A review by minimicropup
Just One Look by Lindsay Cameron

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I liked this. It’s a slow burn psychological thriller that reminded me a bit of Freida McFadden’s and Megan Collins’ style. If you don’t mind leaps in logic, it’s a decent read, especially if you like unhinged characters and popcorn thriller reveals.  
 
Energy: Ominous. Uneasy. Incensed. 
 
🐕 Howls: The big reveals at the end felt rushed, I wish it was hinted at more throughout and slowly incorporated. The plot holes stretched believability with all the convoluted long-cons and scheming that made no sense to me. It read clunky when the main character’s personality suddenly flipped from dangerously obsessive to chill and reflective. 
 
🐩 Tail Wags: Messy protagonist. Toggling between wanting the MC to get away with everything and wanting her to face the consequences. Well-placed flashbacks. Building tensions about how far the MC will go to get the guy. Entertaining.
 
Scene: 🇺🇸 Manhattan, NY, USA
Perspective: We first meet our main character fresh out of being fired, dumped, and on the verse of losing their apartment lease. They are working a low-paying temp job auditing a law firm’s communications when they find themselves falling hard for one of the lawyers whose personal emails they are reviewing. 
Timeline: November. 2019. 
🔥 Fuel: Why was Cassie fired from her previous job? Why is she so smitten with the lawyer whose emails she’s reviewing? How far will she go to get to know more about him? Will she be caught? Will she lose this job? What is she doing when she blacks out from drinking too much?   
📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief to over-the-top
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Notebook. Mouse clicking. Venti dirty chai. Screech of train brakes. Juice press. City sounds. Higher-ups. 
  • Breezy, intimate, reflective writing style
  • Tagging along, overhearing character thoughts, reading through emails (first person)
  • Chaotic, flawed, somewhat sympathetic, unhinged character study
  • Escalating obsessions psychological suspense
  • From couple goals to I’m-gonna-steal-your-life
  • Second-hand cringe and embarrassment
  • Precarious grip on reality
  • One-sided love at first sight, I-can-change-for-them romance
  • Desperate measures pick-me plotting
  • Everything-has-to-fall-into-place-perfectly-to-work scheming
  • Touch of did-not-die-that-way mystery
  • Fall from grace, double lives, manipulation, web of lies, online sleuthing popcorn thriller reveals
  • Workplace drama 
 
Content Heads-Up: Alcohol (intoxication, stress drinking, black outs). Allergy (peanut, shellfish). Blackmail. Cancer (loved one, terminal; brief recall). Cheating, break-up (unexpected). Grief. Loneliness. Loss of adult child. Loss of parent (as adult). Mental instability, breakdown, rage. Obsession, stalking. Parental abandonment (as child). Physical violence (former romantic partner). Suicide (off page). Unrequited love. 
 
Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Ruddy, tanned, ambiguous skin tones. 
 
📚 Format: Kindle
 
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