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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
3.5 stars, rounded down.
This was my first read of 2019 and it didn't live up to the hype for me. It's possible I've read too many thrillers that my expectations are incredibly high. Certain parts didn't agree with me; Lydia's character was agitating and the way her portions were written got old ("Thanks," you are told; "I suppose," you are told). I found myself questioning everything for the first half of the book, but then read the rest waiting for a twist that never came. I read this as quickly as I did because I wanted it to be over, not because I was dying to see how it ended.
This was my first read of 2019 and it didn't live up to the hype for me. It's possible I've read too many thrillers that my expectations are incredibly high. Certain parts didn't agree with me; Lydia's character was agitating and the way her portions were written got old ("Thanks," you are told; "I suppose," you are told). I found myself questioning everything for the first half of the book, but then read the rest waiting for a twist that never came. I read this as quickly as I did because I wanted it to be over, not because I was dying to see how it ended.
This two-star rating isn't to say that this was bad, just that I found it overall fairly meh. It's a psychological thriller, and the premise is what hooked me - a young woman gets roped into a study on ethics and morality and, one assumes, comes up against hard choices along the way. While that's not an unfair synopsis of the plot, the main trajectory of the book has to do with with Dr. Shields' dauntless pursuit of the truth (or not) of her cheating husband's fidelity, and the struggles of the young Jess to escape from the mesh she finds herself caught in as she is pulled deeper and deeper into the psychiatrist's web. Much of the problem for me was that neither of these characters earned much of my respect or compassion - I held them both at arm's length, scrabbling plucky go-getter and cold calculating wife alike. Consequentially the tension the book tried to build worked on a surface level but really didn't crawl into my head, and I observed it from a distance, largely without finding it emotionally moving. I found the way Dr. Shields narrated in the passive voice and almost never referenced herself directly to be distracting and annoying, rather than subtly alarming. There were several reveals that didn't come as any great surprise, and didn't really twist the story sufficiently to cause me to have to reconsider what had previously been revealed. Coming on the heels of some much more successful fiction, this was mostly a letdown because I feel as if the premise could have developed much more compellingly.
I tried listening to this book twice from the library. I don't know what it is about it that I couldn't stand. It just didn't seem realistic or engaging to me.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
Great read! I read it in a day. It kept me guessing all though the book.
Loved how the co-authors created a book from 2 different characters POV’s. It really worked! Up until the end I was wondering where it was going & how it was going to play out.
Interesting page turner but not sure if there is a big “reveal” per se. Seemed predictable and felt let down by the ending and especially the epilogue.
These authors really set the bar high with their book, The Wife Between Us. Thus the reason I could not want to get my hands on their newest offering. This book did not meet that high standard but I still liked this book. Although, if the "light blub" moment that I experienced in the last couple of chapters would have shown up sooner, I would not be having this discussion about this book. What made that moment was Jessica really stepping up to be more vocal and prominent. Otherwise, Jessica really was a puppet and Dr. Shields was the puppet master.
Dr. Shields is evil. The most scary type of evil. She fights with her intelligence. The suggestions and ways she interjected herself in Jessica's life without any feelings of remorse is what I am talking about. The psychological aspect in this book is a slow burn. Which is a common trend with these types of books. The power of suggestion messes with your mind to make you start to doubt yourself. While, this book may not have won me over, I can't wait to see what this duo comes out with next.
Dr. Shields is evil. The most scary type of evil. She fights with her intelligence. The suggestions and ways she interjected herself in Jessica's life without any feelings of remorse is what I am talking about. The psychological aspect in this book is a slow burn. Which is a common trend with these types of books. The power of suggestion messes with your mind to make you start to doubt yourself. While, this book may not have won me over, I can't wait to see what this duo comes out with next.
This one had some mixed reviews on both audible and goodreads, but I quite liked it. So why the 3 stars? It was compelling but not riveting. Still, I would recommend this to people who like a psychological thriller.