Reviews

The Woman Next Door by Cass Green

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abookloversdiary's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

kelly_79's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

I have to admit that I didn’t know much about this book going into it. I am a massive fan of pyschological thrillers, so the cover and the synopsis immediately gripped me. Whilst I don’t think The Woman Next Door is the best read out there, it didn’t take me long to devour the story. I found it to be a real page turner and I’m certainly glad that I picked it up!

The story centres around Hester and Melissa. They are neighbours and Hester used to think they were good friends. However, Melissa doesn’t feel the same way. She found Hester to be a little bit creepy and started to distance herself from Hester. One day there’s an incident involving Melissa and a blast from her very secret past. Hester is involved and becomes the only person that can help Melissa. Melissa doesn’t realise that Hester has dark secrets of her own.

I have to come right out and say that this book isn’t overly believable, yet it’s utterly readable. I could go with the story that’s for sure. I absolutely loved to hate Hester who is an incredibly creepy woman. I wondered what on earth had been going on in her life. I certainly didn’t trust her. Yet, I didn’t trust Melissa too, who was clearly hiding something from her past. The whole story made me feel very uneasy which I enjoyed. I love unpredictable narrators and The Woman Next Door totally has that.

I think this book is going to evoke mixed feelings between readers. Some may find it a little far-fetched, some might find it believable as the characters feel like people you might know and some (like me) might find it unrealistic but not be bothered by it. I thought it was a gripping psychological thriller which could easily be devoured in one sitting or on the beach!

i_dont_read_blurbs's review

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I could not finish this. I read until 64% praying that it would get interesting or the characters would have a personality, but no. There is nothing interesting or exciting about this book. They are the most boring characters I've ever read.

freyah98's review against another edition

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2.0

The first half of the book, and the second even slower. I did manage to get through it but I can't say I care about either of the main characters (two women who live next door to eachother). There is a key turning point in the book about a third of the way through which kept me going but unfortunately the book overall couldn't deliver.

taydaliese's review against another edition

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2.0

Important plot points I feel were "glossed over" and books where I dislike everyone and they aren't very fleshed out don't feel to me like a book that I loved. It was fairly easy to get into eventually, but the tone sometimes was off from the events that were happening in the book.