Review by stephanieluxton - The Couple Next Door

stephanieluxton 's review for:

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

3.25

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This book is about Anne and Marco, two new parents who leave their baby asleep in their house to attend a dinner party next door, only to find the baby missing when they return home. So begins the investigation of what happened to the baby.

While none of the characters are particularly likeable, this book started out pretty interesting. It's an easy to read, fairly fast paced mystery. I enjoyed reading it but imagine it'll be a pretty forgettable book. There's nothing groundbreaking her. There are twists and turns but the ending isn't entirely unexpected at all. This story is told from multiple perspectives. This removes a good chunk of suspense because one character might be trying to piece together certain clues about something the reader is already aware of because we just heard the truth from the perspective of the previous chapter. It made it more boring than it had to be. I prefer to find things out at the same time that the characters do.

I also think this book would have benefitted from having a different name, honestly.

Content Warnings