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"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.
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, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Dementia
Minor: Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Dementia
Minor: Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent
I liked the idea of making a setting that is stereotypically seen as safe and secure, and flipping it on it's head, but I don't necessarily think this was well done. The conclusion was extremely disappointing and anti-climatic, and the characters are all extremely insufferable. A forgettable one, for sure.
Graphic: Child death, Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Dementia
Minor: Car accident
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief
Minor: Death of parent
Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Dementia, Car accident
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Grief
Minor: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death of parent
Content warnings contain spoilers!
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Grief, Car accident, Murder
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Dementia, Kidnapping
Minor: Bullying, Miscarriage, Violence, Car accident