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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
Not bad...but predictable. I think it started much stronger than it finished, and ALL of the characters could have been fleshed out in a less flat way.
I'm on the fence about this book. On one hand, I had no trouble putting the book down. It wasn't a page turner. But on the other hand, I had to know what happened to Bella.
I listened to this as an audiobook, and it was done so well, it added to the story in a brilliant way.
The twists and turns of this story, how the information is revealed piecemeal, how you want to keep moving forward to discover what really happened to Bella; it's all brilliantly done. This is a woman who has a talent for a writing and a brilliant editor to help her keep all the loose ends tied together into a complete story.
I highly recommend this read.
The twists and turns of this story, how the information is revealed piecemeal, how you want to keep moving forward to discover what really happened to Bella; it's all brilliantly done. This is a woman who has a talent for a writing and a brilliant editor to help her keep all the loose ends tied together into a complete story.
I highly recommend this read.
Review can also be found on my : https://bibliomaniacezza.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/the-widow-a-review/
I found this book okay for my taste. It was average. The plot was predictable and this predictability in my opinion puts the book both in the pros and the cons of said book. I say this because yeah the book is predictable but I get a sense that this isn't what the author was working at because whilst it was predictable I still found myself not being able to put the book down and this predictability allows us as the reader to engage with the characters present in this book. But again because the book was predictable I couldn't really immerse myself in the book and just get lost within the mystery of it, if you understand what I mean. Like you can't lose yourself in a book of which you can predict whats going to happen.
Now, another thing I found a tad bit disappointing was that this book was touted as a psychological thriller rivaling that of the book 'The Girl on The Train' but when I read it I found no aspect of this book pertaining to any sort of psychological-thriller-issues-thing. I personally found the book to be a straightforward crime fiction novel.
Yes, you get psychological issues pertaining to the main character who is Jean Taylor, widow to Glen Taylor; pedophile and child kidnapper extraordinaire but that is where any psychological issues stop. You don't get any duplicity, split personality or anything relating to those sort of things.
But all that did not come close to me truly disliking the ending. My mind was like WTF. The ending ended with Jean knowing all along where Bella's (the kidnapped girl) body was and the ending line was that she was not allowed to go to Bella's funeral and that the psychiatrist and judge agrees it will be too much for her and I am here like HOLD UP!
Like what????!!!! THAT WAS THE ENDING?! That was just a cheap way out man. CHEAP WAY OUT and it didn't answer no questions. IT MADE ME HAVE MORE QUESTIONS. Like first of all... FIRST OF ALL...
What happened to Jean after she lead the cops to Bella's body? Was she incarcerated? Is she in jail? Is she in an asylum? Was she prosecuted???
This is not a plot twist. I knew Jean knows where the body is. I knew she in some way was in cahoots with Glen because you can see from a mile away she cray but this ending is BS! Like girl! You made me read the whole book making me somewhat interested in the characters and the hint of payoff when it comes to the ending what with your predictable plot and so-so characters because you kept hinting and building up and building up expectation that the ending will leave me SHOOOOOOK and when I finally read the ending you gave me this BS!
Right, right having said all that there were aspects of the book that I did like such as the relationship between Glen and Jean and how even form early on you as the reader can see all the red flags be poppin up like mushrooms everywhere but because Jean is so blinded by love she just goes on ahead.
For example, when they first started dating he would just order for her doesn't even bother to ask what she wanted or heck does she even like steak but Jean sees it as him being thoughtful making her try new things.
I really like how the relationship slowly progressed in a sense that you can see how controlling Glen is and how he emotionally and mentally abuses and manipulates Jean until she has to put on this facade to be this perfect wife (which the author totally should have delved deeper into because it if by far the most interesting part of the book) and thus why she was essentially coerced into being in cahoots with Glen.
Another aspect that I liked was the multiple POV's in this book and the jumping between the past and the present. This allows the reader to follow the investigation as well as follow the characters and how this investigation impacted their own personal life as well as their professional life.
I found this book okay for my taste. It was average. The plot was predictable and this predictability in my opinion puts the book both in the pros and the cons of said book. I say this because yeah the book is predictable but I get a sense that this isn't what the author was working at because whilst it was predictable I still found myself not being able to put the book down and this predictability allows us as the reader to engage with the characters present in this book. But again because the book was predictable I couldn't really immerse myself in the book and just get lost within the mystery of it, if you understand what I mean. Like you can't lose yourself in a book of which you can predict whats going to happen.
Now, another thing I found a tad bit disappointing was that this book was touted as a psychological thriller rivaling that of the book 'The Girl on The Train' but when I read it I found no aspect of this book pertaining to any sort of psychological-thriller-issues-thing. I personally found the book to be a straightforward crime fiction novel.
Yes, you get psychological issues pertaining to the main character who is Jean Taylor, widow to Glen Taylor; pedophile and child kidnapper extraordinaire but that is where any psychological issues stop. You don't get any duplicity, split personality or anything relating to those sort of things.
But all that did not come close to me truly disliking the ending. My mind was like WTF. The ending ended with Jean knowing all along where Bella's (the kidnapped girl) body was and the ending line was that she was not allowed to go to Bella's funeral and that the psychiatrist and judge agrees it will be too much for her and I am here like HOLD UP!
Like what????!!!! THAT WAS THE ENDING?! That was just a cheap way out man. CHEAP WAY OUT and it didn't answer no questions. IT MADE ME HAVE MORE QUESTIONS. Like first of all... FIRST OF ALL...
What happened to Jean after she lead the cops to Bella's body? Was she incarcerated? Is she in jail? Is she in an asylum? Was she prosecuted???
This is not a plot twist. I knew Jean knows where the body is. I knew she in some way was in cahoots with Glen because you can see from a mile away she cray but this ending is BS! Like girl! You made me read the whole book making me somewhat interested in the characters and the hint of payoff when it comes to the ending what with your predictable plot and so-so characters because you kept hinting and building up and building up expectation that the ending will leave me SHOOOOOOK and when I finally read the ending you gave me this BS!
Right, right having said all that there were aspects of the book that I did like such as the relationship between Glen and Jean and how even form early on you as the reader can see all the red flags be poppin up like mushrooms everywhere but because Jean is so blinded by love she just goes on ahead.
For example, when they first started dating he would just order for her doesn't even bother to ask what she wanted or heck does she even like steak but Jean sees it as him being thoughtful making her try new things.
I really like how the relationship slowly progressed in a sense that you can see how controlling Glen is and how he emotionally and mentally abuses and manipulates Jean until she has to put on this facade to be this perfect wife (which the author totally should have delved deeper into because it if by far the most interesting part of the book) and thus why she was essentially coerced into being in cahoots with Glen.
Another aspect that I liked was the multiple POV's in this book and the jumping between the past and the present. This allows the reader to follow the investigation as well as follow the characters and how this investigation impacted their own personal life as well as their professional life.
Wow. Just wow. I don't even know what to say. I was so COMPLETELY drowning in this book, I couldn't put it down. The angle of murder mystery from the point of view of the accused murderer's wife is brilliant, and the ending left me in total shock. Very sad and disturbing and haunting. Yikes. This one will stay with me.
I didn’t hate this book but I really disliked it. It involved a child abduction, something I was unaware of, and am frankly not a big fan of. I super didn’t feel for The Widow, she was a kind of terrible character, and the book jacket portrayed her as some manipulative, secretly powerful woman, but she was super weak and everyone had pretty much always seen through her lies sooooo..... Like that’s fine as a character, but not at all what I was expecting. Also, I did not enjoy the way the book ended. It felt so anticlimactic, this whole book was like doing 30 mph in a 75 mph zone. I thought the pace would pick up and it never did. Plus major plot points were revealed all over the place and with so much subtlety I was just like, “???” God the more I talk about it the less I like it so yeah: my recommendation is don’t read this book.
2.5 stars, maybe? I don't know. I'm not sure if I'm letting the fact that I found the subject matter just really upsetting is coloring my entire viewpoint of the book, but I just overall didn't enjoy this one that much, or find it surprising, or suspenseful.
Really good of this kind. Kept me guessing most of the way through. Well done!
dark
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes
I have mixed feelings about this book. The writing was of course very compelling, in fact, it was so hard to put down the book even for a breather but and it's a big BUT that I just couldn't identify with the character of Jean. Her reasons to stay in the marriage were somehow coming across to me as feeble. And at most times just like Jean hiding under the shell of Jeanie, it was difficult to understand her. However the core of the book that of a missing child was too painful to read and I think the author has done a brilliant job in the suspense and mystery part of it with absolutely no clue as to where the story is going.