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outofoffice_reading's review against another edition
2.0
The Couple at Table Six is told via Hannah & Nadine - Nadine is one half of the couple at table six, with her husband Max, and Hannah is their wannabe waitress. Hannah has a crush on Max, Nadine is hiding a secret from Max. And there’s a stranger named Tom who’s interested in Hannah.
I will start by saying from the beginning of the book I had a slight issue with some of the descriptions for the two women; it felt a little off that male author had written this from the point of view of two women who were ultimately desperate for the love of a man and really had nothing else going for them. There was also an element of fat shaming which bothered me.
It starts off innocently enough, I enjoyed the slow reveal to Hannah’s instability and the build up to revealing Nadine’s dark secret. In fact the first third of the book was pretty promising, but once it is revealed that Hannah murdered another couple, who had previously frequented the restaurant, and Nadine’s adult son was not her husbands but the result of a fling many years ago (with Keiran) for the story becomes quite unhinged… I guess like Hannah & Nadine?!
Perhaps the authors intention was that the story would become unhinged inline with the main protagonists, I’m unsure, but, for me, it all became a little more comedy than thriller.
The storyline became a little too predictable, the real father of Nadine’s son returns, threatens to ruin her perfect life; so she kills him. Hannah witnesses the murder, and attempted cover up, blackmails the couple in hopes of “getting her man” (Nadine’s husband Max). There’s some toing and froing with who’s blackmailing who, the previous affair is revealed, Max sleeps with Hannah. It’s a whole lot of drama… but not really a lot of tension or suspense.
The biggest disappointment in the book for me was the use, or under use, of Adam (Nadine’s son) and Tom. Ok Tom ultimately kills Nadine & Max, framing them for Hannah’s previous murders in some twisted declaration of his love, but it was just a little boring. I was so hoping Tom was going to transpire to be an undercover policeman who knew Hannah’s secrets all along, or that Adam would appear looking for his real dad, and all of the secrets and lies would unravel. So I was left feeling lacklustre when the book ended.
I even started to wonder if the other lady in the hostel at the end was going to turn out to be Keiran’s mum, just some unexpected twist that added some kind of consequence for everything that had transpired.
Overall it was an ok read, but too many conveniences and predictabilities.
I will start by saying from the beginning of the book I had a slight issue with some of the descriptions for the two women; it felt a little off that male author had written this from the point of view of two women who were ultimately desperate for the love of a man and really had nothing else going for them. There was also an element of fat shaming which bothered me.
It starts off innocently enough, I enjoyed the slow reveal to Hannah’s instability and the build up to revealing Nadine’s dark secret. In fact the first third of the book was pretty promising, but once it is revealed that Hannah murdered another couple, who had previously frequented the restaurant, and Nadine’s adult son was not her husbands but the result of a fling many years ago (with Keiran) for the story becomes quite unhinged… I guess like Hannah & Nadine?!
Perhaps the authors intention was that the story would become unhinged inline with the main protagonists, I’m unsure, but, for me, it all became a little more comedy than thriller.
The storyline became a little too predictable, the real father of Nadine’s son returns, threatens to ruin her perfect life; so she kills him. Hannah witnesses the murder, and attempted cover up, blackmails the couple in hopes of “getting her man” (Nadine’s husband Max). There’s some toing and froing with who’s blackmailing who, the previous affair is revealed, Max sleeps with Hannah. It’s a whole lot of drama… but not really a lot of tension or suspense.
The biggest disappointment in the book for me was the use, or under use, of Adam (Nadine’s son) and Tom. Ok Tom ultimately kills Nadine & Max, framing them for Hannah’s previous murders in some twisted declaration of his love, but it was just a little boring. I was so hoping Tom was going to transpire to be an undercover policeman who knew Hannah’s secrets all along, or that Adam would appear looking for his real dad, and all of the secrets and lies would unravel. So I was left feeling lacklustre when the book ended.
I even started to wonder if the other lady in the hostel at the end was going to turn out to be Keiran’s mum, just some unexpected twist that added some kind of consequence for everything that had transpired.
Overall it was an ok read, but too many conveniences and predictabilities.
liaferreira's review against another edition
5.0
Left completely speechless towards the end! I didn’t see the twist coming at all
nordi133's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
readingwithleslie's review against another edition
3.75
The rollercoaster of emotions!! You really don’t want to root for anyone, but there ends up being someone you dislike more. The twists were twisting! So good.
21younh's review
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
hmmiller's review against another edition
mysterious
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? It's complicated
1.5
hollsbooks's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
taylorp98's review
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
talia1007's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5