Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
The Night Before follows two sisters: problem child Laura who goes to dinner with a man she meets on a dating website, and good girl Rosie who the next morning discovers Laura has not returned home. For a psychological thriller, it was definitely far more psychological than thriller. I liked it. I finished it fairly quickly. Laura's half moved slower, and never felt very suspenseful. I was more invested in Rosie's half of the story, as she follows the clues left behind to try and find Laura. Beyond the surface of the thriller, there are some really complex and interesting familial relationships as well as questions about love and trust. As a mystery it was fine, but it definitely left me wanting just a little something more.
Why is everyone hyping this up? This was so, so, ridiculously stupid. I’m debating a one star, but what saves this book is the pacing, and the not completely awful writing. I could bear to continue reading it, and it didn’t bore me out of my mind.
I hated the main character, Laura, who is the perfect ‘pick me’, ‘s(he’s) br(ok)en’, ‘quirky’ type girl. A DIRECT quote from her is “...But I’m not like those other girls.” No joke. I cannot express how many times I rolled my eyes.
Each twist made my eyes roll back even farther, making the book seem even more of a waste of my time. And I’m not even mentioning the dialogue, especially within the therapy chapters, which is so robotic, nothing like any real person would every actually say.
Yes, there are worse books out there. Even so, this one is no gem.
I hated the main character, Laura, who is the perfect ‘pick me’, ‘s(he’s) br(ok)en’, ‘quirky’ type girl. A DIRECT quote from her is “...But I’m not like those other girls.” No joke. I cannot express how many times I rolled my eyes.
Each twist made my eyes roll back even farther, making the book seem even more of a waste of my time. And I’m not even mentioning the dialogue, especially within the therapy chapters, which is so robotic, nothing like any real person would every actually say.
Yes, there are worse books out there. Even so, this one is no gem.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Murder
I may have read too many thrillers lately. Or in general in my life…
I’m just really over a woman’s psychological trauma being part of the thrills. Also this was just..slow and the payoff wasn’t worth it.
I’m just really over a woman’s psychological trauma being part of the thrills. Also this was just..slow and the payoff wasn’t worth it.
I've never read anything by Wendy Walker but I've heard great things about her books so I was eager to dive into one. This story follows a woman named Laura, who is preparing to go on a date with someone she met online. Her sister Rosie becomes very concerned when Laura doesn't return home the following morning and goes on a search to find out what happened to her.
This book was full of twists and turns and most of the chapters ended with a small cliff-hanger that made it difficult to put down. I enjoyed the story and the twists but I felt like it wasn't very memorable.
The story bounces between 3 different timelines, the night before, present day, and several months in the past. I wasn't thrilled with this format because I would really become interested in one of the timelines and have to wait to get back to it.
Overall, this was a decent thriller but a bit forgettable.
I received an arc from Netgalley and the publisher to review honestly. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This book was full of twists and turns and most of the chapters ended with a small cliff-hanger that made it difficult to put down. I enjoyed the story and the twists but I felt like it wasn't very memorable.
The story bounces between 3 different timelines, the night before, present day, and several months in the past. I wasn't thrilled with this format because I would really become interested in one of the timelines and have to wait to get back to it.
Overall, this was a decent thriller but a bit forgettable.
I received an arc from Netgalley and the publisher to review honestly. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
“People are crazy,” he says. “Haven’t you figured that out? No one is what they seem.”
A real page-turner! I definitely stayed up way too late for a couple nights until I finished it. Worth it, though!
A real page-turner! I definitely stayed up way too late for a couple nights until I finished it. Worth it, though!
The girl with fists for hands. Maybe this book was a little too cerebral for me. Or maybe the twists and turns were just a little too fast and tight and woven together without enough detail. I liked the story, but sometimes I had a little trouble following along. I'm glad I read it, but I was ready for it to be over.
The relationship between two sisters with long-buried secrets always provides a compelling basis for a psychological thriller. And The Night Before is no exception..
Laura Lochner has come home. She's on the run from a broken heart (again) and has abandoned her Wall Street job and New York City apartment, hiding out in the home of her sister, Rosie, who never left the small Connecticut town in which they grew up. Laura's life has been defined by a tragedy that occurred in her youth, and opened her up to suspicion and gossip. She has never dealt with that reality. Rather, she has been involved in a series of relationships with the wrong men. Of course, Laura has not been forthcoming with Rosie about the details.
Rosie understands her sister and has always been her protector. So of course, she allows her to take up residence in the home Rosie shares with her husband, Joe, and son. Because Laura has not been completely candid about the reasons she gave up her life in New York City, Rosie is left to surmise and attempt to understand this latest chapter in her sister's troubled life.
But Rosie is supportive when Laura announces that she has a date with a man she met on an internet dating site. Rosie helps her gt ready and loans Laura her car so that she can meet the man for a drink, with Laura's assurances that she will behave responsibly.
So Rosie is understandably upset the next morning when she discovers that Laura next came home the previous night. Worse, Laura is not responding to calls or texts, and Rosie has no idea how to reach the man Laura was scheduled to meet. Rosie saw his photo on the dating website, but has no way of knowing whether that picture was genuine or if he provided Laura with his real name. All Rosie knows is that her sister is missing, Rosie's vehicle has been abandoned, and the only person who might be able to help is their mutual childhood friend, Gabe, who lives next door in his boyhood home. Gabe performs IT forensics -- sometimes tracking down cheating spouses -- and offers assistance tracking calls to and from Laura's telephone, as well as the telephone's whereabouts.
Author Wendy Walker relates the story of the desperate search for Laura through alternating narratives. She relates the details of Laura's sessions with a New York City psychologist, commencing four months earlier, along with Laura's present-day first-person account and a third-person present-day narrative told from Rosie's perspective. The result is extremely effective. Walker reveals details about Laura's life that she disclosed to Dr. Brody as readers go along with Laura on her blind date. The focus then switches to the frantic search for her undertaken by Rosie, Joe, and Gabe. Walker switches the story's focus as deftly-times intervals, compelling the story forward and keeping readers intrigued. Along the way she expands upon Laura's history and why she has always been the dysfunctional sister, Rosie's resentments about that and fear not that Laura has been harmed but that, perhaps, she has done something untoward to her date, and grants readers an unfettered look at Laura's feelings -- her self-recriminations, lack of confidence, and awareness of how her sister regards her.
Walker deftly keeps the pace moving, providing clues to Laura's whereabouts, some of which are valid and some that prove disappointing. The suspense builds to the point that Walker reveals what happened to Laura and her location, but the focus then switches to the desperate attempts to get to her in time. Walker includes a subplot involving Rosie's jealousy about the relationship Laura and Joe share which is ultimately resolved with the revelation of family secrets that impact all of them.
The Night Before is a creative, tautly-constructed contemporary thriller and exploration of a troubled sibling relationship. It's a smart, crisp mystery that proves first dates can be murder.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Laura Lochner has come home. She's on the run from a broken heart (again) and has abandoned her Wall Street job and New York City apartment, hiding out in the home of her sister, Rosie, who never left the small Connecticut town in which they grew up. Laura's life has been defined by a tragedy that occurred in her youth, and opened her up to suspicion and gossip. She has never dealt with that reality. Rather, she has been involved in a series of relationships with the wrong men. Of course, Laura has not been forthcoming with Rosie about the details.
Rosie understands her sister and has always been her protector. So of course, she allows her to take up residence in the home Rosie shares with her husband, Joe, and son. Because Laura has not been completely candid about the reasons she gave up her life in New York City, Rosie is left to surmise and attempt to understand this latest chapter in her sister's troubled life.
But Rosie is supportive when Laura announces that she has a date with a man she met on an internet dating site. Rosie helps her gt ready and loans Laura her car so that she can meet the man for a drink, with Laura's assurances that she will behave responsibly.
So Rosie is understandably upset the next morning when she discovers that Laura next came home the previous night. Worse, Laura is not responding to calls or texts, and Rosie has no idea how to reach the man Laura was scheduled to meet. Rosie saw his photo on the dating website, but has no way of knowing whether that picture was genuine or if he provided Laura with his real name. All Rosie knows is that her sister is missing, Rosie's vehicle has been abandoned, and the only person who might be able to help is their mutual childhood friend, Gabe, who lives next door in his boyhood home. Gabe performs IT forensics -- sometimes tracking down cheating spouses -- and offers assistance tracking calls to and from Laura's telephone, as well as the telephone's whereabouts.
Author Wendy Walker relates the story of the desperate search for Laura through alternating narratives. She relates the details of Laura's sessions with a New York City psychologist, commencing four months earlier, along with Laura's present-day first-person account and a third-person present-day narrative told from Rosie's perspective. The result is extremely effective. Walker reveals details about Laura's life that she disclosed to Dr. Brody as readers go along with Laura on her blind date. The focus then switches to the frantic search for her undertaken by Rosie, Joe, and Gabe. Walker switches the story's focus as deftly-times intervals, compelling the story forward and keeping readers intrigued. Along the way she expands upon Laura's history and why she has always been the dysfunctional sister, Rosie's resentments about that and fear not that Laura has been harmed but that, perhaps, she has done something untoward to her date, and grants readers an unfettered look at Laura's feelings -- her self-recriminations, lack of confidence, and awareness of how her sister regards her.
Walker deftly keeps the pace moving, providing clues to Laura's whereabouts, some of which are valid and some that prove disappointing. The suspense builds to the point that Walker reveals what happened to Laura and her location, but the focus then switches to the desperate attempts to get to her in time. Walker includes a subplot involving Rosie's jealousy about the relationship Laura and Joe share which is ultimately resolved with the revelation of family secrets that impact all of them.
The Night Before is a creative, tautly-constructed contemporary thriller and exploration of a troubled sibling relationship. It's a smart, crisp mystery that proves first dates can be murder.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
I couldn't put this book down! The story started off strongly, and kept me interested until the very end. I would definitely recommend it, and I look forward to reading more from this author.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes