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A review by lauriereadslohf
Dream Girl by Laura Lippman
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I listened to this audiobook courtesy of Netgalley. I was excited to give it a listen when I saw it listed in the horror category and the write-up mentioned “echoes of Misery”. But, most unfortunately, I’m rating it a 2 which on my personal scale means I didn’t like it all that much.
There are so many reviews here that are adoring this book and I always agonize over reviewing a book when I dislike it but it’s a NetGalley title and there’s an unspoken promise that the reader provide a review so here it is. Sorry in advance.
Dream Girl is told from the point of view of a 61-year-old man named Gerry. Gerry is a wealthy writer who took a tumble and broke his leg(s) and damaged his back and is now incapacitated in his expensive apartment and at the complete mercy of his daytime assistant and his night nurse. Gerry thinks he’s simply the best. A nice guy who treats all women well. But his thoughts tell you a different story. He’s rude, judgemental, and, well, a pretty damn awful specimen of manhood. He also reads more like a late 70’s man to me with his oldie references and ignorance of technology and his inability to keep up with modern times. Maybe he’s just a terrible old soul. Who am I to say?
Now I know someone is going to yell at me so I have to say that I do enjoy books featuring an awful character or two. I mean, I read horror, so many awful people reside in horror but here are two recent reads if you don’t believe me: (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3867038160?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 & https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3999604942?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1) I love to hate a despicable character as much as most people but Gerry was not only awful, he was boring. It’s the boring combined with the awful that killed it for me. Gerry’s a very unreliable narrator too and I’m sick of that a little bit but that’s not the fault of this book, that’s on me for reading too many of them the past two years. He’s being drugged up and he fades in and out of dreamland and the story jumps around in time to hit the reader up with tales of Gerry’s past which only serve to prove he was boring then too. He was also a womanizer who talked himself into believing he wasn’t. How this man managed to catch himself three beautiful wives and several exes is beyond my comprehension. I know he has money but he also has a terrible personality and an unattractive penis (his ex shared that delightful tidbit!) and he claims they all still adore him. Oh Gerry. I almost felt sorry for him for this complete lack of self-awareness until I didn’t . . . But I suppose that is the gist of this story. We’re not supposed to like Gerry but it would’ve been great if he weren’t such a dull villain.
I don’t want to say too much because this is a thriller and things can be easily spoiled. I’ll only say that it takes a long while for something murderous to happen and when it does things start to get a little confusing and the jumping timelines didn’t help matters out. Just when I was getting excited about a turn it would take, I was thrust back into some random time in the past and often forced to listen to Gerry explain away his sexual inappropriateness or other missteps.
I guess what I’m saying here in this very long-winded way, is that this book wasn’t meant for me but maybe it’ll be meant for you? The mystery/thriller/horror-adjacent bits were interesting and the book was well written if you like a dreamy, off-kilter feeling but it needed some oomph, or a shared POV featuring one of his many women friends who “adored” him but that’s not what we get and I am disappointed in ol’ Gerry.
The narrator of the audio, Jason Culp, does a fantastic job with the piece and kept me listening and hoping it would take a turn into the unforgettable but I’m pretty certain if I were reading this in a paper version I would’ve DNF’d it at the halfway mark because I just don’t have the patience.
So it’s a two for me. No poo comments here will change my mind so don’t bother because you’re wasting your breath. I am who I am. I like what I like. Give it a read if you want and I hope you love it!
There are so many reviews here that are adoring this book and I always agonize over reviewing a book when I dislike it but it’s a NetGalley title and there’s an unspoken promise that the reader provide a review so here it is. Sorry in advance.
Dream Girl is told from the point of view of a 61-year-old man named Gerry. Gerry is a wealthy writer who took a tumble and broke his leg(s) and damaged his back and is now incapacitated in his expensive apartment and at the complete mercy of his daytime assistant and his night nurse. Gerry thinks he’s simply the best. A nice guy who treats all women well. But his thoughts tell you a different story. He’s rude, judgemental, and, well, a pretty damn awful specimen of manhood. He also reads more like a late 70’s man to me with his oldie references and ignorance of technology and his inability to keep up with modern times. Maybe he’s just a terrible old soul. Who am I to say?
Now I know someone is going to yell at me so I have to say that I do enjoy books featuring an awful character or two. I mean, I read horror, so many awful people reside in horror but here are two recent reads if you don’t believe me: (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3867038160?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 & https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3999604942?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1) I love to hate a despicable character as much as most people but Gerry was not only awful, he was boring. It’s the boring combined with the awful that killed it for me. Gerry’s a very unreliable narrator too and I’m sick of that a little bit but that’s not the fault of this book, that’s on me for reading too many of them the past two years. He’s being drugged up and he fades in and out of dreamland and the story jumps around in time to hit the reader up with tales of Gerry’s past which only serve to prove he was boring then too. He was also a womanizer who talked himself into believing he wasn’t. How this man managed to catch himself three beautiful wives and several exes is beyond my comprehension. I know he has money but he also has a terrible personality and an unattractive penis (his ex shared that delightful tidbit!) and he claims they all still adore him. Oh Gerry. I almost felt sorry for him for this complete lack of self-awareness until I didn’t . . . But I suppose that is the gist of this story. We’re not supposed to like Gerry but it would’ve been great if he weren’t such a dull villain.
I don’t want to say too much because this is a thriller and things can be easily spoiled. I’ll only say that it takes a long while for something murderous to happen and when it does things start to get a little confusing and the jumping timelines didn’t help matters out. Just when I was getting excited about a turn it would take, I was thrust back into some random time in the past and often forced to listen to Gerry explain away his sexual inappropriateness or other missteps.
I guess what I’m saying here in this very long-winded way, is that this book wasn’t meant for me but maybe it’ll be meant for you? The mystery/thriller/horror-adjacent bits were interesting and the book was well written if you like a dreamy, off-kilter feeling but it needed some oomph, or a shared POV featuring one of his many women friends who “adored” him but that’s not what we get and I am disappointed in ol’ Gerry.
The narrator of the audio, Jason Culp, does a fantastic job with the piece and kept me listening and hoping it would take a turn into the unforgettable but I’m pretty certain if I were reading this in a paper version I would’ve DNF’d it at the halfway mark because I just don’t have the patience.
So it’s a two for me. No poo comments here will change my mind so don’t bother because you’re wasting your breath. I am who I am. I like what I like. Give it a read if you want and I hope you love it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Sexual assault