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chasingsilhouettes's review
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Psychological Thriller . Domestic Thriller . Unreliable Narrator . Gaslighting . Fearful Protagonist . Twists .
Joanne is in the home of her dreams with a doting older husband, Richard, who would do just about anything for her and her new baby, Evie. However, she finds that that perfect life comes at a cost.
Feelings of isolation and loneliness set in, and she seems muddle-headed a lot of the time - confused and often forgetting the simplest of things.
When Richard's estranged daughter, Chloe, comes to visit suddenly, Joanne's world begins to shift off of its axis. Though she is excited to meet Chloe at first and attempts to start off on the right foot with her, being the type of person who wants to please everyone, everything Joanne says and does is deflected negatively by Chloe, and her own self-depreciation and self-doubt clouds in on her thoughts even more. Despite feeling like Chloe despises her, she still gives her the benefit of the doubt, even when she acts like a completely different person when Richard is around, trying to pit him against her.
Family secrets - indications of Richard and Chloe's ominous past, as well as hidden aspects of their personalities, are slowly revealed. Joanne becomes increasingly paranoid and fearful of her and Evie's life, with no one immediate to turn to. To top it off, persistent thoughts and forced reminders of her own family's past of "postpartum psychosis" (ch 13, pg 77) being hereditary prays naggingly upon her subconscious.
"How does the saying go again? Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an evil stepdaughter lurking around trying to kill your baby." (ch 13, pg 76)
She has to find out what those secrets are, exactly, and find a way to circumvent a repeat of history to save her own life and the life of her child.
.....
Where, for me, this wasn't as "can't put down" as I thought it would be, it was still interesting enough to keep my attention. There was more than one twist to this plot, and it had me second-guessing my assumptions and kicking myself for not sticking with the nibbling reasonings in the back of my mind. At a few points, I even started to suspect that maybe there was a paramormal element to this book.
Some of it, like the behaviors, suspicion, malicious intent, etc. kind of flash-reminded me of the 2009 film, Orphan, written by David Leslie Johnson.
Also, you know how sometimes you're watching a thriller or horror movie and you want to yell at the screen when someone is about to do something that goes against common sense grain and they throw self-preservation out of the window? I was getting pretty frustrated with Joanne when she kept shrugging things off like she was the one that did something wrong in every single instance as if the behaviors that were directed toward her were justified. It didn't help that Chloe and Richard played off one another and projected their blame onto Joanne whenever possible to make her feel more and more like she were losing her sanity.
"'Not everything is what it seems, you know.' .... 'You're going to have to figure it out sooner or later.' .... 'Sooner would be better.'" (ch 31, pg 192).
Thrillers are not my genre norm, but I'm glad I ventured out a little and took a chance on this read. It's good to change things up here and there, like a challenge for the gears of the imagination.
Joanne is in the home of her dreams with a doting older husband, Richard, who would do just about anything for her and her new baby, Evie. However, she finds that that perfect life comes at a cost.
Feelings of isolation and loneliness set in, and she seems muddle-headed a lot of the time - confused and often forgetting the simplest of things.
When Richard's estranged daughter, Chloe, comes to visit suddenly, Joanne's world begins to shift off of its axis. Though she is excited to meet Chloe at first and attempts to start off on the right foot with her, being the type of person who wants to please everyone, everything Joanne says and does is deflected negatively by Chloe, and her own self-depreciation and self-doubt clouds in on her thoughts even more. Despite feeling like Chloe despises her, she still gives her the benefit of the doubt, even when she acts like a completely different person when Richard is around, trying to pit him against her.
Family secrets - indications of Richard and Chloe's ominous past, as well as hidden aspects of their personalities, are slowly revealed. Joanne becomes increasingly paranoid and fearful of her and Evie's life, with no one immediate to turn to. To top it off, persistent thoughts and forced reminders of her own family's past of "postpartum psychosis" (ch 13, pg 77) being hereditary prays naggingly upon her subconscious.
"How does the saying go again? Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an evil stepdaughter lurking around trying to kill your baby." (ch 13, pg 76)
She has to find out what those secrets are, exactly, and find a way to circumvent a repeat of history to save her own life and the life of her child.
.....
Where, for me, this wasn't as "can't put down" as I thought it would be, it was still interesting enough to keep my attention. There was more than one twist to this plot, and it had me second-guessing my assumptions and kicking myself for not sticking with the nibbling reasonings in the back of my mind. At a few points, I even started to suspect that maybe there was a paramormal element to this book.
Some of it, like the behaviors, suspicion, malicious intent, etc. kind of flash-reminded me of the 2009 film, Orphan, written by David Leslie Johnson.
Also, you know how sometimes you're watching a thriller or horror movie and you want to yell at the screen when someone is about to do something that goes against common sense grain and they throw self-preservation out of the window? I was getting pretty frustrated with Joanne when she kept shrugging things off like she was the one that did something wrong in every single instance as if the behaviors that were directed toward her were justified. It didn't help that Chloe and Richard played off one another and projected their blame onto Joanne whenever possible to make her feel more and more like she were losing her sanity.
"'Not everything is what it seems, you know.' .... 'You're going to have to figure it out sooner or later.' .... 'Sooner would be better.'" (ch 31, pg 192).
Thrillers are not my genre norm, but I'm glad I ventured out a little and took a chance on this read. It's good to change things up here and there, like a challenge for the gears of the imagination.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, and Gaslighting
swimmer120x's review against another edition
3.0
The book could have been shortened significantly. I felt like the gaslighting between Chloe and Joann became the entire theme of the novel and continued for HOURS of the book. Approximately 5 hours into the audiobook, I heavily considered DNFing the book, because the gaslighting was just so overdone (and in a childish way, albeit). I didn’t want to listen to it anymore. Thankfully, the last hour and a half of the book picked up and the plot thickened.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cancer
michellebub's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Stupid, ignorant people don’t deserve shit.
Honestly the man deserved to die. He KNEW about Chloe’s behavior problems and still gaslighted Jo and told her that Chloe wouldn’t do that. SHE TOLD YOU SHE KILLED HER SISTER AND MOTHER. how much in denial can you be? You risked your life, Joannes and evies. Because you’re so stupid to see your daughter for who you really are. Yes, Chloe might be the psychopath in this story, and a very well liar at that. BUT he could’ve prevented all of that. Why not let her call the police? Why not send her away. Totally deserved, he had it coming.
Apart from that, how can it be that this was interesting but at the same time not. Most of this book was already predictable because of the prologue. How boring is that.
It just always went on and on with Chloe’s bratty behavior, for SO MANY PAGES. Like we get it, do something new, something interesting. Please
Apart from that, how can it be that this was interesting but at the same time not. Most of this book was already predictable because of the prologue. How boring is that.
It just always went on and on with Chloe’s bratty behavior, for SO MANY PAGES. Like we get it, do something new, something interesting. Please
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Mental illness and Violence
zoedilts's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
dippermfpines's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Murder
cinzia_2509's review
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Mental illness, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity
marimaria's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
This was a wild ride. The first 3/4 was very frustrating to read with all the gaslighting and manipulation, and I could feel for the protagonist, Joanne. But the last quarter was intense and rather unexpected, all the way to the very end. It had me gripping my reading tablet hard. The writing style isn't that special, but I enjoyed the experience nonetheless. I couldn't put the book down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting
mickiec03's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
chickelope's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, and Terminal illness
booklvrkat's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.5
Wow - as far as psychological suspense goes, this was one for the books! I found it a little repetitious at times, but it's a fast read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, and Gaslighting