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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
I was very excited to receive a proof copy of this book as I’d seen photos of the proofs on twitter and was intrigued. I managed to avoid knowing much about the novel, beyond the genre and the synopsis, in advance as I wanted to read it without any preconceived ideas.
Jean Taylor is the widow. She is the woman at the side who has stood by her husband, Glen, as he was accused of the heinous crimes of kidnapping and murdering two year old Bella Elliot. The novel is told from the viewpoint of Jean, and also the reporter Kate and the detective Bob Sparkes.
It’s interesting and refreshing to read a novel told from the perspective of the partner of the accused, of the person that is never normally heard from. Jean is an intriguing character because she changes throughout the novel. Sometimes she is meek and mild and kowtows to her husband, other times she is more empowered and will push back against the status quo. She wears many faces but mainly she is the widow, the one left behind. She isn’t a particularly likeable character, at times I felt that I should have more sympathy for her but she is so enmeshed in the character of Jeanie, whom she feels she has to play, that she has too many sides to her for me to like her. She is undeniably fascinating though.
There aren’t really any likeable characters at all in this novel, but just about everyone is interesting in their own ways and that kept me hooked wanting to know more about them. I wish we had seen more of Sparkes’ wife Eileen, as in the very few times she did appear, she spoke a lot of sense. Kate, the reporter, was very believable, she wasn’t likeable but she absolutely felt like a real person to me and I found myself wanting to know more about her.
The police were utterly hopeless in the investigation into Bella’s disappearance. They seized on one viewpoint and ran with it whilst failing to consider any other possibility. They didn’t ask the questions that at times I wanted to scream at them to ask. I did find this aspect of the book difficult because it was obviously important to the storyline that the police were incompetent but I was left feeling that I had to suspend my disbelief rather a lot in order to continue reading.
There is a part of me that can’t help but wish that this hadn’t been billed as a psychological thriller. This isn’t a suspense-filled novel, it’s not really a thriller either – for me, it’s more of a domestic noir; it’s a study in what happens in a marriage when one party is accused of a heinous crime and the other party is trapped in the situation. This is a brilliant and intriguing concept in its own right and I think this novel would have been a better read for me if I hadn’t expected it to be thrilling and twisty with an unexpected or unpredictable ending, and all the things that a psychological thriller should be. I found it easy to work out how the story was going to play out very early on, but had it have been a domestic noir I would have been okay with that because it would have been journey of how it happened rather than who committed the crime, but because it’s a psychological thriller it ultimately falls flat if it’s possible to spot in the first few pages how it’s going to end.
I really wanted to love this novel and I’m sad that I didn’t, but I did still like quite a lot of things about it. I can honestly say that this is an engaging read and I did find myself wanting to keep picking it up to read more. The writing style is great, it flows well. There is a lot that is good about this novel, and it’s definitely worth grabbing a copy when it’s published.
I rate this novel 3.5 out of 5.
I received this book from Transworld in exchange for an honest review.
The Widow is due to be released on 16 January 2016 and is a available for pre-order from Amazon now.
Jean Taylor is the widow. She is the woman at the side who has stood by her husband, Glen, as he was accused of the heinous crimes of kidnapping and murdering two year old Bella Elliot. The novel is told from the viewpoint of Jean, and also the reporter Kate and the detective Bob Sparkes.
It’s interesting and refreshing to read a novel told from the perspective of the partner of the accused, of the person that is never normally heard from. Jean is an intriguing character because she changes throughout the novel. Sometimes she is meek and mild and kowtows to her husband, other times she is more empowered and will push back against the status quo. She wears many faces but mainly she is the widow, the one left behind. She isn’t a particularly likeable character, at times I felt that I should have more sympathy for her but she is so enmeshed in the character of Jeanie, whom she feels she has to play, that she has too many sides to her for me to like her. She is undeniably fascinating though.
There aren’t really any likeable characters at all in this novel, but just about everyone is interesting in their own ways and that kept me hooked wanting to know more about them. I wish we had seen more of Sparkes’ wife Eileen, as in the very few times she did appear, she spoke a lot of sense. Kate, the reporter, was very believable, she wasn’t likeable but she absolutely felt like a real person to me and I found myself wanting to know more about her.
The police were utterly hopeless in the investigation into Bella’s disappearance. They seized on one viewpoint and ran with it whilst failing to consider any other possibility. They didn’t ask the questions that at times I wanted to scream at them to ask. I did find this aspect of the book difficult because it was obviously important to the storyline that the police were incompetent but I was left feeling that I had to suspend my disbelief rather a lot in order to continue reading.
There is a part of me that can’t help but wish that this hadn’t been billed as a psychological thriller. This isn’t a suspense-filled novel, it’s not really a thriller either – for me, it’s more of a domestic noir; it’s a study in what happens in a marriage when one party is accused of a heinous crime and the other party is trapped in the situation. This is a brilliant and intriguing concept in its own right and I think this novel would have been a better read for me if I hadn’t expected it to be thrilling and twisty with an unexpected or unpredictable ending, and all the things that a psychological thriller should be. I found it easy to work out how the story was going to play out very early on, but had it have been a domestic noir I would have been okay with that because it would have been journey of how it happened rather than who committed the crime, but because it’s a psychological thriller it ultimately falls flat if it’s possible to spot in the first few pages how it’s going to end.
I really wanted to love this novel and I’m sad that I didn’t, but I did still like quite a lot of things about it. I can honestly say that this is an engaging read and I did find myself wanting to keep picking it up to read more. The writing style is great, it flows well. There is a lot that is good about this novel, and it’s definitely worth grabbing a copy when it’s published.
I rate this novel 3.5 out of 5.
I received this book from Transworld in exchange for an honest review.
The Widow is due to be released on 16 January 2016 and is a available for pre-order from Amazon now.
Warning: this will be a subjective review and I will probably say some spoiler-y things. If you don't want to read that, please don't read this review. ALSO, ALL of the trigger warnings for this book and my review: child abuse, rape, sexual assault, psychological abuse, pedophilia, kidnapping, murder, gaslighting, etc.
The summary makes this book sound like it's going to be a lot better than it is. The comparisons and author blurbs make it sound like it's going to be a lot better than it is. Overall this book was just...something I could have done without reading.
I'm not into shaming people for the books they read and enjoy. If you liked this book, good for you. I don't think Fiona Barton is a bad writer. Some of the characters were dynamic (Kate and the lead detective whose name absolutely escapes me now...good sign). I just had a couple considerable issues.
Namely, at the beginning of the book, Fiona Barton describes the actions of a pedophile and child rapist as "he tried to have sex" with the five-year-old in question. UM, NO. HE DID NOT. THAT IS NOT SEX. IT IS RAPE. My opinion PLUMMETED right there.
I went into this knowing that this was going to be the perspective of someone who was complicit in heinous crimes. But...I thought there was going to be more justification for the complicity. Instead, we have the whiny Widow consistently making excuses for her scumbag of a pedophile husband and INTENTIONALLY looking over his very clear scumbag behaviors because she doesn't want her "perfect" life to be ruined. Yeah, the dude sucked and his actions were abusive on their own but like........*gestures at the air* the entire plot of the book?? That's when you run screaming for the hills.
Maybe I'm being too moralistic about this. I definitely shouldn't have read a book about a pedophile. I was just hoping for something more along the lines of We Need to Talk About Kevin instead of this.
The summary makes this book sound like it's going to be a lot better than it is. The comparisons and author blurbs make it sound like it's going to be a lot better than it is. Overall this book was just...something I could have done without reading.
I'm not into shaming people for the books they read and enjoy. If you liked this book, good for you. I don't think Fiona Barton is a bad writer. Some of the characters were dynamic (Kate and the lead detective whose name absolutely escapes me now...good sign). I just had a couple considerable issues.
Namely, at the beginning of the book, Fiona Barton describes the actions of a pedophile and child rapist as "he tried to have sex" with the five-year-old in question. UM, NO. HE DID NOT. THAT IS NOT SEX. IT IS RAPE. My opinion PLUMMETED right there.
I went into this knowing that this was going to be the perspective of someone who was complicit in heinous crimes. But...I thought there was going to be more justification for the complicity. Instead, we have the whiny Widow consistently making excuses for her scumbag of a pedophile husband and INTENTIONALLY looking over his very clear scumbag behaviors because she doesn't want her "perfect" life to be ruined. Yeah, the dude sucked and his actions were abusive on their own but like........*gestures at the air* the entire plot of the book?? That's when you run screaming for the hills.
Maybe I'm being too moralistic about this. I definitely shouldn't have read a book about a pedophile. I was just hoping for something more along the lines of We Need to Talk About Kevin instead of this.
This book had a lot of potential. The entire time while reading it I was thinking "oh my gosh, this is going to have such a plot twist, it can't be that easy!" Sadly I was wrong. There was a lot of build up with a lot left to be desired. It was also slightly confusing jumping from narrator to narrator and timeline to timeline.
The book wasn't terrible, I didn't quit reading it, however it isn't my new favorite. If I lend it to someone and don't get it back I won't be too upset.
The book wasn't terrible, I didn't quit reading it, however it isn't my new favorite. If I lend it to someone and don't get it back I won't be too upset.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
i wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book - if i expected anything, i expected more of a traditional thriller. but what i read instead was the slow unraveling of a woman coming to terms with her life and who her husband really was. and it was fascinating. it was definitely a mystery, but not the heart stopping, twisty-turny kind. it was way more of a slow burn. and i enjoyed every minute of it.
i wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book - if i expected anything, i expected more of a traditional thriller. but what i read instead was the slow unraveling of a woman coming to terms with her life and who her husband really was. and it was fascinating. it was definitely a mystery, but not the heart stopping, twisty-turny kind. it was way more of a slow burn. and i enjoyed every minute of it.
This was pretty good. I kept changing my mind as to who was really guilty. Well written and kept my interest. Sometimes when stories jump around a bit in time I get frustrated. Not with this one though.
I was pretty disappointed with this one. It just didn't live up to the hype...
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
**2.5-3 Stars**
For a mystery there was nothing mysterious about it. You already know the "twist" by chapter one honestly. The child in this story is simply a means to have something to do in the story which she is still on the back burner.
Absolutely no reason to have multiple points of views, some you only touch one once, not kidding! Only the Widow was in first person narrative and everyone else was 3rd? Just a lot of pointlessness.
However, it was an easy smooth read, slow steady slope to a predictable thud of an ending.
For a mystery there was nothing mysterious about it. You already know the "twist" by chapter one honestly. The child in this story is simply a means to have something to do in the story which she is still on the back burner.
Absolutely no reason to have multiple points of views, some you only touch one once, not kidding! Only the Widow was in first person narrative and everyone else was 3rd? Just a lot of pointlessness.
However, it was an easy smooth read, slow steady slope to a predictable thud of an ending.