Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

32 reviews

becphe's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

2.5

A bit disorganized and chaotic.  Perhaps this was on purpose.  Was able to follow but was not emotionally invested in any character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Stalking

Moderate: Blood and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual content

klaine_shipper63's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Dementia, and Blood

soyezjoyeux's review

slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Stalking and Murder

Minor: Suicide

readingisforhotgirls's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

omg this was very tense and very compelling right from the get go. at the start, i began to realise how much potential it had for a layered storyline and lots of plot twists, and my expectations were somewhat met? i found myself getting bored throughout the middle. but holy shit, it has a super twisted and crazy ending, making it more enjoyable overall. the actual murders aren’t really the main focus of the book, which is what i was expecting. it isn’t very gruesome or gory compared to other thriller/mystery/crime books. also a certain niche in books i love is where the protagonist is unnamed, it adds a whole new element of interest for some reason! i’d say this book is well thought out enough, but it could’ve gone even deeper on a psychological level and had a more tightly woven plotline with more believability.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Stalking

kharlagrace's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Violence and Sexual content

Minor: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, and Torture

aleesquer's review

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Man: I love my wife so much she's so cool and sexy and I would murder people to see her smile
Anyone: so you would be honest to her about like. Basic things then?
Man: no ❤

Pros:

• the characters actually have to deal with being parents, rather than just having kids be in the background
• the relationship between Unnamed Man and Millicent is unexpected and really interesting
• less gore than I expected (this could also be a con, I guess, it depends on the reader)

Cons:

• miscommunication is way too common for it not to be annoying
  Bro, you and your wife kill people together. Would it hurt you to be honest about your credit card payments??
• I didn't actually like the ending? Yes, M is a bad person, obviously, but she clearly wanted the whole "2.5 kids picket fence" thing. Why would she mess that up on purpose? I get her throwing Unnamed Man under the bus to save her skin, but poisoning her kid?
• Unnamed Man cheating seems stupid when 1- it is almost certain she would find out, which he knows, and 2- he's head over heels in love with his wife (which is actually one of the things I enjoyed most about the book)
• Not enough info on Holly, imo

All in all, an enjoyable read! The dynamic between the two main characters was really interesting, and I'm excited to see what Samantha Downing writes in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Dementia, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Alcohol

alexandriasreads's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

I haven’t binge read a book this long in quite a while. It was so hard to put down! Every time I thought I knew what was coming next, it took a different turn.
I do wish the resolution was a bit better, or maybe just longer, it seemed the set up took precedence. I did enjoy that last line, truly came full circle! Overall, pretty fun read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Suicide

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent

alinwonderland's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Torture

heather_lt's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Narrated by a man only known by his alias, Tobias, the plot follows his seemingly ordinary life with his wife. His perspective was great. The author uses his thoughts and memories to tell the entire story of his relationship with his wife in a way that doesn't detract from the plot. Through him recounting various events in his life you get to really learn about his wife and her unnerving personality, which only served to ramp up the tension. It's so hard to review a thriller without giving anything away so I'll say no more, except Samantha Downing exceeded my expectations with a twist to the serial killer plotline. This book is engrossing, twisted, and disturbingly addictive. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Murder, Stalking, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

marthadude's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death, Murder, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity and Blood

Minor: Death of parent