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intoner1's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The tale of a woman that still manages to be male-centric (warning: spoiler heavy)
The promise of mystery and intrigue is what brought me to this story. Christine Lucas is a woman who wakes up every day with no memory. Daily, she wakes up to a man she doesn't know in a body that is foreign in a bed that she doesn't seem to know. Her "husband" takes the time to explain to her that she got into an accident and that is why her memory fades. Quickly Christine finds out that is not the case.
After meeting with her doctor, Christine is given a journal that she'd been writing in daily. That's where she finds the truth and sees that everything is not what it seems.
The premise is probably the best part of the book. Save yourself the time and money and just read the back of the book and then go to read something else. Unfortunately, Christine has caught a case of "men writing women"-syndrome. The way she describes her body feels so...foreign. Things that could easily be communicated as she notices that her body has changed with age come off as awkward and make it obvious it was written by a man.
In the beginning of the novel, when Christine is meeting her doctor at a café, she notices a man and is slightly disappointed that the man barely glances at her. I understand that the author was attempting to portray Christine as still seeing herself as s 28 year old woman who wants to be attractive but here's the thing--most women don't want to be checked out/ogled by random men. Christine's disappointment from not being checked out came off as unrealistic to me.
As the story continues Christine doesn't really meet anyone which is fair, she only has her doctor and her husband. But I couldn't help but notice that the side characters that were named, no matter how minor were all men. I thought it was odd that Christine remembered her mother but never asked "Ben" about her, it seems like it would only be natural for a daughter to ask about her mother.
About halfway through the tale I rejoiced when we were finally introduced to another woman--Claire. Christine's best friend. That happiness quickly waned when the conversation between the two women divulged into a conversation about Ben and how Claire slept with him. That's when it became obvious that the author is incapable of writing women who aren't in some way attached to a man.
This all came to a head in the final scenes, where Christine called Claire and told her that "Ben" had hit her. Claire's response? Well it was to ask her what she did to cause it. I'm sorry but what? Most women would be by their friend's side if something like that happened. Claire has supposedly been Christine's best friend for over 20 years, and that's the question she asks when she finds out her best friend is the victim of domestic assault? Then they talk more and it comes out that "Ben" is actually a man named Mike--Christine had had an affair with him and because of plot armor he was able to check her out of the facility she was staying in and pretend to be her husband.
And after all of that is revealed, Claire still decides to wait until the next day to get Christine. You know, the friend who is very vulnerable and can't remember anything the next day, and is being abused, she'll just check up on her then. This isn't even men writing women anymore, this is author writing stupid people.
I wouldn't suggest reading the book, it's frustrating and quite frankly not that well written. The mystery of the story can't justify the offensive way the author writes women and I'm disappointed that I wasted my time and money reading this.
The promise of mystery and intrigue is what brought me to this story. Christine Lucas is a woman who wakes up every day with no memory. Daily, she wakes up to a man she doesn't know in a body that is foreign in a bed that she doesn't seem to know. Her "husband" takes the time to explain to her that she got into an accident and that is why her memory fades. Quickly Christine finds out that is not the case.
After meeting with her doctor, Christine is given a journal that she'd been writing in daily. That's where she finds the truth and sees that everything is not what it seems.
The premise is probably the best part of the book. Save yourself the time and money and just read the back of the book and then go to read something else. Unfortunately, Christine has caught a case of "men writing women"-syndrome. The way she describes her body feels so...foreign. Things that could easily be communicated as she notices that her body has changed with age come off as awkward and make it obvious it was written by a man.
In the beginning of the novel, when Christine is meeting her doctor at a café, she notices a man and is slightly disappointed that the man barely glances at her. I understand that the author was attempting to portray Christine as still seeing herself as s 28 year old woman who wants to be attractive but here's the thing--most women don't want to be checked out/ogled by random men. Christine's disappointment from not being checked out came off as unrealistic to me.
As the story continues Christine doesn't really meet anyone which is fair, she only has her doctor and her husband. But I couldn't help but notice that the side characters that were named, no matter how minor were all men. I thought it was odd that Christine remembered her mother but never asked "Ben" about her, it seems like it would only be natural for a daughter to ask about her mother.
About halfway through the tale I rejoiced when we were finally introduced to another woman--Claire. Christine's best friend. That happiness quickly waned when the conversation between the two women divulged into a conversation about Ben and how Claire slept with him. That's when it became obvious that the author is incapable of writing women who aren't in some way attached to a man.
This all came to a head in the final scenes, where Christine called Claire and told her that "Ben" had hit her. Claire's response? Well it was to ask her what she did to cause it. I'm sorry but what? Most women would be by their friend's side if something like that happened. Claire has supposedly been Christine's best friend for over 20 years, and that's the question she asks when she finds out her best friend is the victim of domestic assault? Then they talk more and it comes out that "Ben" is actually a man named Mike--Christine had had an affair with him and because of plot armor he was able to check her out of the facility she was staying in and pretend to be her husband.
And after all of that is revealed, Claire still decides to wait until the next day to get Christine. You know, the friend who is very vulnerable and can't remember anything the next day, and is being abused, she'll just check up on her then. This isn't even men writing women anymore, this is author writing stupid people.
I wouldn't suggest reading the book, it's frustrating and quite frankly not that well written. The mystery of the story can't justify the offensive way the author writes women and I'm disappointed that I wasted my time and money reading this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Ableism
navayiota's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
Τι απαίσιο βιβλίο.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Medical content, Miscarriage, Rape, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol and Car accident
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