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goatoro's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Interesting read so I'll start with the set up - We follow Casey, a former actress, turned alcoholic, who is coming off the tragic death of her husband, Len, who drowned in the lake where her family's lake house is located and where she is residing now (after a slew of bad publicity from paparazzi). While here Casey takes to spying on her just as famous neighbors who live across the lake from her, where she sees some troubling events that cascade into further turmoil and tension. I heavily advise going into this book while HEAVILY suspending your disbelief, it will come in handy quite a lot with this read...
I really wanted to give this book more than a 4/5 but ... the reveal that Len possessed/inhabited Katherine's body the whole time almost ruined the whole book for me. At first I thought maybe it would be saved by that very final twist/reveal but to no avail. In fact, that last reveal somehow saved the book a bit for me, as I would've given this 3 or 3.5/5 without it.
That being said, the first like 85% of this book was great and a very fast-paced read that I didn't always want to put down. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey this book took me on (even if I didn't like all of the outcomes) and plan to pick up this author again!
I really wanted to give this book more than a 4/5 but ... the reveal that
That being said, the first like 85% of this book was great and a very fast-paced read that I didn't always want to put down. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey this book took me on (even if I didn't like all of the outcomes) and plan to pick up this author again!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Addiction
Moderate: Gaslighting and Domestic abuse
elthewallflower'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Torture, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Addiction, Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, and Alcohol
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I liked the pacing of this book. It kept me entertained. And I like how the author handled the huge twist.
HOWEVER, my goodness! This book was messy and the big plot twists was outlandish and ludicrous. It was so out of left field and although I didn't mind it and it didn't make me angry I can completely understand why people would rate this low and/or dislike this book because of it.
I felt like the twist would've been awesome if the author actually forwarded/gave the reader hints throughout the book then maybe the twist would've been more effective.
I didn't mind the female character, however, the withholding of information until the end made no sense considering we're already in her head anyways. And she was also picking another big secret from everyone else anyways so the author withholding said information from the reader made no sense.
The book just felt unorganized towards the middle-end because it felt like the author was jumbling multiple ideas at once and never wanted to just stick to one so he chose them all. Overall its not a bad book, but if you like thrillers that make sense and are symbolic through and through then you can skip this one. I did find it entertaining though so I'll give the author that.
HOWEVER, my goodness! This book was messy and the big plot twists was outlandish and ludicrous. It was so out of left field and although I didn't mind it and it didn't make me angry I can completely understand why people would rate this low and/or dislike this book because of it.
I felt like the twist would've been awesome if the author actually forwarded/gave the reader hints throughout the book then maybe the twist would've been more effective.
I didn't mind the female character, however, the withholding of information until the end made no sense considering we're already in her head anyways. And she was also picking another big secret from everyone else anyways so the author withholding said information from the reader made no sense.
The book just felt unorganized towards the middle-end because it felt like the author was jumbling multiple ideas at once and never wanted to just stick to one so he chose them all. Overall its not a bad book, but if you like thrillers that make sense and are symbolic through and through then you can skip this one. I did find it entertaining though so I'll give the author that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Stalking, and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Kidnapping, Blood, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Gun violence, Gaslighting, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
theimposter's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
Great twists and turns! Always thought I knew what was happening and was continually surprised.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Grief, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, and Alcoholism
espressoreader's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This is what happens when an author has a bunch of ideas on sticky notes and then decides to chose which one to use by playing pin the tail on the donkey. Unfortunately, the reader is the donkey in this scenario. The plot of this book was about 3 different mismatched and then mangled story arcs that were never spliced.
The alcoholism of the main character took too much time. Does it happen? Absolutely, but functional alcoholics are functional not constantly at the booze at the cost of other things, and dysfunctional alcoholics don’t make good narrators. Too much of the main character’s personality was obfuscated by the addiction. I am aware that it happens in life, but that does not render it a good person to select to guide the whole book.
Fail.
The alcoholism of the main character took too much time. Does it happen? Absolutely, but functional alcoholics are functional not constantly at the booze at the cost of other things, and dysfunctional alcoholics don’t make good narrators. Too much of the main character’s personality was obfuscated by the addiction. I am aware that it happens in life, but that does not render it a good person to select to guide the whole book.
Fail.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Stalking, Grief, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
caitlindutton's review against another edition
⭐️⭐️
Got invested, got to the twist, was a real wtf moment, absolutely hated it. Fr Riley are you well?
Okay so I don’t do well with grief, and that was a GOOD chunk of the first half, only to find out it WASN’T grief but Casey drinking herself silly because of what she did to her serial killer husband. So 1) how dare you and 2) the serial killer twist, in and of itself, GREAT plot. Could’ve done so much with it and overall, Riley Sager has a writing style that I really enjoy.
But WHAT THE EVERLOVING HELL was that twist?!?!?! Possession???? REALLY???! I’m gonna be a lil conceited for a moment and say that during the first half, I came up with about a thousand theories about the whole thing AND YET THIS AUTHOR CHOSE THE TWIST THAT WAS WORSE THAN ALL OF THEM!! AND MY THEORIES WERE NOT GOOD. At all. So mad. Wasting my damn time Riley.
Got invested, got to the twist, was a real wtf moment, absolutely hated it. Fr Riley are you well?
But WHAT THE EVERLOVING HELL was that twist?!?!?! Possession???? REALLY???! I’m gonna be a lil conceited for a moment and say that during the first half, I came up with about a thousand theories about the whole thing AND YET THIS AUTHOR CHOSE THE TWIST THAT WAS WORSE THAN ALL OF THEM!! AND MY THEORIES WERE NOT GOOD. At all. So mad. Wasting my damn time Riley.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Grief
You will be gaslighted by this book and you will grieve the time you read it because you could have read anything else.doreyghc's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Gore
Minor: Suicide
karly_ackley's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Addiction, Death, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Child death, Suicide, Violence, Stalking, Mental illness, Self harm, and Alcohol
seetaylorwriteandreview's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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? Yes
4.0
The beginning of this book starts off like any other thriller/suspense novel. It’s starts with Casey, a famous star who’s screenwriter husband died of drowning 14 months prior. While at the family lake house, she meets supermodel Katherine and social media mogul Tom who have bought the house across the lake after rescuing Katherine from drowning. Just a couple of days later, Katherine disappears and Casey and Boone, the next door neighbor, suspect Tom has something to do with it. When Casey goes poking around, she finds more than she bargains for…
Around 60-70% through the book, it hits you with a plot twist and BAM!!!! Turns into a thriller/horror novel instead! It completely threw me off and sucked me in simultaneously.
Around 60-70% through the book, it hits you with a plot twist and BAM!!!! Turns into a thriller/horror novel instead! It completely threw me off and sucked me in simultaneously.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Death, Addiction, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, and Grief
Minor: Gaslighting and Suicide
jackyreadss's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, and Mental illness