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A review by actuallyjusthanne
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I had a fun time with this one! Admittedly it's not the most autumnal but I had fun with the summer childhood neighborhood vibes.
The story follows Ethan, a man who has found himself living in his childhood home once again, as his tries to figure out the disappearance of his childhood best friend, but as an adult. It is told in two perspectives: a first person present tense, and a third person past tense flash back from when Ethan was a child. I think the one narrator in two timelines storytelling is so effective, especially in this book, where the reader is piecing together what happened as the story is unfolding.
The flash back chapters to a childhood summer exploring your neighborhood & coming of age were my favorite and added to the story a lot. They were really nostalgic and the late summer vibes were strong, and the story being told from the perspective of a 10 year old really added to the experience. There was also a lot of suburban/neighborhood drama of various sorts, and all in all, the vibes were good.
The chapters aboutThe Hawthorne Institute were really interesting, and I especially liked it because while it totally set the book up for a paranormal twist, like The House Across the Lake (which I hated), there ended up being no paranormal root for Billy's disappearance, which is how I would have preferred the story to play out. . Hearing about the research and the academic setting was really interesting though!
My main issue with this book is that it never was clear to me what Ethan's next step was: I didn't feel like I understood his reasoning and why he did what he did. Everything felt really random and spur of the moment, which does align with his thinking pattern, but I wasn't able to follow his actions, which made the storyline feel jumpy and unpredictable.
I wasn't particularly wowed by the ending: it was one of those endings where everything fit together just a little too well and with no real reason why it worked out like that. Sure, the clues all fit together and pointed in this direction, but I was not emotionally invested in why/how it worked out the way it did.The whole disappearance/mystery ended up being one of the main adult characters hitting Billy drunk driving and hiding his body . . . it was never really alluded to in the past scenes, and all that set up trying to find out what happened to Billy ended up being something that was both completely out of the picture and totally random was quite unsatisfying in my opinion. (Obviously not to say deaths by drunk driving aren't as bad and the loss wasn't significant, but to have the whole book set up this whole disappearance for it to be a freak accident didn't feel very satisfying) . Choices were made, answers were revealed, but that's about all.
All in all, it was a quick and easy read while I was trying to figure out what to read. I enjoyed reading it & listening to the audiobook!
The story follows Ethan, a man who has found himself living in his childhood home once again, as his tries to figure out the disappearance of his childhood best friend, but as an adult. It is told in two perspectives: a first person present tense, and a third person past tense flash back from when Ethan was a child. I think the one narrator in two timelines storytelling is so effective, especially in this book, where the reader is piecing together what happened as the story is unfolding.
The flash back chapters to a childhood summer exploring your neighborhood & coming of age were my favorite and added to the story a lot. They were really nostalgic and the late summer vibes were strong, and the story being told from the perspective of a 10 year old really added to the experience. There was also a lot of suburban/neighborhood drama of various sorts, and all in all, the vibes were good.
The chapters about
My main issue with this book is that it never was clear to me what Ethan's next step was: I didn't feel like I understood his reasoning and why he did what he did. Everything felt really random and spur of the moment, which does align with his thinking pattern, but I wasn't able to follow his actions, which made the storyline feel jumpy and unpredictable.
I wasn't particularly wowed by the ending: it was one of those endings where everything fit together just a little too well and with no real reason why it worked out like that. Sure, the clues all fit together and pointed in this direction, but I was not emotionally invested in why/how it worked out the way it did.
All in all, it was a quick and easy read while I was trying to figure out what to read. I enjoyed reading it & listening to the audiobook!