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deniizzze's review
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
cgroff's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
skanward's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
writerrhiannon's review against another edition
5.0
I have never read such a heart-pounding, stomach-wrenching, nail-biting, edge of my seat, can't put down thriller! I had to force myself to slow down because I was tripping over every word to get to the next.
Just like the husbands we see in Sleeping with the Enemy or Enough, Gordon is a powerful man who is viewed as a pillar of the community. His expectation of perfection manipulates every situation to his advantage while putting up a perfect facade. His wife, Jillian, believes she can control his rage by being perfect, but as a working mother, things fall through the cracks. A forgotten lunch, a missed pick-up, a child's public tantrum are all chalked up to a bad day for a regular working mom. But Gordon's keeping a list, retaliating, and leaving no loose ends. The fact that he is a cop lends an extra layer of protection to his cruelty. He has created a perfect image of himself and a very tarnished image of his wife. His abuse knows no bounds whether they be physcial, emotional, financial, or reproductive.
Read my full review here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/10/hush-little-baby.html
**I received this novel in exchange for an honest review**
Just like the husbands we see in Sleeping with the Enemy or Enough, Gordon is a powerful man who is viewed as a pillar of the community. His expectation of perfection manipulates every situation to his advantage while putting up a perfect facade. His wife, Jillian, believes she can control his rage by being perfect, but as a working mother, things fall through the cracks. A forgotten lunch, a missed pick-up, a child's public tantrum are all chalked up to a bad day for a regular working mom. But Gordon's keeping a list, retaliating, and leaving no loose ends. The fact that he is a cop lends an extra layer of protection to his cruelty. He has created a perfect image of himself and a very tarnished image of his wife. His abuse knows no bounds whether they be physcial, emotional, financial, or reproductive.
Read my full review here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/10/hush-little-baby.html
**I received this novel in exchange for an honest review**
verdina's review against another edition
4.0
This was a Great read. Had me a little on the edge though
blackbookishbabe89's review against another edition
4.0
Good book. Ending was left a little open for the imagination.
canadianbookworm's review
4.0
This novel had a mesmerizing storyline that caught me and didn't let me go. I ended up reading this in just a few short hours. Jillian Kane is a successful architect, with a doting husband who loves to spend time with their two kids. But that is just how it looks on the surface. Her husband Gordon is a police officer with a controlling nature, where he is the one who calls the shots. He is charming and gregarious, but behind closed doors he uses his physical strength and threats to control her behaviour.
Jillian longs to break free as she fears she will be killed if she doesn't, but she fears what he will do to the children. As she tries to make a break for it, his manipulations work only too well and she looks like the one in the wrong. As his threats escalate and she realizes what he is capable of, she takes a chance and makes a run for it with the kids. But without a plan or money, how can she make a go of it.
Jillian finds support where she didn't expect it, and realizes a hidden strength in herself that pushes her forward in her fight to live her own life without fear and in her children's best interests. But even then, she will need to be smart and careful and even then there are no guarantees.
This is an interesting look at appearances and manipulative behaviour, and grew from an experience the author had with a friend who claimed to be abused by her husband. She began to wonder what someone who knew a woman really well could make others believe by using her weaknesses and taking advantage of social expectations.
Jillian longs to break free as she fears she will be killed if she doesn't, but she fears what he will do to the children. As she tries to make a break for it, his manipulations work only too well and she looks like the one in the wrong. As his threats escalate and she realizes what he is capable of, she takes a chance and makes a run for it with the kids. But without a plan or money, how can she make a go of it.
Jillian finds support where she didn't expect it, and realizes a hidden strength in herself that pushes her forward in her fight to live her own life without fear and in her children's best interests. But even then, she will need to be smart and careful and even then there are no guarantees.
This is an interesting look at appearances and manipulative behaviour, and grew from an experience the author had with a friend who claimed to be abused by her husband. She began to wonder what someone who knew a woman really well could make others believe by using her weaknesses and taking advantage of social expectations.
randykraft's review
3.0
It’s not a new story but it bears repeating: accomplished woman marries for love, discovers she married a stranger, in this case an abusive stranger, and has to find her way out to protect her children. That’s the premise. Simple enough. Perfect fodder for a page-turner. And as it published in soft-cover, all the better.
What is new is a happily married architect seizing the downtime of the recession to write thriller fiction. This was not the first novel Laguna local Suzanne Redfearn has written in the last few years, but the first to be published, and I imagine more will follow.
What she brings to her fiction is her own compassion, with a focus on human foibles. There are no single dimensional characters here: no one is perfect, not even the kids, and no one is completely innocent. Even the horrible husband has moments of kindness and the abuse victim goes beyond the norm for self-preservation.
Redfearn said recently that she has seen marriages erode and was struck by the warfare former lovers will wage.
“I wanted to convey the terror – the manipulation and the subterfuge, that’s what is chilling.” She has also observed ostensibly grounded, dare we say happy women and loving mothers, keep up a good face even as they disintegrate under a barrage of cruelty.
The novel follows on the heels of “Gone Girl” a record-breaking success, and reads like a screenplay, with a series of twists and turns as well as a solid mix of characters who become unwilling participants and victims. Within the heavy plotting, the story poses questions not only of fidelity to marital vows, but issues related to parenting and community and the gender power struggle because Redfearn never meant to be a writer. However, with time on her hands she began to fashion some of the story ideas she has jotted down now and then, which she then built from the ground up just as she might construct a blueprint. Now, she says, “I might have discovered what I want to do.”
What is new is a happily married architect seizing the downtime of the recession to write thriller fiction. This was not the first novel Laguna local Suzanne Redfearn has written in the last few years, but the first to be published, and I imagine more will follow.
What she brings to her fiction is her own compassion, with a focus on human foibles. There are no single dimensional characters here: no one is perfect, not even the kids, and no one is completely innocent. Even the horrible husband has moments of kindness and the abuse victim goes beyond the norm for self-preservation.
Redfearn said recently that she has seen marriages erode and was struck by the warfare former lovers will wage.
“I wanted to convey the terror – the manipulation and the subterfuge, that’s what is chilling.” She has also observed ostensibly grounded, dare we say happy women and loving mothers, keep up a good face even as they disintegrate under a barrage of cruelty.
The novel follows on the heels of “Gone Girl” a record-breaking success, and reads like a screenplay, with a series of twists and turns as well as a solid mix of characters who become unwilling participants and victims. Within the heavy plotting, the story poses questions not only of fidelity to marital vows, but issues related to parenting and community and the gender power struggle because Redfearn never meant to be a writer. However, with time on her hands she began to fashion some of the story ideas she has jotted down now and then, which she then built from the ground up just as she might construct a blueprint. Now, she says, “I might have discovered what I want to do.”
shelbyjo's review
5.0
What an excellent book! It was so riveting, I just couldn't put it down. I started reading it before I went to bed last night, and stayed up way too late reading. I finally made myself put it down and go to sleep, but picked it up as soon as I woke up. So good! I loved the character of Jillian, and really felt for her. Makes me appreciate my amazing husband! Awesome book, I will definitely read anything else this author comes out with!