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dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Whewww….. one thing I can say is that the twists hit you right in the face … I DIDNT see them coming. I thought I had worked it out but then I was spun. The ending kinda left me wondering about a lot and a lil unsatisfied. Overall I really recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Murder
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Sexual harassment
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
At first it seemed really predictable but as is often the case with this author, the ending is not at all what you might expect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Death of parent, Murder
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I was really excited to read this book and though I finally got around to it, I am a bit disappointed. This is the first and last time I read a Freida McFadden book. Her writing style is a lot more juvenile than I was prepared for, but I powered through the book because I still found the premise interesting.
Sydney is an average MC and her dating woes and marriage/grandchild-obsessed mother are a little cliche. Do we really need more books about women whose only goal in life is to get married and have kids? Sydney's preoccupation with these things (intentional or not) reads like a woman in her early twenties, not in her mid-thirties. Tom, our ML, also leaves much to be desired. Yes, he has a weird fascination with blood and all that but I would have accepted this more if he was simply a terrible person. His "tragic" backstory wasn't necessary at all - an alcoholic, abusive father is a tired trope that needs to be retired alongside the above-mentioned marriage/kids obsession.
There's also the writing itself - some sentences were horribly constructed or simply unnecessary. There was also a reliance on the "electric jolt" phrase (or something similar) to describe the chemistry that Sydney was looking for with her dates. There are other ways to describe two people experiencing an instant connection. The dual POVs/non-linear timeline also didn't add much to the overall story. Sydney's present-day voice and Tom's past voice sounded very similar, despite them being two different characters, written during different timelines.
With all of that said, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the twist at the end of the book.
My theory was that the stalker Kevin was Tom's childhood friend, Slug and the two of them created a whole scheme for Tom to find his victims. Slug/Kevin finds a woman on the Cynch app; he ensures their date goes terribly; Tom swoops in to be the savior; Tom dates the woman then kills her. The misdirection was done well, and I did not see Daisy being the killer all along. I had to give a half-star for that development. I also found it kind of hilarious that Tom and Daisy basically rode off into the sunset. If this were a different book, by a different author (with better writing), I'd like to see more of what those two get up to in adulthood.
This is a good read if you're looking for something fast-paced, easy to read, and with a surprise or two. But I wouldn't suggest dedicating more than a weekend to it or looking too far into the plot holes scattered throughout (due to the lack of common sense that apparently plagues all of the characters).
Sydney is an average MC and her dating woes and marriage/grandchild-obsessed mother are a little cliche. Do we really need more books about women whose only goal in life is to get married and have kids? Sydney's preoccupation with these things (intentional or not) reads like a woman in her early twenties, not in her mid-thirties. Tom, our ML, also leaves much to be desired. Yes, he has a weird fascination with blood and all that but I would have accepted this more if he was simply a terrible person. His "tragic" backstory wasn't necessary at all - an alcoholic, abusive father is a tired trope that needs to be retired alongside the above-mentioned marriage/kids obsession.
There's also the writing itself - some sentences were horribly constructed or simply unnecessary. There was also a reliance on the "electric jolt" phrase (or something similar) to describe the chemistry that Sydney was looking for with her dates. There are other ways to describe two people experiencing an instant connection. The dual POVs/non-linear timeline also didn't add much to the overall story. Sydney's present-day voice and Tom's past voice sounded very similar, despite them being two different characters, written during different timelines.
With all of that said, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the twist at the end of the book.
This is a good read if you're looking for something fast-paced, easy to read, and with a surprise or two. But I wouldn't suggest dedicating more than a weekend to it or looking too far into the plot holes scattered throughout (due to the lack of common sense that apparently plagues all of the characters).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Murder
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Freida did it again. Kept me guessing through the whole book and I was able to finish it in a day and a half. Well done, Freida. Well done.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail