Reviews with content warning for Medical content - The Golden Couple

I always enjoy this author duo, and I was very sucked into this story. It felt weird that it was set in an area where I've spent so much time! Will read more by this pair.

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vivboyd98's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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zc2's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Literally buy it. Kept me on my toes. I thought I knew what was happening and then I was hit with a brick. I feel lied to. Currently questioning everything. Jaw dropping.

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adventuresinfictionland's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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polarplays220's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.25

This was a spontaneous read for me while I was on vacation and it was a great book for that (albeit, a little stressful due to its suspense!) I didn’t see all twists coming and so the book definitely kept me on my toes and interested! I did feel like the ending was a bit rushed and came out at you all-at-once but that’s a minor critique. The DC references felt a bit heavy handed and at times I felt like the switching back between narrators were a bit clunky, which is why my review puts this book in the 3-star range. Ultimately it was a book that kept me interested and engaged on vacation which is exactly what I was looking for.

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hkburke2's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Quick listen, with the right vibe for a twisty thriller. I wouldn't say it was predictable, but it wasn't very surprising/unique. I did appreciate that they made the "therapist" not an actual therapist from the start so that the unorthodox methods weren't at unbelievable. I think having more of Avery would have added more... Warmth, maybe? I don't know, something was missing for me.

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shannnne_reads_words's review

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mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.5

So this book is about a therapist who's lost her license and now she treats her patients with out-of-the-box methods, because she can, and somehow no one steps in to question her ethics. Literally, not a single person in this entire book stops for one second to say, "this isn't ethical." Right off the bat, it's asking me to suspend a little too much of my disbelief.

So much of this book hinges on you being patient with mediocre writing, hollow characters, twists that make absolutely no sense with very little evidence throughout the book to support it, and for you to keep track of a bunch of side characters that add little to the story as a whole. Not to mention, by the time I was less than halfway through, I was already so tired of reading about these privileged WASPs - literally characters with lineage dating back to the Mayflower. I just stopped caring, but I *did* want to know if my theories were correct, because I am a freak who is obsessed with being right.

I can't say this is a complete dud - the book did have its moments that were genuinely creepy, and where I thought that Avery, the therapist, was sort of interesting. I enjoyed her chapters because at least they didn't feel as hollow as the chapters that followed Marissa, her client and one half of "the golden couple" in question. I also enjoyed her dog, he was adorable. I also thought that one of the scenes toward the end was very chilling, but it quickly became cringey and far-fetched, so it didn't really amount to much. Though I did enjoy Avery at times, it became increasingly hard to believe that she is as smart as these authors want to pretend she is.

All of this said, for once, I didn't call the ending of a thriller, which I enjoy, usually...except...I only didn't guess this ending because it made no sense in any realm.

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