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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First off holy crow what did I just read lol Secondly, I've been sitting here for 20 minutes deciding what I was going to rate this book and decided a 4 Star is worth it.
There are no trigger warnings so if you're not a fan of bloody scenes or talk about eyeball gauging this might not be the book for you. I wish someone had told me. lol
This book was well written, it gave me vibes of gone girl and big little lies on steroids. It was a fast read but a slow burn if that makes sense. I read it in one day and had a hard time putting it down/being away from it. It disgusted me yet made me want to turn the page more. I needed to find out what happened, lol.
The ending was mind blowing to me, I gotta admit the twisty twists were crazy to me.
All I have to say: Have fun and trust no one!
There are no trigger warnings so if you're not a fan of bloody scenes or talk about eyeball gauging this might not be the book for you. I wish someone had told me. lol
This book was well written, it gave me vibes of gone girl and big little lies on steroids. It was a fast read but a slow burn if that makes sense. I read it in one day and had a hard time putting it down/being away from it. It disgusted me yet made me want to turn the page more. I needed to find out what happened, lol.
The ending was mind blowing to me, I gotta admit the twisty twists were crazy to me.
All I have to say: Have fun and trust no one!
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
3.5 rounded down. It pains me to do so, though.
One sentence summary: Undersold by its synopsis, this book goes above and beyond my expectations but unfortunately some math didn't mathulate
SYNOPSIS
Three couples are involved in a "property chain" but things spiral out of control when one of the sales fall through. Don't get it twisted though, this is more than just wanting to buy a house.
MY OPINION
It's not often I say a synopsis UNDERsells a book, but this is one of those times. I remember seeing this on NetGalley and thinking oh lawd, another cheesy popcorn thriller... next! But then I started seeing some rumblings about how this was juicy, and since I love an illuminated woman in the window cover, I had to give it a try. I was impressed, but ultimately disappointed.
The writing was quite good and Stimson elevates this story by including several "fun facts" about sharks, cats, folklore, etc, PLUS very detailed yet interesting heart surgery scenes. However, I wasn't a big fan of two navel gazing scenes in particular. The first one being her lil Ted Talk on how you can't be fat and fit. It legit had nothing to do with the plot?? Okay, thanks I guess??? And then we have the mEn GeT aBuSeD tOo... girl we know?? But if the only time you mention this is in response to women being abused, get outta here. Plus, she supported this (unnecessary) standpoint by citing stats from a men's rights activist campaign... PLS LOL. MRAs are notoriously misogynistic and exist only to shame and blame women. MRAs walked so incels could run. And if you really wanna go titty for titty, drop the stats for female victims of abuse side by side.
AnywayyyZZZZ... overall, this book reminded me of [b:Look Closer|59316367|Look Closer|David Ellis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1650843418l/59316367._SY75_.jpg|93468385] whereby the author's intelligent writing took your regular degular domestic thriller to a new place. Like Look Closer, this book is chock full of manipulation, suspense, and reverse uno moments (or "gotcha" moments).
Millie, Tom, and Stacey's POVs are interspersed with transcripts from a podcast about inside the mind of a psychopath and Kyper Nation vlogs. Stimson did a fantastic job creating unique and distinct voices for all the characters; she nailed the "influencer" tone. However, I did find that Stimson went a lil OD with the character backstories. How many times can you tell us that Millie's father was an abusive drunk and she hates her mom for being "weak" and going back to him? We get it. And the "I'm a cardiothoracic surgeon: _____" lines were tiresome by the end because I honestly couldn't tell if this was intentionally repeated or she thought she was doing something new. Don't ask me to explain that LOL.
Anyways, IMO, this book is clearly about psychopaths. The house stuff is irrelevant tbh. It quickly becomes background noise to the plot. At a high-level, this is a take on the "nature vs. nurture" debate. We have Millie, who is almost too self-aware about her personality disorder and actively fights against her nature AND her nurture. And then you have the other psychos who lean heavily into their nature even despite the attempts to nurture them out of it.
And herein lies the reason of my 3 star. SPOILERS SO SCROLL AHEAD
The story quickly moves from trying to buy a home to Millie's growing fear that her lil psycho son is going to k!ll someone + her battle of the psychos with Stacey. Millie, ever self-aware, is not deluded that her son is off his rocker. She is dead set on getting Peter packed up and into a psych ward, but Tom has his head up his ass and won't allow it. BUT THEN, out of nowhere, Millie does a complete 180 and 127 Hours her hand off to save Peter and cover up his double homi. Now, this would've made sense if the sudden switch in Millie's feelings toward Peter had been explained... but nah. We go from Peter is Petite Bundy to covering up MURDER??? An argument could be made that a mother will always do what she gotta do, but she wasn't doing it in the first place, so why the change in heart? And because her relationship with Peter was directly related to the final twist, I couldn't just Ray Charles that situation. Without this change in behavior, the story would've been completely different.
I was really disappointed in this because it was a solid 4 stars. I don't often read citizens gone rogue thrillers, but I was pleasantly surprised by the "depth" of this one. But alas, such a big plot hole that lent its hand in a pivotal twist can't be ignored. La poo.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: premise goes above and beyond what the synopsis offers, good writing that elevates the story, learned some new fun facts, lots of manipulation and suspense
Cons: big ass plot hole :'(, repetitive, some unnecessary navel gazing
One sentence summary: Undersold by its synopsis, this book goes above and beyond my expectations but unfortunately some math didn't mathulate
SYNOPSIS
Three couples are involved in a "property chain" but things spiral out of control when one of the sales fall through. Don't get it twisted though, this is more than just wanting to buy a house.
MY OPINION
It's not often I say a synopsis UNDERsells a book, but this is one of those times. I remember seeing this on NetGalley and thinking oh lawd, another cheesy popcorn thriller... next! But then I started seeing some rumblings about how this was juicy, and since I love an illuminated woman in the window cover, I had to give it a try. I was impressed, but ultimately disappointed.
The writing was quite good and Stimson elevates this story by including several "fun facts" about sharks, cats, folklore, etc, PLUS very detailed yet interesting heart surgery scenes. However, I wasn't a big fan of two navel gazing scenes in particular. The first one being her lil Ted Talk on how you can't be fat and fit. It legit had nothing to do with the plot?? Okay, thanks I guess??? And then we have the mEn GeT aBuSeD tOo... girl we know?? But if the only time you mention this is in response to women being abused, get outta here. Plus, she supported this (unnecessary) standpoint by citing stats from a men's rights activist campaign... PLS LOL. MRAs are notoriously misogynistic and exist only to shame and blame women. MRAs walked so incels could run. And if you really wanna go titty for titty, drop the stats for female victims of abuse side by side.
AnywayyyZZZZ... overall, this book reminded me of [b:Look Closer|59316367|Look Closer|David Ellis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1650843418l/59316367._SY75_.jpg|93468385] whereby the author's intelligent writing took your regular degular domestic thriller to a new place. Like Look Closer, this book is chock full of manipulation, suspense, and reverse uno moments (or "gotcha" moments).
Millie, Tom, and Stacey's POVs are interspersed with transcripts from a podcast about inside the mind of a psychopath and Kyper Nation vlogs. Stimson did a fantastic job creating unique and distinct voices for all the characters; she nailed the "influencer" tone. However, I did find that Stimson went a lil OD with the character backstories. How many times can you tell us that Millie's father was an abusive drunk and she hates her mom for being "weak" and going back to him? We get it. And the "I'm a cardiothoracic surgeon: _____" lines were tiresome by the end because I honestly couldn't tell if this was intentionally repeated or she thought she was doing something new. Don't ask me to explain that LOL.
Anyways, IMO, this book is clearly about psychopaths. The house stuff is irrelevant tbh. It quickly becomes background noise to the plot. At a high-level, this is a take on the "nature vs. nurture" debate. We have Millie, who is almost too self-aware about her personality disorder and actively fights against her nature AND her nurture. And then you have the other psychos who lean heavily into their nature even despite the attempts to nurture them out of it.
And herein lies the reason of my 3 star. SPOILERS SO SCROLL AHEAD
The story quickly moves from trying to buy a home to Millie's growing fear that her lil psycho son is going to k!ll someone + her battle of the psychos with Stacey. Millie, ever self-aware, is not deluded that her son is off his rocker. She is dead set on getting Peter packed up and into a psych ward, but Tom has his head up his ass and won't allow it. BUT THEN, out of nowhere, Millie does a complete 180 and 127 Hours her hand off to save Peter and cover up his double homi. Now, this would've made sense if the sudden switch in Millie's feelings toward Peter had been explained... but nah. We go from Peter is Petite Bundy to covering up MURDER??? An argument could be made that a mother will always do what she gotta do, but she wasn't doing it in the first place, so why the change in heart? And because her relationship with Peter was directly related to the final twist, I couldn't just Ray Charles that situation. Without this change in behavior, the story would've been completely different.
I was really disappointed in this because it was a solid 4 stars. I don't often read citizens gone rogue thrillers, but I was pleasantly surprised by the "depth" of this one. But alas, such a big plot hole that lent its hand in a pivotal twist can't be ignored. La poo.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: premise goes above and beyond what the synopsis offers, good writing that elevates the story, learned some new fun facts, lots of manipulation and suspense
Cons: big ass plot hole :'(, repetitive, some unnecessary navel gazing
3.5 stars. And no, I'm not rounding it up.
Where's the half star when you need it. Ugh.
The book started out strong. But towards the end, I just couldn't wait for it to be over. It started with buying and selling houses and then shifted to "my kid is a psychopath", "I'm the best surgeon". And got so repetitive from then on. Seemed like Millie was so sure her kid was dangerous and yet, did a complete 360 at the last minute and had to cut her hand to save the little shit. I get it's all about 'what a mother would do for her kid' but it annoyed me to no end. After killing 3 people at age 10, it took her kid killing the love of her life many years later to realize he should infact be locked away. I saw Millie as a smart, badass woman for most of the book until the it was almost ending. I hate when the end ruins the entire book for me.
This is my first book from the author. Hopefully my next book from her will be better.
Where's the half star when you need it. Ugh.
The book started out strong. But towards the end, I just couldn't wait for it to be over. It started with buying and selling houses and then shifted to "my kid is a psychopath", "I'm the best surgeon". And got so repetitive from then on. Seemed like Millie was so sure her kid was dangerous and yet, did a complete 360 at the last minute and had to cut her hand to save the little shit. I get it's all about 'what a mother would do for her kid' but it annoyed me to no end. After killing 3 people at age 10, it took her kid killing the love of her life many years later to realize he should infact be locked away. I saw Millie as a smart, badass woman for most of the book until the it was almost ending. I hate when the end ruins the entire book for me.
This is my first book from the author. Hopefully my next book from her will be better.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I enjoyed this audiobook. It is DEFINITELY dark and one of my favorite things while reading books like this is imagining how my sister would react
dark
mysterious
medium-paced