A review by stephen_coulon
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

It's a woman-in-trouble thriller in the gaslight subgenre of neo-noir. Suffering from agoraphobia and trapped alone in her own home, a woman suspects the worst from the neighbors she watches from her windows. The author hangs a lampshade on the whole narrative – it’s filled with overt references and allusions to all the classic films in the gaslight genre, the first person narrator herself ironically wonders which classic tropes best resemble her situations and whether she is the gaslighter or gaslightee. So it helps if you have some familiarity with at least some of the classic films in that genre. It doesn’t come off as hokey though, Finn is adept characterization and building rousing suspense. It plays out like a true mystery, not a satire, and for me at least, the reveal was well crafted in the context of the narrative. There’s a Netflix adaptation of the book I think, though I’m not sure how engaging it would be after already knowing the mystery.