A review by soshereads_
Lying Next to Me by Gregg Olsen

dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I realized halfway through the book I was hate-reading it. While the story was interesting, the characters were not. And this would absolutely fail the Bechdel test. Every time a woman was described it was to describe how hot they were, if they would do the man describing them, if they would have s*x with her. Then the two female characters with POV chapters: Lee, the detective, clearly hasn’t worked through her traumatic experience as a child yet some how qualified to be a police detective. Her inability to see reality in Adam was painful. And then there is Kristen. Probably the only character I kind of liked but then her infertility is used as a reason for her actions, and that felt very gross and overused. The twist was so easy to see coming and the ending wasn’t much of a surprise. It felt cheap and misogynistic. 
This was my first Gregg Olsen book. And I’m not sure if he was intentionally making these characters so so unlikeable and misogynistic or if there’s something going on here. I can usually tell when the author’s goal is for us to not like a character.
I did like the altering perspectives and there were a few twists that I found interesting. I also kind of liked the last chapter with Adam, and it really kind of highlighted the crux of his character.

But overall I would not recommend this book.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings