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nerdybookqueen's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This book was awful. I would've DNF'd it much earlier but I finished it because it was my book club book this month, and it only got worse.
Minor problem: it was boring, which is awful for a suspense novel. Every time I thought things would get interesting, they just went back to boring again.
I found the writing style very annoying to read. I hate the awkward switching between third and first person and I realize that it was meant to mislead as to who the one character was, but it made it very difficult and frustrating to read. Especially when it continued after the reveal of who the first person character was.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
What actually made me frustrated and dropped this to a one star was two things:
First, the big twist was the first person narrator, the villain, surprise, not a woman, a gay man! This book came out in 2020, are we not past villainizing gay folks? If your only LGBT character is the villain, and that's also your big twist, you're doing something wrong. I would've been more interested if it had been a woman, tbh, because I would've have been so frustrated with this BS. The homophobia trigger warning is for the author, not the book.
And the second part is that the ending is straight out of a different book. Referencing the book as the source for the character's decision to do those things doesn't excuse the fact you copied the plot. If anything the acknowledgement was more annoying.
Minor problem: it was boring, which is awful for a suspense novel. Every time I thought things would get interesting, they just went back to boring again.
I found the writing style very annoying to read. I hate the awkward switching between third and first person and I realize that it was meant to mislead as to who the one character was, but it made it very difficult and frustrating to read. Especially when it continued after the reveal of who the first person character was.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
What actually made me frustrated and dropped this to a one star was two things:
First, the big twist was the first person narrator, the villain, surprise, not a woman, a gay man! This book came out in 2020, are we not past villainizing gay folks? If your only LGBT character is the villain, and that's also your big twist, you're doing something wrong. I would've been more interested if it had been a woman, tbh, because I would've have been so frustrated with this BS. The homophobia trigger warning is for the author, not the book.
And the second part is that the ending is straight out of a different book. Referencing the book as the source for the character's decision to do those things doesn't excuse the fact you copied the plot. If anything the acknowledgement was more annoying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Homophobia, and Stalking
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Infidelity, Death, Dementia, Death of parent, and Grief
mtnest's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Stalking
Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pregnancy
jasmine256's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Stalking, Kidnapping, and Dementia
Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, and Sexual content
archaicrobin's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I remember reading The Perfect Mother, also by Malloy years ago and loving it. I had such high expectations and none of them were met. This is one of the poorest written thrillers I’ve read in a long time, and a huge disappointment.
Sam is a therapist that likes to lie to his wife and spend 2 million dollars they don’t have. Sam goes missing and said wife stumbles around trying to find him. The novel is from different perspectives, none of which are interesting or cohesive. I hated every character in this book. When Sam went missing, I did not care. When main characters’s lives were in danger I did not care. The characterization and writing were so mediocre in this, I had to make myself sit down and read it.
Along with the subpar character and writing, is the atrocious plot and confusing plot twists. In The Perfect Mother, every twist was well thought out and explained. In Goodnight Beautiful, every twist was confusing, stupid, and a cheap shot at being shocking. There is also so much problematic dialogue from every single character. With the very thinly veiled misogyny, classism, and ignorance in this book I was shocked to see it was published as recently as 2020.
The plot in this book is a mix of Gone Girl and The Shining. Like the author chose her favorite books and just decided to rewrite them with the lamest, most unrealistic ending she could think of. I’m not sure what happened between her debut novel and this release, but it ain’t for me! This thriller came off as a Lifetime Drama where nothing really makes any sense or is any good, but it has all the tropes. If you love Lifetime made for tv moves this could be for you.
Sam is a therapist that likes to lie to his wife and spend 2 million dollars they don’t have. Sam goes missing and said wife stumbles around trying to find him. The novel is from different perspectives, none of which are interesting or cohesive. I hated every character in this book. When Sam went missing, I did not care. When main characters’s lives were in danger I did not care. The characterization and writing were so mediocre in this, I had to make myself sit down and read it.
Along with the subpar character and writing, is the atrocious plot and confusing plot twists. In The Perfect Mother, every twist was well thought out and explained. In Goodnight Beautiful, every twist was confusing, stupid, and a cheap shot at being shocking. There is also so much problematic dialogue from every single character. With the very thinly veiled misogyny, classism, and ignorance in this book I was shocked to see it was published as recently as 2020.
The plot in this book is a mix of Gone Girl and The Shining. Like the author chose her favorite books and just decided to rewrite them with the lamest, most unrealistic ending she could think of. I’m not sure what happened between her debut novel and this release, but it ain’t for me! This thriller came off as a Lifetime Drama where nothing really makes any sense or is any good, but it has all the tropes. If you love Lifetime made for tv moves this could be for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Confinement, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, and Misogyny
rivercat0338's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Violence
Minor: Infidelity
justagirlwithabook's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Oh, this book was unputdownable. I recently posted a little blurb about great psychological thrillers on Bookstagram and was given a handful of recommendations back that I immediately added to my TBR; this was one of those books, and it did not disappoint!
This one gets most of its stars (I'd give it a 4-4.5) for the consistent plot twists thrown into the storyline. I fell prey to every kind of assumption the author was likely hoping that readers would fall prey to, so when the twists hit, my eyes got big, my jaw dropped, and I felt like an idiot having made all the assumptions I had. (And then I of course went back to the beginning to rifle through chapters and review the previous information in an entirely new light.)
This book has SO much plot and just enough character that it kept me utterly interested until the very end. As an added nugget, if you're a bit of a horror fan (think Stephen King's <i>Misery</i>), you'll appreciate the nod and will entirely eat this up.
So! To the brief lists:
What I Loved:
This one gets most of its stars (I'd give it a 4-4.5) for the consistent plot twists thrown into the storyline. I fell prey to every kind of assumption the author was likely hoping that readers would fall prey to, so when the twists hit, my eyes got big, my jaw dropped, and I felt like an idiot having made all the assumptions I had. (And then I of course went back to the beginning to rifle through chapters and review the previous information in an entirely new light.)
This book has SO much plot and just enough character that it kept me utterly interested until the very end. As an added nugget, if you're a bit of a horror fan (think Stephen King's <i>Misery</i>), you'll appreciate the nod and will entirely eat this up.
So! To the brief lists:
What I Loved:
- The twists, and not just one huge one but a handful that kept me having to rethink the story and characters that I thought I'd come to know fairly well
- The psychological aspects (a main character who is a therapist and another character who eavesdrops and diagnoses all said therapist's clients)
- The nod to Stephen King's <i>Misery</i> (as well as <i>The West Wing</i> references that came at perfect moments)
- The fast pace (entirely bingeable!)
What I Didn't Love:
- I wish the story had a been a little bit longer just because I wanted more (more twists, more backstories, more sordid details into other characters' lives), but for it being under 300 pages and such a great read, this is really more of a compliment to the author than a complaint!
Content Warnings:
Minor: child abuse, cursing, death of a parent, dementia, grief, thoughts of infidelity, medical content, sexism, sexual content, violence
Moderate: mental illness, stalking
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Stalking
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence
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