Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Beware the Woman

Excellent follow-up (not sequel) to The Turnout, which was the first of her books that I read myself, Megan Abbott has a very keen sense for portraying women, misogyny and heteropatriarchy that I find fascinating, and a tight grip on the thriller's narrative structure that makes for a very compelling read.

Also those women were lesbians and I know it and I'm right.

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aileron's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

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dfrancis's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No

3.5

I enjoyed the book but I feel like the ending left a little to be desired. The book really plays on fears about bodily autonomy, misogyny, and reproductive justice, which all feels very relevant. It definitely had the creeping suspense of a gothic but I feel like the ending happened too quickly and was just a little lackluster and unclear. I’ve seen some people say the writing felt disjointed and didn’t flow well but i didn’t find that to be an issue, but I was listening to the audiobook and maybe it comes off better through that. Overall, decent read but not my fave

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heykellyjensen's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Jacy is excited to spend a few days at her husband Jed's childhood home in upper peninsula of Michigan. She and Jed had a whirlwind romance, and she doesn't know a whole lot about his history or family. Jed's father lives at their former summer home year-round, and Jed's mother died when he was young. She's especially excited since she's pregnant, and this is the perfect opportunity to get to better know Jed's background.

Except, from the start, everything is not what it seems. Jed's father, a former doctor, is immediately concerned about Jacy's well-being. He insists she rest, and he forces her to see a local doctor because something is not right with the baby. He knows it as a former doctor, and he wants to ensure she's safe. Jacy–who is gaslit through the entire story–tries to play good guest and daughter in law through this, but she's put through an invasive exam by a male doctor. One that isn't kept between the two of them but instead one that allows that doctor to talk with Jed and his father about what he's seeing. It's not good, he insists. It's placenta previa, which can lead to a c-section if not handled properly. Jacy does not like that her medical history and current challenge is being discussed without her around, and as soon as she's able to make a phone call to her own doctor back home, she does. But it's northern Michigan, so reception is spotty and the only way she can make this call is by the rotary phone at the cabin. It's also the beginning of July and Independence Day has people in and out of the office, but when Jacy reaches her own doctor (who is female), she's told that when she sees the sonogram, she'll be able to be of more help but not to worry, as the condition is pretty common.

What hasn't been said here is this: Jed's mother died in childbirth, and Jacy gets his father to share some of this story. As a doctor and as someone who lost his wife, he's hyper worried about what could go wrong, and he's especially concerned about her having a c-section and what that might mean for his grandchild. Jacy, one on level, gets this. But on another level, she knows this is common procedure and not something she's worried about yet. She's only in her second trimester.

As the days continue at the cabin, Jed becomes more and more distant. He's spending time at a local bar, he's going out with friends, and he's gaslighting Jacy the same way his father is. Jed's father becomes even colder when he discovers that his house manager, Mrs. Brandt, gave Jacy a robe that had never been opened, but had belonged to his deceased wife. Jed becomes angry when he finds one of Jacy's dresses has blood stains on it. And Mrs. Brandt is often cold with Jacy, and she is brusk with her about the blood-stained dress, explaining that there are smarter ways to remove blood.

While this is all going on, in the background is another story. There've been sightings of a mountain lion locally, and Jed, his father, and a couple of other locals are obsessed with finding it. They've been cleaning up their guns, looking for tracks, setting up night watches to finally catch this creature before it can hurt anyone.

Finally, sick of being gaslit and forced to continue relaxing, Jacy decides she needs out. No matter how much she's begged Jed to leave, he's told her she cannot do so. The roads in Michigan are bad, and they'd hurt the unborn fetus. Flying would be dangerous, too. But Jacy decides it's time, and she's got a plan to get herself to Marquette, the biggest city in the UP, and she'll fly home. She'll see her own doctor and learn what, if anything, might be wrong.

The night is set. She's going to leave. The men are going out to find the mountain lion, and Jacy plans to call a cab and flee.

Except, it doesn't happen that way. Jacy finds herself in a position she never imagined, and a secret from Jed's family is shared with her by an unlikely source. That secret allows Jacy to confront Jed and his father, confront their hypermasculinity, and confront the idea that women are less important than the fetus they may be carrying. Turns out that Jed and his father aren't the people she thinks them to be and that the stories she's heard of Jed's mother are about as far from the truth as can be imagined.

Jacy also finds that mountain lion.

Abbott's novel is a compelling read, and it's one that marries her masterful use of detail with the sparseness of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She creates a fascinating study of family and masculinity with Jed and his father, while showcasing how angering, belittling, and disempowering the act of gaslighting can be for the individual experiencing it. At heart is a pregnant woman fighting against the notion that the fetus in her is more important than she is, and throughout, we see Jacy continue to try to assert her voice while the rest of those around her downplay it, emphasizing the need for her to keep thinking about the baby. Jed's dad, Dr. Ash, is a well-drawn villain who throughout the story seems anything but. He's hospitable enough, and he assures Jacy everything is going to be okay if she just follows the doctor's orders. Mrs. Brandt, the house manager, was one of the most enigmatic characters throughout. She's both kind and cold to Jacy, offering her the area's world-famous pasties in secret while also keeping distance from Jacy as not to help her understand what might be going on with her or with Jed and his father.

This is a mystery composed of several small mysteries, and the tension throughout is high. It's a page-turner that offers a satisfying–and maybe even empowering–ending that allows each character to get exactly what it is they deserve to have. A good story has complex characters who showcase both their best and worst qualities, and not a single character in this book is flat. Indeed, even the ones who seem to be good turn out to be anything but....and those who seem like they're in on the scheme may be plotting something all on their own.

Readers who like dark stories, stories with pregnant main characters, and well-paced, character-driven thrills will dig this one. If you've liked Megan Abbott before, you're not going to be disappointed.

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debussy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

Beware the Woman is a bit of a departure for Megan Abbott. The terrible, wonderfully written characters are still there, and her masterful ability to write around solid details is also very much present, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions when it comes to character backstory and motivation. It starts out rather slow, with unwitting Jacy on a trip to visit her new father-in-law, but as with Abbott books, there is a slow twist even at the beginning that things are not going to go as planned.

This book has a bit more of a flair for horror than Abbott's previous books. Jacy is at first charmed by Doctor Ash, her husband's father. But changes lurk: her husband, Jed, starts to act more distant, less himself, more influenced in a way by his surroundings. He tells her a dark story about his father that doesn't seem to make any sense to Jacy, who sees Doctor Ash as an affable sort happy to grill and hike and show her old photos. But then the housekeeper doesn't act quite right, throwing Jacy off. When Jacy wakes up covered in blood, she's whisked away to Doctor Ash's friend's medical practice, where his friend examines Jacy and discovers she has placenta previa.

Cue the horror. From here, Jacy's body is no longer her own, but even that is a slowly tightening screw. The men huddle, determining what to do with her, while the housekeeper lurks nearby, always watching and never quite giving up what she's thinking. It starts to churn together into a story of paranoia, both medical and patriarchal. Doctor Ash and Jed just want Jacy to be safe--to think about her unborn child, to be calm and rational, to do what they say above all. Jacy wants to get the hell out, but at every turn she's threatened or scolded or had all of her means stripped away. She has no internet, no wi-fi, no reliable land line after a while. They're off in the woods, far from help. Jacy has to help herself.

This is a story of women battling back--taking revenge, taking what's theirs, owning themselves, making decisions for their own bodies when the men around them would like to be calling all the shots. It is an addictive ride, and quite a fast one when the plot starts to spin and spin, upping the tension and paranoia and slowly peeling back all of Jacy's ability to trust in other people to make the right decisions for her.

My one quibble is the housekeeper. She speaks in riddles and I was not entirely sure she needed to be so vague without explanation. There is also an extremely abrupt ending, which works for a novel that leans toward horror, and of course I can infer what happens, but I just wish these aspects of the novel had been a little cleaner.

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