Reviews

I Can Be a Better You by Tarryn Fisher

aeblair's review

2.0

I guess the ending made it worth it but my god I found this book hard to finish once I got about halfway through. I am not one for overly sexual content in my films or books so perhaps you won’t have the same issues with it. The only character I liked was Jolene. I know I’m not supposed to like Darian or Fig, but it was more than their deeds that made me dislike them. Maybe it was their personalities. But I think the affair dragged on a long while. I expected more drama. I expected the worst. I kind of wanted the worst, at least I’d make the latter half of the book exciting. For a thriller, I’m not pleased with the ending.

dig_the_plot's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Well this book is seriously disturbing. And I loved it. How did I not know this book existed!?! It was published in 2016 and I just happened to see it at the library. I love Tarryn Fisher and have read The Wives, The Wrong Family, and an Honest Lie. This book is all kinds of cray cray. It’s giving Fatal Attraction and Single White Female vibes. So Fig Coxbury (I couldn’t love that name anymore than I do) sees Jolene Avery and her daughter Mercy at the park and becomes obsessed with them. She thinks she can be a better mom to Mercy than Jolene. Basically Fig wants everything Jolene including her husband Darius. Fig begins stalking them and slowly integrates herself into their lives. She moves next door, wears the same shoes, dies her hair, goes through their mail…you get the picture. The book is told from three different POV’s, Fig the psychopath, Darius the Sociopath and Jolene the writer. I really thought Fig was going to be the craziest until I got to Darius. He turned out to be exactly who I thought he was going to be while reading Fig’s section. Darius has pica….and I’ll let you google that for yourself. Darius has sex with his patients and is being sued by a former patient. The only positive about him is that he sees straight through Fig for who she is. Jolene on the other hand is a snooze fest. Does Jolene figure it all out in the end? You’ll just have to read to find out. I will tell you that you need to prepare yourself for the last sentence. I was shook. Perfect ending. All three of these people are unreliable narrators which I love. This is a dark, twisted psychological thriller that will leave you guessing until the end. Initially I was confused because while reading reviews I kept seeing this book called Bad Mommy. The book was originally named this and then later re-named with a different cover. I’m just going to say it….the cover is terrible. I typically judge books based on their covers but because it was by Tarryn Fisher I knew it would be good. This is a must read despite the bad cover. 

eudoralynn's review against another edition

3.0

Giving an average review because I did not review at the time of completion. I don't remember this being a mind blowing experience. 

menachris87's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

idlove's review against another edition

slow-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

2.0

bookswitwine's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

meganrbarbour's review

1.0

How is this a thriller?

leridally's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.25

tremiasz19's review

4.0

4.5* I really liked this, the only reason it’s not 5 stars is because I didn’t love the ending.

christine757's review

2.0

Thought it would be better

With the rating so high by so many others I was hoping I would love this book. Unfortunately I didn't love it. The writing was good and it started off with great potential and I kept waiting for the "big moment" but it never came. I was disappointed and don't think it was worth buying.