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diannasbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
This book was crazy and dark and twisted. The ending seemed kind of rushed, and some areas of the book were a bit repetitive otherwise it would have been a 4 star read from me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Torture, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Blood, Cancer, Murder, Rape, and Kidnapping
tiff_t123's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Kidnapping, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cancer, Sexual violence, and Murder
sarahs9's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Cursing, Stalking, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Cancer and Gun violence
neliadiedenise's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Cancer, Grief, Medical content, Confinement, Cursing, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Violence
uniquely_bookly's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Confinement, Rape, Cancer, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Stalking, Grief, Cursing, and Kidnapping
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
dark
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? It's complicated
2.75
I was pretty excited about this one. I saw the hype it was getting on Bookstagram. A lot of 5 stars so I was pretty anxious to get my hands on it. I think around chapter 3 I knew I wasn't going to like it. Then I got halfway and wanted to dnf it so bad but I was already was halfway and the book was short so I was like might as well finish it. But even as I was getting near the finish line, all I wanted was for it to end. I was originally going to give it three stars but decided to lower it a bit more because there was really nothing that I liked about this book. I don't hate it by any means but there's nothing good that comes to mind when I recount my reading experience of this book.
I know we were supposed to root for the main character "Rachel" (I honestly thought the use of her 2nd personal POV was a nice touch), but she was just too frantic and unhinged and too stupid like she has two+ opportunities to escape before and the first time she literally tries to kidnap Cecilia instead of just hightailing her butt out of there and the second time the door was literally wide open for her and she didn't open [which I get, the whole abuser have a hold on you thing], but still; and her weird obsession with his daughter made no sense to me, like you don't even know her! to root for her. I know we get a look into her past in a few chapters, but just like with the writing of this story it's all so surface-level and cryptic and ambiguous; it feels like most of the things in this book are left up to interpretation which is fine to a certain degree but that's literally what most of this book was, just full a surface level descriptions.
None and I mean NONE of the characters were flushed out at all. Emily his supposed next "victim" is weirdly obsessed with this man (Aidan; the killer) for some reason who is about 2x her age with a kid. And her storyline basically runs on the fact that she's weirdly obsessed and "in love" with this grown man. Also, him choosing Emily to be his next victim literally made no sense considering she's local to his town and people have seen them together multiple times. Also, her being his next victim is inferred and never directly told to us.
Cecilia, the daughter, I honestly don't even know why she's here. She didn't serve as much of a big plot point to me and she was very one-dimensional like everyone else in this book. And Aidan, you'd think he'd be the most interesting character in this book and he is but that's not saying much cuz he's a flat character too. We learn that he had a wife who died of cancer and that he was a former Marine who worked as a hospital corpsman and now he's a lineman. And the basic serial killer profile, that he's meticulous and clean and needs power. Again, one dimensional. Did he actually love his wife? We don't know. Did his wife know? We don't know. What possessed him to keep Rachel for as long as he did? We don't know. How does he choose his victims? We don't know. Why does he have these tendencies? We don't know. So many unanswered questions.
And the ending. Very anticlimactic. I think the author was going for a "women's intuition telepathy" with the three girls (Emily, "Rachel", and Cecelia) to symbolize some sisterhood between them, but it just didn't work. That scene where "Rachel" abducts Cecilia at gunpoint and forces her to run with her from her own dad and we as the reader are just supposed to believe that Cecilia would choose this stranger that has been nothing but weird to her and has tried to kidnap her before over her own father. Like, be for real?! And the part where Emily "distracts" Aidan for a second so "Rachel" can have time to escape him makes no sense. She's literally been obsessed with this man the whole book how could she have put two and two together like that? She's literally only interacted with "Rachel" TWICE before that. You expect me to believe she chose this woman whom she doesn't even know, who abducts her lover's kid over her lover because "a woman knows". Again, BE FOR REAL! So stupid! This book also (in my opinion) doesn't belong in the thriller genre because there was nothing thrilling about this book. I remember reading it and thinking how this sort of reads like a memoir or a literary fiction piece. There was no suspense; I was not on the edge of my seat; I just wanted it to be over!
I know we were supposed to root for the main character "Rachel" (I honestly thought the use of her 2nd personal POV was a nice touch), but she was just too frantic and unhinged and too stupid
None and I mean NONE of the characters were flushed out at all. Emily his supposed next "victim" is weirdly obsessed with this man (Aidan; the killer) for some reason who is about 2x her age with a kid. And her storyline basically runs on the fact that she's weirdly obsessed and "in love" with this grown man. Also, him choosing Emily to be his next victim literally made no sense considering she's local to his town and people have seen them together multiple times. Also, her being his next victim is inferred and never directly told to us.
Cecilia, the daughter, I honestly don't even know why she's here. She didn't serve as much of a big plot point to me and she was very one-dimensional like everyone else in this book. And Aidan, you'd think he'd be the most interesting character in this book and he is but that's not saying much cuz he's a flat character too. We learn that he had a wife who died of cancer and that he was a former Marine who worked as a hospital corpsman and now he's a lineman. And the basic serial killer profile, that he's meticulous and clean and needs power. Again, one dimensional. Did he actually love his wife? We don't know. Did his wife know? We don't know. What possessed him to keep Rachel for as long as he did? We don't know. How does he choose his victims? We don't know. Why does he have these tendencies? We don't know. So many unanswered questions.
And the ending. Very anticlimactic. I think the author was going for a "women's intuition telepathy" with the three girls (Emily, "Rachel", and Cecelia) to symbolize some sisterhood between them, but it just didn't work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual content, and Stalking
honeybeewitched87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Cursing, Confinement, Gun violence, Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Stalking
Minor: Death of parent
sarahholliday's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
The premise of this tense thriller is absolutely fascinating. I love the idea of getting to see the various facets of such a cruel, evil man through the eyes of the women surrounding him. It shows, with both subtlety and unflinching honesty, the ways in which such a person makes everyone around them a victim—even if they don't intentionally do them harm.
"The woman in the shed" is a brilliantly drawn character. Her development is so well done, and I appreciate the attention the author played to the impact of things like diet, exposure to the outside world, and other practical elements on a victim's psyche and mental acuity.
There's no glamorizing the serial killer here. Instead, Michallon empathizes the inherently frail nature of a killer's control, the feebleness of their rationale, and the fragility of their carefully constructed world.
I think the pacing lagged in a few places, and I didn't always know quite what to do with Emily as a character, but overall I thought this book was very well done and I had a hard time putting it down. Excited to see what else the author does in the future!
"The woman in the shed" is a brilliantly drawn character. Her development is so well done, and I appreciate the attention the author played to the impact of things like diet, exposure to the outside world, and other practical elements on a victim's psyche and mental acuity.
There's no glamorizing the serial killer here. Instead, Michallon empathizes the inherently frail nature of a killer's control, the feebleness of their rationale, and the fragility of their carefully constructed world.
I think the pacing lagged in a few places, and I didn't always know quite what to do with Emily as a character, but overall I thought this book was very well done and I had a hard time putting it down. Excited to see what else the author does in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Murder, Suicide attempt, Rape, and Stalking
syellico's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow! This was a 5-star thriller for me.
A serial killer's story told from three outside perspectives of women in his life. The writing in this book is done so well. I know some people don't like the second person perspective, but I thought it was so well done here and really moved the story along! I could not stop turning the pages, and I don't want to say too much because the small parts that reveal themselves along the way are part of the reason I liked the book so much! I hope that this one gets the attention it deserves, this author is definitely one to watch for me.
A serial killer's story told from three outside perspectives of women in his life. The writing in this book is done so well. I know some people don't like the second person perspective, but I thought it was so well done here and really moved the story along! I could not stop turning the pages, and I don't want to say too much because the small parts that reveal themselves along the way are part of the reason I liked the book so much! I hope that this one gets the attention it deserves, this author is definitely one to watch for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Murder, Stalking, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Rape, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Confinement, and Sexual violence
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