutely everything is digital, and most bizarre of all - the landlord and famous architect, Edward Monkford, requires that his tenants follow some very strict rules. Both women soon find themselves caught up in a love affair with Edward, but when Jane discovers that Emma died in the apartment, she can't help investigating further.

Jane's digging uncovers some disturbing facts about Emma - she expressed concern over Edward's controlling ways to her psychiatrist, her death may not have been an accident, and strangest of all, she looked eerily like Jane herself.

Firstly, I don't know what is wrong with these women. Without giving away twists, their behaviour is often outright ridiculous. Warning bells are going off left, right and centre, and they're completely oblivious. At worst, Edward is a murderer, but even at best, he's a creepy weirdo. It's almost comical how much he resembles Christian Grey - not just sexually dominant and prone to "losing control" but also strict about Emma and Jane's eating and exercise habits. Ick. Get out. Also, lots of people have a "type", but it's just plain weird if your "type" are all women who look virtually identical.

Secondly, there is no atmosphere. I feel like the author tried to create a "creepy house with a dark history" feeling, but it didn't come through because so much of the book was nothing more than a weird romance. I also see how Delaney was trying to create a "ghost of past lovers" vibe, but this ain't no [a:Daphne du Maurier|2001717|Daphne du Maurier|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1422444467p2/2001717.jpg]. The writing wasn't strong enough to make you scared for the characters, to keep you metaphorically looking over your shoulder.

It is often really difficult to distinguish between the two perspectives. I had to keep flicking to the beginning of the chapter to find out whether I was on Emma or Jane. This is partly because the style is impersonal and doesn't deeply connect you with the characters, but also partly because their stories are very similar. As we soon see, Edward takes them to the same places, gives them the same food, treats them the same ways - it was like reading the same perspective twice.

And there's a whole bunch of subtle racism going on, as well as a bunch of other distasteful issues. If you insist on only writing about white, middle class people, don’t make the criminals/rapists black and working class. How do you not see what's wrong with that? And casual comments like this (made by a psychiatrist): "In any relationship there are two repetition compulsions at work - his and hers." I can think of a whole lot of relationships where that definitely isn't true.

Plus, there's a really poor and insensitive use of rape as a plot device. Without giving away spoilers, someone who was seen to be orally raped is then making jokes about preferring human sperm sacs (to fish sperm sacs - it's a long story, Japanese restaurant, blah blah). Firstly... gross. And secondly... gross.

But maybe, even after all of this, I could have been persuaded to up my rating if the ending had provided us with an interesting and satisfying reveal. Unfortunately, I saw it coming from a mile away. The list of suspects is too short; the list of suspects who we'd actually care about it being is even shorter. I'm sorry, but I can't even find anything good to say about it.

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elliepardoe's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

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