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_nyhomie's review
3.0
If you can’t look past unlikeable characters, don’t pick it up! Quick read personally, but did find myself having a somewhat tough time pushing through at the start. Just a bit slow.
annavanna's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
mmajer's review
4.0
3.5/5. Parts of this had me completely hooked, and parts had me completely lost, like the ending.
monicakuryla's review
3.0
I enjoyed this book, had a promising plot..disappointing and predictable ending
dunnadam's review
2.0
Marketed as a "chilling psychological thriller" and it's not. I’m at 72% going “When is the thrill part going to happen?”
One thing I would say is good is it reads like a thriller, it’s a very quick light read that I finished easily in a day and a half.
The negatives, this is not Gone Girl. It’s not better than Gone Girl.
The wife is okay, but the husband was so annoying I wanted to stop reading the book. He would do things wrong and blame the women in his life, which pissed me off. “And he wouldn’t have felt the need to hide it from her, he added, if she weren’t so damn controlling.” At the same time it didn’t piss me off enough, I didn’t hate him, he seemed wishy-washy and like an overgrown baby and I just wanted him out of my life.
I didn’t care about the characters enough. There’s a subplot of childhood trauma that isn’t fully explained and never goes anywhere and has no relevance.
It’s kind of a “So what” book. I’ll forget it by tomorrow.
One thing I would say is good is it reads like a thriller, it’s a very quick light read that I finished easily in a day and a half.
The negatives, this is not Gone Girl. It’s not better than Gone Girl.
The wife is okay, but the husband was so annoying I wanted to stop reading the book. He would do things wrong and blame the women in his life, which pissed me off. “And he wouldn’t have felt the need to hide it from her, he added, if she weren’t so damn controlling.” At the same time it didn’t piss me off enough, I didn’t hate him, he seemed wishy-washy and like an overgrown baby and I just wanted him out of my life.
I didn’t care about the characters enough. There’s a subplot of childhood trauma that isn’t fully explained and never goes anywhere and has no relevance.
It’s kind of a “So what” book. I’ll forget it by tomorrow.
hollidayreadswithme's review
2.0
I’m still reeling from reading the last few pages. Never the fan of ambiguity, I am now struck as to whether or not I dislike this book, or just don’t like the way it ended. I find that when looking at something like this, a book that insofar as just talks about the details of the plot because the blurb gives the plot away. I never know what to think.
The characters.. Let’s talk about them. I don’t really like any of them and so as soon as I finished the book, I promptly forgot about them. Jodi, the wife, is delusional and feels like those 1950s housewives but I’m assuming that this is in the present day. So this story doesn’t feel like it is current or even needs to be written. There is nothing really there that reminds me of Gone Girl like it is advertised as. I don’t mind it but it feels like false advertising. What I would say is that this is a lesson in what a woman shouldn’t do.
I will say that there was nothing particularly smart or cunning about her. The world was just moving around her, all the particulars aren’t even her idea. It’s very sad to put this even on the same level as Gillian Flynn. Natasha, the other woman, is annoying but that’s just a perverse look of the “other woman when the grass is not greener”. This was not a thriller by any means. It’s sad but not thrilling nor chilling.
2 stars.
The characters.. Let’s talk about them. I don’t really like any of them and so as soon as I finished the book, I promptly forgot about them. Jodi, the wife, is delusional and feels like those 1950s housewives but I’m assuming that this is in the present day. So this story doesn’t feel like it is current or even needs to be written. There is nothing really there that reminds me of Gone Girl like it is advertised as. I don’t mind it but it feels like false advertising. What I would say is that this is a lesson in what a woman shouldn’t do.
Spoiler
So basically Todd dies by driveby shooting and the police is blaming the father of the bride, who is coincidentally supposed to be the Husband’s best friend. There are a couple reveals but I could already guess what they were and I didnt think that they were that shocking. Even the last thing that was revealed about Jodi, that she and her younger brother was sexually abused by her older brother.I will say that there was nothing particularly smart or cunning about her. The world was just moving around her, all the particulars aren’t even her idea. It’s very sad to put this even on the same level as Gillian Flynn. Natasha, the other woman, is annoying but that’s just a perverse look of the “other woman when the grass is not greener”. This was not a thriller by any means. It’s sad but not thrilling nor chilling.
2 stars.
bandgeek3997's review
4.0
This is actually a 3.5 book, but I'm the kind of person who rounds up with his stars.
I checked this book out on Goodreads before I read it, and I discovered the mass amount of reviewers who said that this book wasn't anything like "Gone Girl," despite what the book publishers said. So when I was reading, I knew not to expect the same level as Gillian Flynn, and I think that helped from the very beginning.
I have many mixed feelings about this book. I love thrillers, particularly psychological thrillers, mostly because I find them better written than the usual detective book. But I don't think this book falls under that category, or if that's what the author wants, then she doesn't succeed very well. You see, with thrillers that are ranked along with a book like this makes the reader sweat, turn, think, race to the end. There was no quickening pace here. It was just all... kind of happened.
The characters were interesting. I loved to hate Todd. He was such a pitiful person, and I could not believe he possessed so much stupidity. But at the same time as feeling bad for Jodi, I felt that Todd's lack of monogamy stemmed from her spirit of carelessness in their marriage. Natasha, on the other hand, was a character around my age, and I'd like to think if I knew her in college, I would steer clear of her at all cost. Clearly she was a lunatic, and how Todd never realized it until it was too late is beyond me.
Overall, the book was alright. I didn't get hung up on the writing, but I think there could have been a thicker plot to help the intensity factor step up a bit. It's sad that this was the author's first and last fiction book since she died this past April. I believe, with some honing, she really would've found how to better write a thriller novel, and then she would be on the same page as Gillian Flynn. Darn shame.
I checked this book out on Goodreads before I read it, and I discovered the mass amount of reviewers who said that this book wasn't anything like "Gone Girl," despite what the book publishers said. So when I was reading, I knew not to expect the same level as Gillian Flynn, and I think that helped from the very beginning.
I have many mixed feelings about this book. I love thrillers, particularly psychological thrillers, mostly because I find them better written than the usual detective book. But I don't think this book falls under that category, or if that's what the author wants, then she doesn't succeed very well. You see, with thrillers that are ranked along with a book like this makes the reader sweat, turn, think, race to the end. There was no quickening pace here. It was just all... kind of happened.
The characters were interesting. I loved to hate Todd. He was such a pitiful person, and I could not believe he possessed so much stupidity. But at the same time as feeling bad for Jodi, I felt that Todd's lack of monogamy stemmed from her spirit of carelessness in their marriage. Natasha, on the other hand, was a character around my age, and I'd like to think if I knew her in college, I would steer clear of her at all cost. Clearly she was a lunatic, and how Todd never realized it until it was too late is beyond me.
Overall, the book was alright. I didn't get hung up on the writing, but I think there could have been a thicker plot to help the intensity factor step up a bit. It's sad that this was the author's first and last fiction book since she died this past April. I believe, with some honing, she really would've found how to better write a thriller novel, and then she would be on the same page as Gillian Flynn. Darn shame.
jcaballero0725's review
4.0
Fun, quick read. This story was about a wife, a husband, and his mistress so for anyone with issues with that, don't read. Suspenseful and easy to read, I did figure out the ending before it happened.