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A review by litwithleigh
I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll
3.0
TRIGGER WARNING: SA
THE PLOT
Ella is on the train eavesdropping as we all do—except the tea she heard was exceptionally disturbing. Two fresh out of prison ex-convicts hitting on two teenage girls. Ella tries to forget what she heard, but that soon proves impossible when one of the girls, Anna, goes missing, and the two ex-cons are suspects. Already hated on by the media for being a bystander, Ella starts receiving mysterious hate mail. Why is this person so mad? And what really happened to Anna?
MY OPINION
*sucks teeth* This really had a lot of potential but the ending was disappointing. The writing was good; I'm noticing now I tend to like authors who are former journalists. They know how to write concisely and each has a unique voice. Some of my fave excerpts (rule of threes strikes again):
Henry glances at his watch. An hour to go. He ought to get back. Have a shower. Have another row with Barbara. Try one final time to calm things down before he faces the music proper.
Tim’s dad showed no interest in him all his life, then suddenly got cancer. Got God. Got in touch.
Simple. Rhythmic. Showing not telling. You can feel the disdain of Henry. You can feel the apathy toward Tim's dad for being a cliche absentee father who pops up at the end in hopes of narcissistic redemption.
Anyways. My famous gripes...
While I enjoyed the writing quality, there was room for improvement on the voice of each character. See, the following line had me convinced Ella was of the unreliable narrator variety and in fact didn't even have a husband or child and had something to do with Anna's disappearance:
I wanted to phone not because I was worried for the girls, but as a punishment, because I was angry at how Sarah had made me feel.
For context, she overhead Sarah having sex with one of the ex-cons on the train (this is revealed in the first chapter so chill). The "I was angry at how Sarah had made me feel" implies this chick has serious problems that would cause her to wild out and potentially kidnap another teenage girl. Why would you be angry at a stranger for having sex in the bathroom? Why do you take it personally like Sarah intentionally bussed it open just to annoy you? Anyways, I spent the entire book waiting for Ella to show her crazy side all because of that one line......... But nope. Just turns out she's a small-minded lady with "traditional values."
You might read that and think, well maybe Driscoll is trying to trip you up? I considered that, but other than that one line, there wasn't any clues Ella was actually a nutjob. It's just that line really stuck to me like white on rice, so I was sure it was foreshadowing creepy behaviour to come. I think it was just an innocent line that I read into a little too much because I've read too many thrillers in my lifetime and I'm always on high alert for red herrings.
I did like the alternating POVs but in the end they were unnecessary. I guess the author was going for character study, but none of the other characters really contributed to the plot. It was just a lot of catch up between POVs to build suspense. It was clear Henry was just a manwhore, not a murderer. It felt like Sarah was assigned some rando trauma so you wouldn't be annoyed she ditched her friend for an ex-con. I kinda liked "the watcher"—spooky vibes. And I guess the PI POV was "necessary" because the mystery had to be solved by a credible character and not one of the regular degular townspeople.
Also, I think this is more of a YA book.... All the main players in this debacle were teens. The adults were just kinda there to provide feels. But it all comes down to the teens. So yeah. I think if I had known that, I would've skipped it.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: Creative writing, mystery keeps you guessing
Cons: Unnecessary POVs, more like a YA book
THE PLOT
Ella is on the train eavesdropping as we all do—except the tea she heard was exceptionally disturbing. Two fresh out of prison ex-convicts hitting on two teenage girls. Ella tries to forget what she heard, but that soon proves impossible when one of the girls, Anna, goes missing, and the two ex-cons are suspects. Already hated on by the media for being a bystander, Ella starts receiving mysterious hate mail. Why is this person so mad? And what really happened to Anna?
MY OPINION
*sucks teeth* This really had a lot of potential but the ending was disappointing. The writing was good; I'm noticing now I tend to like authors who are former journalists. They know how to write concisely and each has a unique voice. Some of my fave excerpts (rule of threes strikes again):
Henry glances at his watch. An hour to go. He ought to get back. Have a shower. Have another row with Barbara. Try one final time to calm things down before he faces the music proper.
Tim’s dad showed no interest in him all his life, then suddenly got cancer. Got God. Got in touch.
Simple. Rhythmic. Showing not telling. You can feel the disdain of Henry. You can feel the apathy toward Tim's dad for being a cliche absentee father who pops up at the end in hopes of narcissistic redemption.
Anyways. My famous gripes...
While I enjoyed the writing quality, there was room for improvement on the voice of each character. See, the following line had me convinced Ella was of the unreliable narrator variety and in fact didn't even have a husband or child and had something to do with Anna's disappearance:
I wanted to phone not because I was worried for the girls, but as a punishment, because I was angry at how Sarah had made me feel.
For context, she overhead Sarah having sex with one of the ex-cons on the train (this is revealed in the first chapter so chill). The "I was angry at how Sarah had made me feel" implies this chick has serious problems that would cause her to wild out and potentially kidnap another teenage girl. Why would you be angry at a stranger for having sex in the bathroom? Why do you take it personally like Sarah intentionally bussed it open just to annoy you? Anyways, I spent the entire book waiting for Ella to show her crazy side all because of that one line......... But nope. Just turns out she's a small-minded lady with "traditional values."
You might read that and think, well maybe Driscoll is trying to trip you up? I considered that, but other than that one line, there wasn't any clues Ella was actually a nutjob. It's just that line really stuck to me like white on rice, so I was sure it was foreshadowing creepy behaviour to come. I think it was just an innocent line that I read into a little too much because I've read too many thrillers in my lifetime and I'm always on high alert for red herrings.
I did like the alternating POVs but in the end they were unnecessary. I guess the author was going for character study, but none of the other characters really contributed to the plot. It was just a lot of catch up between POVs to build suspense. It was clear Henry was just a manwhore, not a murderer. It felt like Sarah was assigned some rando trauma so you wouldn't be annoyed she ditched her friend for an ex-con. I kinda liked "the watcher"—spooky vibes. And I guess the PI POV was "necessary" because the mystery had to be solved by a credible character and not one of the regular degular townspeople.
Also, I think this is more of a YA book.... All the main players in this debacle were teens. The adults were just kinda there to provide feels. But it all comes down to the teens. So yeah. I think if I had known that, I would've skipped it.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: Creative writing, mystery keeps you guessing
Cons: Unnecessary POVs, more like a YA book