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kerrygetsliterary's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Infertility
laelyn's review against another edition
3.0
"Hinter der roten Tür" war für mich eines der Bücher, für die ich ausschließlich aufgrund des interessanten Klappentextes entschieden habe - ich kannte die Autorin zuvor nicht und habe auch nichts über sie gehört. Daher war ich besonders gespannt auf diesen Thriller, da es kaum etwas aufregenderes gibt, als neue Autor*innen zu entdecken. Und ich wurde im Großen und Ganzen nicht enttäuscht.
"Hinter der roten Tür" ist ein relativ klassischer Thriller, der mit einer unzuverlässigen Erzählerin und zwei Zeitebenen spielt. Zum einen ist da die mysteriöse Entführung von Astrid Sullivan vor zwanzig Jahren, die bis heute nicht aufgeklärt wurde. Zum anderen ist da das erneute Verschwinden eben derselben Astrid Sullivan in der Gegenwart, das Spekulationen anheizt bezüglich des nie gefassten Entführers von damals. Unsere Protagonistin Fern ist irgendwie in all das verwickelt, zumindest ist sie sich ganz sicher, dass sie etwas mit Astrid verbindet - nur was das ist, daran kann sie sich einfach nicht erinnern.
Die Prämisse ist nicht neu, aber spannend und kurzweilig. Der Schreibstil und die Übersetzung sind angenehm und machen das Buch zu einem Page-Turner, den man aufgrund seiner Kürze auch schnell gelesen hat. Die zentralen Themen von Kindheitstraumata und Angst werden intensiv und düster erarbeitet, und diese Art von geschichte habe ich bisher auch noch nicht gelesen.
Die Spannung wird aufrecht erhalten, auch wenn das Buch eine große Schwäche hat: Es ist wirklich sehr, sehr vorhersehbar. Die Auflösung sowohl des damaligen als auch des gegenwärtigen Verschwindens von Astrid wird jedem Leser sehr schnell klar sein. Ich war ehrlich gesagt ein wenig enttäuscht, dass beide meiner Theorien am Ende zutrafen - ich hatte gehofft, dass diese Auflösungen schlichtweg zu eindeutig sind und am Ende ein Plot Twist wartet, der meiner Erwartungen noch einmal auf den Kopf stellt. Dem ist leider nicht so.
Auch Fern als Protagonistin ist an sich interessant und sympathisch, aber vor allem in den späteren Kapiteln sind ihre Passivität und Naivität trotz aller Traumata, die sie erleiden musste, nur noch frustrierend und wirken nicht mehr realistisch.
Trotz dieser Schwächen ist "Hinter der roten Tür" ein solider Thriller, der kurzweilig unterhält, auch wenn er nicht viel Neues bietet.
"Hinter der roten Tür" ist ein relativ klassischer Thriller, der mit einer unzuverlässigen Erzählerin und zwei Zeitebenen spielt. Zum einen ist da die mysteriöse Entführung von Astrid Sullivan vor zwanzig Jahren, die bis heute nicht aufgeklärt wurde. Zum anderen ist da das erneute Verschwinden eben derselben Astrid Sullivan in der Gegenwart, das Spekulationen anheizt bezüglich des nie gefassten Entführers von damals. Unsere Protagonistin Fern ist irgendwie in all das verwickelt, zumindest ist sie sich ganz sicher, dass sie etwas mit Astrid verbindet - nur was das ist, daran kann sie sich einfach nicht erinnern.
Die Prämisse ist nicht neu, aber spannend und kurzweilig. Der Schreibstil und die Übersetzung sind angenehm und machen das Buch zu einem Page-Turner, den man aufgrund seiner Kürze auch schnell gelesen hat. Die zentralen Themen von Kindheitstraumata und Angst werden intensiv und düster erarbeitet, und diese Art von geschichte habe ich bisher auch noch nicht gelesen.
Die Spannung wird aufrecht erhalten, auch wenn das Buch eine große Schwäche hat: Es ist wirklich sehr, sehr vorhersehbar. Die Auflösung sowohl des damaligen als auch des gegenwärtigen Verschwindens von Astrid wird jedem Leser sehr schnell klar sein. Ich war ehrlich gesagt ein wenig enttäuscht, dass beide meiner Theorien am Ende zutrafen - ich hatte gehofft, dass diese Auflösungen schlichtweg zu eindeutig sind und am Ende ein Plot Twist wartet, der meiner Erwartungen noch einmal auf den Kopf stellt. Dem ist leider nicht so.
Auch Fern als Protagonistin ist an sich interessant und sympathisch, aber vor allem in den späteren Kapiteln sind ihre Passivität und Naivität trotz aller Traumata, die sie erleiden musste, nur noch frustrierend und wirken nicht mehr realistisch.
Trotz dieser Schwächen ist "Hinter der roten Tür" ein solider Thriller, der kurzweilig unterhält, auch wenn er nicht viel Neues bietet.
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
4.0
"Behind the Red Door" is very creepy, and I'm going to have to be careful so as to not plant spoilers. Let's just say that this dysfunctional family raises the bar for those of the future, and narrator Fern, as well as being irritating, is extraordinarily unreliable. She's a school counselor with an anxiety disorder, and during summer break she heads home to New Hampshire to help her father--a psychologist whose work is on fear--pack up his house fo move to Florida. Her physician husband doesn't want her to go because her father would practice his theories on her as a child.
When Fern gets to the small town she grew up in she discovers that Astrid, a girl who was kidnapped and recovered twenty years before, has disappeared again. This triggers repressed memories--was Fern there? Did she know Astrid? Did her parents play a part? Time for Fern to start spiraling as she tries to figure this all out and find Astrid, and give herself some peace.
This is a good psychological thriller, and as deluded and spinny as Fern seems, she's on to something very weird. The end is surprising. You won't be disappointed.
Thanks to Netgalley for the digital review copy in return for an honest review.
~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
When Fern gets to the small town she grew up in she discovers that Astrid, a girl who was kidnapped and recovered twenty years before, has disappeared again. This triggers repressed memories--was Fern there? Did she know Astrid? Did her parents play a part? Time for Fern to start spiraling as she tries to figure this all out and find Astrid, and give herself some peace.
This is a good psychological thriller, and as deluded and spinny as Fern seems, she's on to something very weird. The end is surprising. You won't be disappointed.
Thanks to Netgalley for the digital review copy in return for an honest review.
~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
audreyyrose's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.5
ctin2's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
debtat2's review against another edition
5.0
A truly dark, disturbing, atmospheric psychological thriller that draws on the human psyche and how damaging fear can be to mental health.
Behind the Red Door is the story of protagonist Fern as she struggles to unlock her repressed memories to help find a missing woman.
20 years ago Astrid Sullivan was kidnapped, help prisoner in a basement by a masked assailant, then sensationally returned weeks later. Fern has no memory of this event even though she would have been old enough to remember it being all across the news, but when Astrid goes missing again 20 years later, Fern becomes convinced that she knew Astrid, that the two girls are somehow connected. The recurrent nightmare she has been having since childhood begins to take on the face of the young Astrid. Could her dreams be more than just a dream? Is it actually a flash of memory she is seeing in her sleep?
For all of the serial killer thrillers, psychological suspenses and thrillers, even horror novels, this truly is one of the most deeply disturbing and terrifying books I have read.
There is no need for gory, blood soaked depictions, no monsters in the classical sense, no sadistic killers on the loose, no gothic, dark, eerie houses, and yet; for every component that makes up a scary story that this book doesn’t have, doesn’t need, the tension is so precision perfect, sharper than any surgical scalpel and delivered so accurately that you don’t register the fatal cut to the jugular until it’s to late! It may not have you jumping at shadows, checking under your bed or have your heart rate soaring with every creak and groan of the house in the dead of night. This is so much worse because it’s all psychological, its all inside your head. Your mind trapped, at war with itself as it digests the horrors that our own minds can inflict.
This book poignantly embarks on a road paved with anxiety, mental health and afflictions of the mind and how the people you love, the people that are meant to keep you safe can be the very people that harm you the most. But even worse, the damage our own minds can do to ourselves.
The writing is so incredibly immersive that you feel as though as though you are also part of Ted’s research, like one of his subjects. As you feel the fear seeping off the pages and follow the plot lines about deceptions of the mind this book will have you questioning your own mind as well as what is about to be revealed next and doubting Ferns mind as well as your own! Have I been right all along or have I fallen for one of the red herrings scattered throughout the book?
If you are a fan of psychological thrillers then this book needs to be at the top of your tbr list! Behind the Red Door will be published on 04 August 2020 but you can preorder it now. I can promise you, it will be worth the wait!
Behind the Red Door is the story of protagonist Fern as she struggles to unlock her repressed memories to help find a missing woman.
20 years ago Astrid Sullivan was kidnapped, help prisoner in a basement by a masked assailant, then sensationally returned weeks later. Fern has no memory of this event even though she would have been old enough to remember it being all across the news, but when Astrid goes missing again 20 years later, Fern becomes convinced that she knew Astrid, that the two girls are somehow connected. The recurrent nightmare she has been having since childhood begins to take on the face of the young Astrid. Could her dreams be more than just a dream? Is it actually a flash of memory she is seeing in her sleep?
For all of the serial killer thrillers, psychological suspenses and thrillers, even horror novels, this truly is one of the most deeply disturbing and terrifying books I have read.
There is no need for gory, blood soaked depictions, no monsters in the classical sense, no sadistic killers on the loose, no gothic, dark, eerie houses, and yet; for every component that makes up a scary story that this book doesn’t have, doesn’t need, the tension is so precision perfect, sharper than any surgical scalpel and delivered so accurately that you don’t register the fatal cut to the jugular until it’s to late! It may not have you jumping at shadows, checking under your bed or have your heart rate soaring with every creak and groan of the house in the dead of night. This is so much worse because it’s all psychological, its all inside your head. Your mind trapped, at war with itself as it digests the horrors that our own minds can inflict.
This book poignantly embarks on a road paved with anxiety, mental health and afflictions of the mind and how the people you love, the people that are meant to keep you safe can be the very people that harm you the most. But even worse, the damage our own minds can do to ourselves.
The writing is so incredibly immersive that you feel as though as though you are also part of Ted’s research, like one of his subjects. As you feel the fear seeping off the pages and follow the plot lines about deceptions of the mind this book will have you questioning your own mind as well as what is about to be revealed next and doubting Ferns mind as well as your own! Have I been right all along or have I fallen for one of the red herrings scattered throughout the book?
If you are a fan of psychological thrillers then this book needs to be at the top of your tbr list! Behind the Red Door will be published on 04 August 2020 but you can preorder it now. I can promise you, it will be worth the wait!
mg_in_md_'s review against another edition
4.0
Just like her debut novel ([b:The Winter Sister|40381942|The Winter Sister|Megan Collins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545536764l/40381942._SY75_.jpg|62681565]), the second novel by Megan Collins is dark, tense, and atmospheric from start to finish. Family dynamics are at the heart of the novel and it's clear early on that the main character's (Fern Douglas) father will never be in the running for father of the year. Fern returns home to help her father get ready to move from New Hampshire to Florida around the same time the news is reporting that a woman named Astrid Sullivan has gone missing for a second time, some 20-years after she was first kidnapped. Fern cannot shake the feeling that she knows Astrid and is drawn into the mystery of her disappearance, trying to grasp onto fragments of memories that don't want to stay hidden any longer. The story explores the idea of memory and the role the past plays on the present. When Fern purchases a copy of Astrid's memoir, she soon discovers unsettling connections to the missing woman. She cannot let the modern day mystery of Astrid's disappearance go, despite being warned off by the police and Astrid's wife. Just when you think you have this story figured out, another twist is revealed. If you enjoy atmospheric, psychological thrillers that explore family relationships, add this to your TBR list today.
This review is based on the Giveaways Advanced Reader's Edition that I received from Atria Books. Many thanks to Atria for an early look at this suspenseful tale!
This review is based on the Giveaways Advanced Reader's Edition that I received from Atria Books. Many thanks to Atria for an early look at this suspenseful tale!
booklovinalicia's review against another edition
3.0
Very slow start, quick to figure out the end, and my overall impression was "meh".
Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for allowing me an advanced digital copy to read and give my honest review.
Read my complete review of this and other books on my blog at www.booklovinalicia.blogspot.com
Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for allowing me an advanced digital copy to read and give my honest review.
Read my complete review of this and other books on my blog at www.booklovinalicia.blogspot.com