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A review by joyceheinen
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I’m totally up-to-date with Riley Sager’s novels, so whenever a new book comes out, I’m ready for it. Last year, his new release “The Only One Left” had me stunned. It was the last book I read in 2023 and ended up being my number one book of that year. Telling you I was excited about “Middle of the Night” was an understatement. But this book will not end up on my favorites list at the end of the year.
The book starts of with a young Ethan and his friend Billy, camping out in Ethan’s backyard. In the morning, there is a slash in the tent and Billy is gone, never to be found. Thirty years later, Ethan returns to his family home, being confronted with this memory. When strange things start to happen, Ethan is determined to find out what really happened that night.
The start of the book is strong, I was sucked it. But that didn’t last long. The book, overall, is pretty dull. Not a lot happens. And then when something exciting does happen, it only lasts a moment. And there are often these fake scares, that we also know from horror movies. When the main character hears a strange noise, thinking someone’s in the house and it turns out to be cat. Similar situations happen a lot in “Middle of the Night”.
WARNING!!! THE FOLLOWING MIGHT HAVE SPOILERS!!!
There are these “Stranger Things” vibes in the book. The childhood friendships, the 90s nostalgia (80s in the TV-show) and a mysterious institute nobody is allowed to enter or talk about. I liked that. But when we finally get a glimpse of this institute, which made me excited and felt it finally gave me what I wanted, it goes nowhere. Sager could and should have done more with this. It felt like a diversion now and the institute really only functioned as this. I really wanted to dig into this more, I wanted this to be focus of the book.
As for the end, it felt uninspiring and lackluster. Riley Sager can do much better and I was really disappointed. We never got that crazy twist or reveal, that I often love from him. His only book I'd rated under a 3-star was “The Final Girls”, which was a 2,5, but “Middle of the Night” is now officially my least favorite book by him. It just felt to generic and not exciting at all. I’m so sad.
The book starts of with a young Ethan and his friend Billy, camping out in Ethan’s backyard. In the morning, there is a slash in the tent and Billy is gone, never to be found. Thirty years later, Ethan returns to his family home, being confronted with this memory. When strange things start to happen, Ethan is determined to find out what really happened that night.
The start of the book is strong, I was sucked it. But that didn’t last long. The book, overall, is pretty dull. Not a lot happens. And then when something exciting does happen, it only lasts a moment. And there are often these fake scares, that we also know from horror movies. When the main character hears a strange noise, thinking someone’s in the house and it turns out to be cat. Similar situations happen a lot in “Middle of the Night”.
WARNING!!! THE FOLLOWING MIGHT HAVE SPOILERS!!!
There are these “Stranger Things” vibes in the book. The childhood friendships, the 90s nostalgia (80s in the TV-show) and a mysterious institute nobody is allowed to enter or talk about. I liked that. But when we finally get a glimpse of this institute, which made me excited and felt it finally gave me what I wanted, it goes nowhere. Sager could and should have done more with this. It felt like a diversion now and the institute really only functioned as this. I really wanted to dig into this more, I wanted this to be focus of the book.
As for the end, it felt uninspiring and lackluster. Riley Sager can do much better and I was really disappointed. We never got that crazy twist or reveal, that I often love from him. His only book I'd rated under a 3-star was “The Final Girls”, which was a 2,5, but “Middle of the Night” is now officially my least favorite book by him. It just felt to generic and not exciting at all. I’m so sad.