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katesmiles's review
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Rape, and Murder
jdhauk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Police brutality
Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Mental illness
dandelion451's review
4.0
Loved the structure - the book within the book would be great by itself - but could have done with less noodly introspection between the sittings. (Something the film dealt with particularly well.)
coronaurora's review
It starts so strong, with this perceptive, keen-to-read-between-the-lines female leafing through a thriller written by her ex-partner. The story within the parent story also starts strong with all the atmosphere and hooks of a nail biting thriller. However, by the middle you are left panting by the interminable psychological state-capture of Susan with emotionally loaded phrases and words all the while as the companion thriller has been slowly morphing into a morbid, bleak drama of a grieving man that you never signed up to read in the first place (also made interminable by breathless stacking of melodramatic, screaming almost-sentences to capture the immediacy and intensity of the emotional/existential havoc).
It is really overkill and I was disappointed that the editor here didn't have the good sense to trim and slice both threads, so the themes, the tone and the sucker-punches shone brighter. Hell, even the "meh" after realising there was not much give or take between the threads (how could there be? we are going between a B-movie slasher and a kitchen sink drama!) would have been more pleasant had it come atleast 50 pages sooner. I cared for Susan and Tony, just not this much.
Still, late Mr Wright was clearly someone who didn't write indifferently, and that is something I admire. He had the props to really make me believe we are on to some kind of a masterpiece here for a good third of the book. Who knows, with a good editor and some more shots at publishing, we would have seen better stories from his pen. For now, Tom Ford's immaculately dressed-up and presumably-abridged screen translation will have to do.
It is really overkill and I was disappointed that the editor here didn't have the good sense to trim and slice both threads, so the themes, the tone and the sucker-punches shone brighter. Hell, even the "meh" after realising there was not much give or take between the threads (how could there be? we are going between a B-movie slasher and a kitchen sink drama!) would have been more pleasant had it come atleast 50 pages sooner. I cared for Susan and Tony, just not this much.
Still, late Mr Wright was clearly someone who didn't write indifferently, and that is something I admire. He had the props to really make me believe we are on to some kind of a masterpiece here for a good third of the book. Who knows, with a good editor and some more shots at publishing, we would have seen better stories from his pen. For now, Tom Ford's immaculately dressed-up and presumably-abridged screen translation will have to do.
debbyeee's review
5.0
Wow. I just finished the book and I know that ending will sit with me for days. This novel is part thriller, part beach read, and part.... DARK. Ultimately, it is an examination of human nature that is unlike anything I've ever seen in print. It is about weakness and cowardice, about pretense and defense. It will hit you hard (if you let it).
And umm... They're making it into a movie, with stars like Jake Gyllenhal and Amy Adams cast in the main roles. It's going to be this year's "Gone Girl".
And umm... They're making it into a movie, with stars like Jake Gyllenhal and Amy Adams cast in the main roles. It's going to be this year's "Gone Girl".
mellllellel's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
the_sunken_library's review against another edition
1.0
That was officially the longest 2 weeks of my life. Never has a book stretched out for so long, seemingly never-ending, and I have read the LOTR trilogy!
Honestly? I hated this book. I didn't like Susan (the narrator) - I felt she was smug, even after excavating her crappy life with her adulterous husband. I found her parts particularly boring. I just didn't care.
The manuscript by Edward (Susan's ex-husband of the past 25 years) was somewhat more interesting. I like a good crime novel. However, it didn't blow me away and in the end I didn't care what happened - whether those criminals received a swift and merciless justice or the victim suffered indefinitely.
I also disliked the writing "style". The "literary technique" of either not finishing sentences logically or typing them out like Yoda might speak. It was forced, a desperate attempt at making this novel about how one writes and reads rather than how we associate a books narrative with our own lives in order to understand or contextualise a characters actions/situation. I didn't buy it and nothing interesting was revealed to me.
Don't bother. Honestly. After I was about half way through I started skipping whole pages in order to move on with my life.
It gets one star because for some reason I didn't just toss the damn thing away, clearly something about it intrigued me enough that I wanted to know what happened.
Honestly? I hated this book. I didn't like Susan (the narrator) - I felt she was smug, even after excavating her crappy life with her adulterous husband. I found her parts particularly boring. I just didn't care.
The manuscript by Edward (Susan's ex-husband of the past 25 years) was somewhat more interesting. I like a good crime novel. However, it didn't blow me away and in the end I didn't care what happened - whether those criminals received a swift and merciless justice or the victim suffered indefinitely.
I also disliked the writing "style". The "literary technique" of either not finishing sentences logically or typing them out like Yoda might speak. It was forced, a desperate attempt at making this novel about how one writes and reads rather than how we associate a books narrative with our own lives in order to understand or contextualise a characters actions/situation. I didn't buy it and nothing interesting was revealed to me.
Don't bother. Honestly. After I was about half way through I started skipping whole pages in order to move on with my life.
It gets one star because for some reason I didn't just toss the damn thing away, clearly something about it intrigued me enough that I wanted to know what happened.
bywell's review
4.0
Totally engaging, superbly written, unique premise... missing the last star because of the ending. It left me engaged and thinking but in the end, the behavior of some of the characters was a little hard to fathom.