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clairesreading 's review for:
The Serial Killer's Wife
by Alice Hunter
I don’t always pick up crime novels because I feel like they end up becoming too predictable or too far fetched. I picked this one with the idea that I wouldn’t really be surprised, yet, I still managed to be pleasantly amused by the final twist. I’m very certain I’ll read the author’s next book in any case.
Now, there’s books I love and rate 4 to 5 stars, and then there’s books I enjoyed but didn’t find to be out-of-this-world. I read this book in 24 hours because it has a simple style, a good pace, and a fun plot. It just didn’t blow my mind, but I’m okay with it because I didn’t particularly expect it to.
The concept of making the reader wonder whether the wife is innocent or an unreliable narrator was interesting, and the simple, easy-to-read style of writing made it an easy read with a final twist that is both a cliché and exactly what you wanted in the end.
The issue is that some of the twists worked not because of unreliable narrators, but because despite the narration being in first person, the characters simply did not say everything. Sure, it’s the point of unreliably, but also by the end it felt too convenient. The relationships and the villain were stereotypical and the odd love story felt forced and cartoonish.
It felt like a crime drama that you binge over a week end even though you know exactly how it’s going to end.
But hey, isn’t that exactly what we need sometimes?
Now, there’s books I love and rate 4 to 5 stars, and then there’s books I enjoyed but didn’t find to be out-of-this-world. I read this book in 24 hours because it has a simple style, a good pace, and a fun plot. It just didn’t blow my mind, but I’m okay with it because I didn’t particularly expect it to.
The concept of making the reader wonder whether the wife is innocent or an unreliable narrator was interesting, and the simple, easy-to-read style of writing made it an easy read with a final twist that is both a cliché and exactly what you wanted in the end.
The issue is that some of the twists worked not because of unreliable narrators, but because despite the narration being in first person, the characters simply did not say everything. Sure, it’s the point of unreliably, but also by the end it felt too convenient. The relationships and the villain were stereotypical and the odd love story felt forced and cartoonish.
It felt like a crime drama that you binge over a week end even though you know exactly how it’s going to end.
But hey, isn’t that exactly what we need sometimes?