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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
3.25
“Homes were supposed to be safe havens, meant to protect. It was supposed to be a shelter from the elements, a fortress to keep out evil, and her home had betrayed Josie in the worst possible way.”
WARNING: another unpopular opinion review!
My first two experiences with this author were excellent, so I fully expected to have a great time reading The Overnight Guest as well. The premise has everything I love in a thriller: a bookish angle, a remote setting, a bout of bad weather to further isolate the main character... But in the end there was something about the execution of the plot that didn't hit the mark for me. Is it just a case of wrong expectations and not being in the mood for the story that was presented instead? Maybe. But the fact is that somehow this story just didn't work as well for me personally. This has a lot to do with the structure of the plot. The Overnight Guest is divided into three storylines, and only the present POV is the one as described in the blurb. Then there is a flashback POV to 2000 where we see the events surrounding the crime that took place in the house featured in the present POV... And last but not least, a POV that has serious Room vibes following a young girl and her mother locked up and being abused. Especially the third POV kind of came out of nowhere for me, and it wasn't a POV I particularly liked even though it was well written. Reading about active (child)abuse just wasn't what I had signed up for when I started this story...
The pace in general was also a lot slower than expected, but I think this has a lot to do with the constant POV switches. These switches were way too frequent in my opinion, and the story would have benefitted considerably from staying with one storyline more than a couple of pages. And while part of me can appreciate how everything was woven together in the end, it also ment having to accept way too many coincidences and it just wasn't credible anymore. I did love the ominous atmosphere of the present POV, and the storm is very well done. I think my reaction to The Overnight Guest is the result of overcomplicating the plot, and as a result it all felt a bit disjointed during most of the story. And while I can understand the third POV featuring the girl being included, I would have enjoyed this story SO much better without it. In short: interesting start, WAY too many POV switches, undesirable POV and over the top conclusion with way too many coincidences. Not the story for me, but most people do seem to enjoy it better so it might just have been my fickle reading mood acting up again.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
whatathymeitwas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I'm my opinion, this is very will written. I don't run into that many books that make me feel like I'm a string being slowly wound up at an ever-increasing speed and intensity, but this one did. I literally felt my heart rate go up during certain scenes. For an author to actually physically affect me, I'm impressed.
I won't get into the plot or anything that might be a spoiler, but this story was just aces. I had no idea who the fingers were going to eventually end up pointed at, and most of my guesses ended up being wrong. It took me til the last quarter to even figure out all the other perspectives and how they tied together. Provided, I'm not always exceptionally good at figuring out the mystery, but this one especially had me mind boggled.
This would be a great pick for anyone who enjoys extremely suspenseful suspense novels, and it would probably work exceptionally well as a winter read— in the dark, when it's snowing and chilled outside.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting