Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

8 reviews

temberhop's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

dblue236's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was definitely not my favorite of this author's books, but it was a solid thriller with some twists I didn't see coming. The reveal regarding one particular character SHOULD have been obvious, but I managed to gloss right over it somehow until shortly before it was unveiled. Overall this was a great story and I enjoyed it, but it definitely isn't the best indicator of how talented Peter Swanson really is. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

gellyreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

So, I can see why some people may feel like this book was trying to do too much, but I had a lot of fun with it. I didn't exactly go where I wanted it to go, even though I really thought I was right on a plot twist or too. I really enjoy books where you can see

the killer's point of view

, and the fact that this one still had some twists and turns was great for me. I also really enjoyed Hen's point of view, although I'm not sure how accurate of a depiction of bipolar is with it; Swanson also continues to do a decent job of a man writing a woman's view.

I definitely didn't see the fact that he didn't have a brother and it was a split personality at all, and I felt incredibly stupid for not realizing that she almost slept with and then got almost raped by one of his victims.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

tspice24's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Rape

bethasaurus13'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

I really wanted to like this but I really did not. I’m a big fan of thrillers and I enjoyed the kind worth killing. however, I have never read a book that made me feel so sick. This book was  disturbing. 
the amount of misogyny, sexual violence was gross. The author stigmatizes DID and bipolar disorder.  The amount of sexual violence was beyond what was necessary and was described in great detail. The internal monologue of the killer was revolting. 

I listened to the audiobook which likely made that character’s internal thoughts about women even more disturbing. The way the killer talks about women was horrific. As a woman, the language was vile. It also made me uneasy that the person writing this was a man.  

The plot was not terrible but I felt sick from the sexual violence and the killer’s internal dialogue.

Also while the book is set in a fictional town, the author gives clues as to where it would be. He  says the town is on the south shore in Massachusetts, but the author’s descriptions of the town and the geography do not make sense. For example they go home from Logan airport but the author says they head towards Lexington to get home … on the south shore. The authors grasp on the geography of the region is sloppy, like most of the book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, and Lesbophobia

READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS

kiki9988's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Torture, Stalking, and Murder

motherelectricity's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape