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A review by thejoellachapter
Looker by Laura Sims
4.0
This book was such a quick read! I thought it was super interesting, but I don’t know that I would label it as a thriller. For me it doesn’t really fit into any genre necessarily, but I think that is part of its appeal.
This book is narrated by a woman who has recently been through a rough breakup, after struggling with infertility and countless rounds of IVF that nearly depleted her savings and broke her sense of self-worth. She is working as a professor at a nearby struggling college, convinced that she will be let go after the term ends and that her building will be sold, leaving her jobless and homeless. While she is desperately yearning for children of her own, she also feels a lot of self-loathing and blame that she is unable to conceive. As her life crumbles around her, she hyper fixates on what she deems a ‘perfect’ actress who has moved in across the street with her husband and children. She tries on numerous occasions to get the attention of the actress and build a friendship, only to be politely avoided.
Honestly, the narrator is unlikeable, although she is written to be. She doesn’t have many redeeming qualities. Her thoughts are messy, chaotic, full of hallucinations and memory gaps. She consistently makes mistakes, making her life significantly worse than it was. However, if you look at it as a character study into a seemingly normal person’s descent into mental anguish and chaos, it is absolutely fascinating. I flew through it, devouring the entire book in one sitting. The ending is pretty dark, so I would be aware of that going in!
This book is narrated by a woman who has recently been through a rough breakup, after struggling with infertility and countless rounds of IVF that nearly depleted her savings and broke her sense of self-worth. She is working as a professor at a nearby struggling college, convinced that she will be let go after the term ends and that her building will be sold, leaving her jobless and homeless. While she is desperately yearning for children of her own, she also feels a lot of self-loathing and blame that she is unable to conceive. As her life crumbles around her, she hyper fixates on what she deems a ‘perfect’ actress who has moved in across the street with her husband and children. She tries on numerous occasions to get the attention of the actress and build a friendship, only to be politely avoided.
Honestly, the narrator is unlikeable, although she is written to be. She doesn’t have many redeeming qualities. Her thoughts are messy, chaotic, full of hallucinations and memory gaps. She consistently makes mistakes, making her life significantly worse than it was. However, if you look at it as a character study into a seemingly normal person’s descent into mental anguish and chaos, it is absolutely fascinating. I flew through it, devouring the entire book in one sitting. The ending is pretty dark, so I would be aware of that going in!