Scan barcode
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.5
Finished reading: November 5th 2024
"In my experience, men who say they want the truth end up wishing they had settled for the lie."
I guess it was too much to ask to actually enjoy two Riley Sager books in a row... His books can go both ways for me, and unfortunately Middle Of The Night turned out to be a bit of a dud for me. Don't get me wrong, the premise itself is more than solid and this story had SO much potential. I was hoping for a creepy thriller/horror read with a paranormal twist, but instead I got a total snoozefest... Oh yes, you read that right: I was utterly bored during most of the story, and I'm still not sure how I even made it to the end to be honest. There is SO much repetition going on; I've lost count of the times it was mentioned that Billy went missing. In the middle of the night. Sure, main character Ethan has no personality whatsoever... But Billy was kidnapped! In the middle of the night! And Ethan is traumatized even 30 years later! Sigh. On top of this, there were so many random POV switches and flashbacks, and it not only slowed down the pace but also halted any possible building up of suspense. To make things even worse, the so-called twists were both very easy to guess and underwhelming in general. That said, I can't say that I really cared about what happened to Billy by the time it was finally revealed... Which probably had a lot to do with the fact that the characters are basically cardboard cutouts and they struggle to win your sympathy. All in all Middle Of The Night turned out to be a surprisingly slow-paced, dull and tedious story that never managed to grab my attention. With its lackluster ending and constant repetitions, this is probably one of my least favorite Riley Sager books so far.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
sweetteaandfiction's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager is going to haunt me long past when I finished the book. The way that the supernatural and living work together to unearth the truth of a 30 year old disappearance of a neighborhood boy in tight knit community.
PROS:
⚾️The baseballs
⛺️Backyard camping
⚾️Ghost hunting
⛺️”weird” kids
⚾️People stepping up to take care of each other
⛺️All the layers to the events of the night Billy went missing
⚾️The Institute
CONS:
⛺️How the loss of Billy tore his family apart and messed with his mother’s sanity.
⚾️The fact it took 30 years before there was accountability
⛺️Relationships getting destroyed by other people’s lies
⚾️All the pain people went through and caused because we didn’t know the truth.
⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️ out of five baseballs tossed over the fence on a hot summer day
PROS:
⚾️The baseballs
⛺️Backyard camping
⚾️Ghost hunting
⛺️”weird” kids
⚾️People stepping up to take care of each other
⛺️All the layers to the events of the night Billy went missing
⚾️The Institute
CONS:
⛺️How the loss of Billy tore his family apart and messed with his mother’s sanity.
⚾️The fact it took 30 years before there was accountability
⛺️Relationships getting destroyed by other people’s lies
⚾️All the pain people went through and caused because we didn’t know the truth.
⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️ out of five baseballs tossed over the fence on a hot summer day
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Bullying and Gaslighting
Minor: Stalking, Car accident, and Alcohol