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hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-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
1.5
My downfall will be that I’ll read anything with Riley Sager’s name on the cover just because I’ve liked a couple of his books. But good god, that doesn’t mean he should be allowed to write just anything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma and Violence
Moderate: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death of parent, Death, and Confinement
the main character’s sister is a missing person, has nothing to do with the actual plot itself and it is not resolved. It’s just something brought up a lot.chellyfishing's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide, Death, Murder, and Car accident
romorel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Another Sager title under my belt, this story was another compelling and suspenseful experience.
The hints build comfortably, but unlike other Sager thrillers my experience was simply “being along for the ride”. This book took twists and turns I absolutely did not see coming, but once uncovered made me nod appreciatively at the well paced “Chekhov’s Guns”. The execution was fantastic.
So much so that I’m writing this at 1:50AM on a Thursday and given myself a headache from staying up too late.
Sager’s characters are easy to connect with, though one thing I often notice with his protagonists is that I have no idea what they look like besides being “unremarkable” brunettes.
Overall a very satisfying story.
The hints build comfortably, but unlike other Sager thrillers my experience was simply “being along for the ride”. This book took twists and turns I absolutely did not see coming, but once uncovered made me nod appreciatively at the well paced “Chekhov’s Guns”. The execution was fantastic.
So much so that I’m writing this at 1:50AM on a Thursday and given myself a headache from staying up too late.
Sager’s characters are easy to connect with, though one thing I often notice with his protagonists is that I have no idea what they look like besides being “unremarkable” brunettes.
Overall a very satisfying story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Medical content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Trafficking, Car accident, Blood, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Suicide, and Violence
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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
3.0
Rating: 3/5 stars
Jules is facing rock bottom when she agrees to move into a luxury apartment building as a paid house sitter. But when another sitter goes missing, Jules quickly realizes all is not what it seems…
I want to preface this by saying I’m a huge Riley Sager fan, and count some of his other books among my favorite thrillers. I think he’s super talented and he’ll always be an auto-buy author for me on the strength of some of his other work. Unfortunately, this one absolutely did not land for me.
I was bored for 99% of this book (the 1% was basically the very beginning, when I was waiting for the premise to set up, and my enthusiasm didn’t even return for the ending and final reveals). The FMC made some absolutely ridiculous choices and decisions, and I didn’t really like any of the other characters. I also never felt super invested in the mystery aspect of the plot, and I thought the big reveal was pretty bonkers and didn’t have great foundation laid to suggest it throughout.
I know a lot of people do love this one, so it may well have been a “me” problem…but the bottom line is if you’re reaching for a Riley Sager I personally think there are much better ones to grab.
CW: Death/death of parent/suicide; fire; blood/injury/violence
Jules is facing rock bottom when she agrees to move into a luxury apartment building as a paid house sitter. But when another sitter goes missing, Jules quickly realizes all is not what it seems…
I want to preface this by saying I’m a huge Riley Sager fan, and count some of his other books among my favorite thrillers. I think he’s super talented and he’ll always be an auto-buy author for me on the strength of some of his other work. Unfortunately, this one absolutely did not land for me.
I was bored for 99% of this book (the 1% was basically the very beginning, when I was waiting for the premise to set up, and my enthusiasm didn’t even return for the ending and final reveals). The FMC made some absolutely ridiculous choices and decisions, and I didn’t really like any of the other characters. I also never felt super invested in the mystery aspect of the plot, and I thought the big reveal was pretty bonkers and didn’t have great foundation laid to suggest it throughout.
I know a lot of people do love this one, so it may well have been a “me” problem…but the bottom line is if you’re reaching for a Riley Sager I personally think there are much better ones to grab.
CW: Death/death of parent/suicide; fire; blood/injury/violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, and Death
michelletapp's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide
jhabelita's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
Read this in less than 24 hours! The kind of stress and panic that I need. Nothing beats a book you read in one sitting. 👍
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Murder, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
greenlight22's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
A an engaging, quick and easy read. Unfortunately always seem to be let down by Sager’s endings, it was all a bit contrived and predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Suicide
Moderate: Terminal illness
blueberrybailey's review against another edition
mysterious
4.0
this book was so captivating! i loved how it went back and forth in time, seeing the mystery unfold slowly; knowing something is wrong and trying to piece together what throughout the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Minor: Suicide
astoriareader's review against another edition
mysterious
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
3.0
SYNOPSIS
- Jules is a 25 year old, and she has had a bit of a rough patch. She was recently let go from her job, and she is having money problems. Her live-in (now) ex-boyfriend cheated on her, so she moved in with her friend, Chloe. She doesn’t have any family left, as her parents died & her sister Jane disappeared
- She gets the opportunity to apartment sit at a fancy building in Manhattan for $4000/month for 3 months, but there is a catch. She isn’t allowed to have any guests, and she is required to spend the night there every night. There are some other rules re: secrecy as well.
- There are a few other sitters living in the building. Jules befriends one, and shortly thereafter, the other sitter is MIA.
- What’s going on in the apartment building? What happened to the other sitter?
MY THOUGHTS
- I got through this quickly, and it is an easy read. The writing is fine, but there isn’t very much depth or character development.
- The ending was mehhh. Not great, not terrible.
- It is a slow burn, but pretty predictable.
- The main character overlooks so many things, and she comes off as a stereotypical woman written by a man in a thriller novel.
- Side note: I am intrigued at this point as to why Riley Sager always writes women as the MCs. He has written some books that I love, and some that I don’t.
TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️predictable + slow burn + thriller + set in NYC. not a huge fan of the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Medical content, and Suicide
kitkat_2793's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Death