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hmbb99's review
3.0
This is an interesting book, if not a confusing one. The main character is a weird young woman who is slowly losing her mind and obsessing over her actress neighbor. You get to see her slowly devolve into insanity. The character is unlikeable The plot is choppy, with swift changes between fantasy and reality, past and present, that sometimes you're not sure what is actually happening.
The story is a little crude at times, a little boring at times, a little confusing at times, and a little funny. It is an ok story and a quick read.
The story is a little crude at times, a little boring at times, a little confusing at times, and a little funny. It is an ok story and a quick read.
guylou's review
3.0
QOTD: Which actor or actress would you love to live on your street?
My Review:
This book has such a pretty cover. The story is written in the voice of an unnamed woman who has experienced major traumatic events in her life. After several failed IVFs, her husband walks out and leaves her with his cat. The story takes you on this woman’s ups and downs as she is facing the loneliness of separation, fighting to keep the cat, and seeing her teaching career coming to an end. While all this is happening, you also discover that she is obsessed with a movie star who is living on her street. She is so taken by this actress that she is willing to do what it takes to get close to her. A lot of the dialogue is in her head and paints a pretty insane picture.
The story did not grab me, and I decided to give a generous 3 stars only because it was short, and the writing was good.
I want to thank Simon and Schuster for the advanced copy of Looker by Laura Sims. This novel will be available at your favourite bookstore on January 15, 2019.
Follow me on Blogger @ http://guylous.blogspot.com or on Instagram @twodogsandabook to see my latest book reviews.
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kimkelly80's review
1.0
So depressing. A woman’s slow descent into madness. Disturbing and not in a good way.
thejoellachapter's review
4.0
This book was such a quick read! I thought it was super interesting, but I don’t know that I would label it as a thriller. For me it doesn’t really fit into any genre necessarily, but I think that is part of its appeal.
This book is narrated by a woman who has recently been through a rough breakup, after struggling with infertility and countless rounds of IVF that nearly depleted her savings and broke her sense of self-worth. She is working as a professor at a nearby struggling college, convinced that she will be let go after the term ends and that her building will be sold, leaving her jobless and homeless. While she is desperately yearning for children of her own, she also feels a lot of self-loathing and blame that she is unable to conceive. As her life crumbles around her, she hyper fixates on what she deems a ‘perfect’ actress who has moved in across the street with her husband and children. She tries on numerous occasions to get the attention of the actress and build a friendship, only to be politely avoided.
Honestly, the narrator is unlikeable, although she is written to be. She doesn’t have many redeeming qualities. Her thoughts are messy, chaotic, full of hallucinations and memory gaps. She consistently makes mistakes, making her life significantly worse than it was. However, if you look at it as a character study into a seemingly normal person’s descent into mental anguish and chaos, it is absolutely fascinating. I flew through it, devouring the entire book in one sitting. The ending is pretty dark, so I would be aware of that going in!
This book is narrated by a woman who has recently been through a rough breakup, after struggling with infertility and countless rounds of IVF that nearly depleted her savings and broke her sense of self-worth. She is working as a professor at a nearby struggling college, convinced that she will be let go after the term ends and that her building will be sold, leaving her jobless and homeless. While she is desperately yearning for children of her own, she also feels a lot of self-loathing and blame that she is unable to conceive. As her life crumbles around her, she hyper fixates on what she deems a ‘perfect’ actress who has moved in across the street with her husband and children. She tries on numerous occasions to get the attention of the actress and build a friendship, only to be politely avoided.
Honestly, the narrator is unlikeable, although she is written to be. She doesn’t have many redeeming qualities. Her thoughts are messy, chaotic, full of hallucinations and memory gaps. She consistently makes mistakes, making her life significantly worse than it was. However, if you look at it as a character study into a seemingly normal person’s descent into mental anguish and chaos, it is absolutely fascinating. I flew through it, devouring the entire book in one sitting. The ending is pretty dark, so I would be aware of that going in!
viewtoakel's review
4.0
What a wild trip. By about halfway through I began to feel so anxious that I found myself rushing through the text in a search of some calm. Sims did such an amazing job at pulling me into this unique spiral into neurosis and mania... almost too good. Lucky for me, I LOVE reading things that make me feel uncomfortable and I loved how uncomfortable Looker made me feel.
lewzor's review
5.0
Dark and disturbing, Looker is a character study of a woman whose foundation has crumbled. Readers join her long after the beginning of the end, and piecing together what went wrong is thrilling. I appreciated the fact that the protagonist was at-times an unreliable narrator without any schlocky twists getting in the way. Less domestic thriller and more modern tragedy, reading about the narrator's descent into moral, mental, and financial poverty is something that will stay with me for a long time.
chazzerguy's review
3.0
A good, crazy, unraveling, completely unreliable narrator... I enjoyed trying to parse truth from fiction in the narrators mind... Were she and the actress REALLY neighbors? Is Nathan real? Bernardo? Or the seduction? I'm still not entirely sure of any of it...
Good read. A short page turner of escapist entertainment. Well worth reading!
Good read. A short page turner of escapist entertainment. Well worth reading!
chuckstafer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Another really good novel/novella from Laura Sims! The protagonist in this story is so unhinged yet you can't help but feel for her and what she's been going through in the story. As the story progressed, most of the time was focused on things that were not what I expected which only added to the main character's spiraling mental state. Once things reached a tipping point, the story spiraled quickly to an unexpected ending. Really good debut for Laura Sims!
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
sk24's review
3.0
2.5/5 stars
What did I just read? Well that was definitely like nothing I’ve ever read before, I’ll say that about it. I’m not really sure how I feel about this book. What a strange story.
The story is told through the perspective of a woman who’s life is basically falling apart piece by piece. She is clearly struggling with her mental health. She stalks this famous actress who lives on her block and has many fantasies regarding the actress and her life.
Throughout the book, I was curious where the story was going to go. Well, it didn’t really go anywhere. I mean, it did – things happened and it obviously went somewhere, but I’m still left with this feeling like nothing happened. What was the point of what I just read?
This book kept my attention throughout, so it’s not like it was boring. I was captivated and intrigued and very curious what was going to happen. And then I was quite disappointed by the ending.
I don’t think I would recommend this book. It was okay, but again it just felt kind of pointless. I don’t really know how else to explain it.
What did I just read? Well that was definitely like nothing I’ve ever read before, I’ll say that about it. I’m not really sure how I feel about this book. What a strange story.
The story is told through the perspective of a woman who’s life is basically falling apart piece by piece. She is clearly struggling with her mental health. She stalks this famous actress who lives on her block and has many fantasies regarding the actress and her life.
Throughout the book, I was curious where the story was going to go. Well, it didn’t really go anywhere. I mean, it did – things happened and it obviously went somewhere, but I’m still left with this feeling like nothing happened. What was the point of what I just read?
This book kept my attention throughout, so it’s not like it was boring. I was captivated and intrigued and very curious what was going to happen. And then I was quite disappointed by the ending.
I don’t think I would recommend this book. It was okay, but again it just felt kind of pointless. I don’t really know how else to explain it.