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melplays9000's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Going into it, I expected this book to be repetitive, then I expected the ending to be unsatisfying. This book however, exceeded all those expectations. I enjoyed this book from start to finish. I found myself excited to continue reading it every time I put it down. The concept was so unique and the execution perfect meaning this book is exactly what I wanted and exactly what I came for. I did not predict the ending at all even though I tried to and I loved how it was left quite open but in a way which was satisfying and we as readers knew that whatever happened it would be okay.
If I had to give something I didn’t like it was that the main character wasn’t the most likable. Well none of the characters were totally, but I feel this made them feel real and in my opinion only added to the story, so this isn’t much of a criticism.
Overall I think this is the best thriller I have read to date and I need to make my mother read it too, because I feel she would love it. I kind of wish I had a prettier copy for my collection. 5 stars.
If I had to give something I didn’t like it was that the main character wasn’t the most likable. Well none of the characters were totally, but I feel this made them feel real and in my opinion only added to the story, so this isn’t much of a criticism.
Overall I think this is the best thriller I have read to date and I need to make my mother read it too, because I feel she would love it. I kind of wish I had a prettier copy for my collection. 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child death, Car accident, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy
holdenwunders_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse
josefinceh's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Slow, redundant and kind of predictable.
The first 100 pages are extremely interesting, thrilling and you just get sucked in to the atmosphere of the book. The last 100 pages were ok but nothing neither brilliant nor mind-blowing about it. As for the middle of the book I feel as it would not loose anything from just throwing out 150 pages or so.
The concept of the story is interesting, I will give it that, but I had so many problems with the charters, plot and writing that towards the end I felt like I was reading it out of spite. I just wanted to find out if the ending I had predicted halfway through was right.
Let's talk about Christine. Now I can understand that writing from a perspective of a character who forgets everything by the next day is tricky, and balancing the style of writing a journal whilst still conveying a good amount of information equally so, but is it necessary for us to learn how confused she was every single time? Her entries were repetitive and with an unnecessary amount of detail about the smallest little thing. Even if she was a novelist the way the entries were written made no sense considering her mental state. It also bothers me how her writing never reflects what is going on in the house or in the place.I expected that, especially after ben hits her or when it's the middle of the night, the the writing would be choppy, short sentences to give us a hint of what was going on, adding suspense by jumping back and forth.
Also:would someone actually write an entire paragraph in their journal about how they nicked their leg wile shaving and then also tasting the soapy blood? There were also times where it felt unnecessarily sensual, where she describes the matching bra and knickers, how she peals of her blouse. I have never found myself so aware of every single moment where she or Ben was naked, not to mention how she describes Ben and his "bobbing erection" because apparently we need to hear about his penis every time he is nude...
The transition of their relationship also makes little sense, we learn in the beginning that we can't trust Ben. Towards the end we are supposed to trust him but we are given no other reason other than the fact that he is her husband. The repetition of that fact serves the purpose of trying to convince the reader that Ben is loving and to be trusted, but never actually shows us a reason why. The book also had a tendency to just drop things that maybe should be talked about, like Christine being raped?
In the end, after the final battle (that made little sense in my opinion), we have the moment where Dr. Nash is explaining everything, what happened to Mike/Ben, how they found her etc. Which just gives me the feeling that Watson couldn't bother writing an ending where everything actually connected so he resorted to telling us that this is what we missed from team Clair and Dr. Nash.
In summary: the story has a lot of potential but suffers from bad writing, plot holes and just lack of logic/beliveability.
The first 100 pages are extremely interesting, thrilling and you just get sucked in to the atmosphere of the book. The last 100 pages were ok but nothing neither brilliant nor mind-blowing about it. As for the middle of the book I feel as it would not loose anything from just throwing out 150 pages or so.
The concept of the story is interesting, I will give it that, but I had so many problems with the charters, plot and writing that towards the end I felt like I was reading it out of spite. I just wanted to find out if the ending I had predicted halfway through was right.
Let's talk about Christine. Now I can understand that writing from a perspective of a character who forgets everything by the next day is tricky, and balancing the style of writing a journal whilst still conveying a good amount of information equally so, but is it necessary for us to learn how confused she was every single time? Her entries were repetitive and with an unnecessary amount of detail about the smallest little thing. Even if she was a novelist the way the entries were written made no sense considering her mental state. It also bothers me how her writing never reflects what is going on in the house or in the place.
Also:
The transition of their relationship also makes little sense,
In summary: the story has a lot of potential but suffers from bad writing, plot holes and just lack of logic/beliveability.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape
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