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A review by justinkhchen
Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
4.0
4 stars
Before She Knew Him reminds me structurally of the film Knives Out, where the culprit is revealed very early on in the story; Matthew IS a killer—but that's not the point; the intrigue instead is centered around the cat and mouse chase between the two protagonists, and the unlikely friendship that formed between two people in conflict.
The plot twist, while still remains a satisfying direction, is really not as big of a surprise as the novel made it out to be. For a seasoned thriller reader, the hints along the way are quite explicit at pointing the narrative towards a specific direction, which slightly dampened the impact of the 'reveal'.
Still, Before She Knew Him remains a very cinematic, image-conjuring read; Peter Swanson has crafted two very interesting, dimensional protagonists in Hen and Matthew, and it was a worthwhile journey understanding their inner struggles, past demons, and how their relationship send ripples across the people around them.
Before She Knew Him reminds me structurally of the film Knives Out, where the culprit is revealed very early on in the story; Matthew IS a killer—but that's not the point; the intrigue instead is centered around the cat and mouse chase between the two protagonists, and the unlikely friendship that formed between two people in conflict.
The plot twist, while still remains a satisfying direction, is really not as big of a surprise as the novel made it out to be. For a seasoned thriller reader, the hints along the way are quite explicit at pointing the narrative towards a specific direction, which slightly dampened the impact of the 'reveal'.
Still, Before She Knew Him remains a very cinematic, image-conjuring read; Peter Swanson has crafted two very interesting, dimensional protagonists in Hen and Matthew, and it was a worthwhile journey understanding their inner struggles, past demons, and how their relationship send ripples across the people around them.