Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Who is Maud Dixon?

I didn't like this book at all. The plot sounds exciting but everything moves extremely slowly and the characters are constantly making stupid decisions. The sheer number of things every person in the vicinity had to overlook for the ending to work was ridiculous.

Content Warnings

colleensreadingadventures's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

Wow..this book took me on quite ride! A wild, intriguing, no idea where you are headed kind of ride, over bumpy, curvy and dangerous roads without a seatbelt and all. And I loved every minute of it!

Florence fled Florida after college to move to New York and one day become a writer. For now she is an assistant editor at a publishing house, that is until she gets herself fired. But Florence is fine with it because she knows she is destined for something bigger and better. And somehow she lands on her feet in an even better job as the assistant to the famous author Maud Dixon. Maud Dixon is Helen Wilcox’s pseudonym and only 3 people know who she really is. Helen herself, Greta her agent and now Florence.

Helen can be difficult to work with, she’s brusque, demanding and very intimidating. But she is also a brilliant writer and pretty knowledgeable in life so Florence is more than happy to work with her.

Several weeks on the job Helen decides she needs to do research for her next novel in Morocco and she’s taking Florence with her. Florence had never been out of the country and everything is new and exciting. After a night of heavy drinking and a bad car accident Florence wakes up in a hospital bed with the police interrogated her as Madame Wilcock because she was found with Helen’s passport and credit cards. Florence realizes Helen must have died in the crash when they went over the bridge and her body must not have been recovered and still in the water. She knows with utmost certainty that she has been given the gift of a new famous identity and she’s going to take it. But Helen’s life is not what Florence expected and she’s now in a life altering possibly endangering dilemma.

The first part of the story was about laying the ground work and getting to know Florence and Helen, so it was a little slow but when the scenery changed to Morocco it picked up nicely.

The characters were well formed and definitely unlikable but that was perfect for this story.

In regards to Florence I had a hard time figuring out my feelings for her. I was in awe with her tenacity and how she was so sure she deserved the best in life but I was also horrified by how she went about getting what she wanted. She was a complex character for sure.

It would have been a 5 star read for me had it not been for the ending. I didn’t think that it was wrapped up the way it should have been exactly and felt like it was a bit sloppy.

This really was an excellent book that kept me on my toes letting me see glimpses but not totally sure what was going to happen.

I’m shocked this is a debut novel and can’t wait to see what else Alexandra Andrews comes out with.

Content Warnings

busy_izzi's review

Go to review page

tense 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? Yes

1.0

Read this for book club — otherwise I would have DNF’d this early on. While it does pick up after its very slow start, with many highly telegraphed “twists,” it doesn’t get any better.

Content Warnings

More...