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nix_jinx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
kendall_reads8's review against another edition
Nope, big fat nope. I was doing good, enjoying it even. Until the brutal killing of a mouse and the in depth description. Nope, won't go any further.
adellw's review against another edition
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
rainbowsparkle7x's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible momentum
Loved Spare Room. This book was very compelling and the storyline was paced so well with each revelation, moving toward the truth of events along with the main character. I could not put this book down, and would have read it in one sitting if I could have!
Loved Spare Room. This book was very compelling and the storyline was paced so well with each revelation, moving toward the truth of events along with the main character. I could not put this book down, and would have read it in one sitting if I could have!
tatterededges's review against another edition
4.0
I’m really quite unsure how to rate this book.
I really enjoyed reading it. It was well written, genuinely suspenseful with lots of unexpected plot twists. I couldn’t put it down but the ending completely bloody sucked.
But, as I’m sure I may have mentioned once or twice, my biggest pet hate in a book is when an author resorts to having one character explain the key plot points to another character. It’s lazy, it’s unimaginative and it bores the pants off me and this author, who was doing an amazing job of storytelling fell into this trap multiple times at the end. Why? She was doing so well.
Why the fuck wouldn’t her parents have just told her the truth. One conversation would have solved everything. Instead they held onto their lies despite clearly seeing it was destroying their daughter. It made no sense at all. They had nothing to lose by telling the truth.
And I have other questions,
Why didn’t she just take a photo of the writing on the wall, rather than risk her lease by having Alex come there?
Why do all the characters tolerate lying? It’s just constant throughout the whole book.
Why drink the LSD once she knew it was LSD? Surely pretending to have drunk it would have worked just as well, More-so when you consider she wouldn’t have been completely bent off her arse while somebody was trying to kill her?
Why, Other than the author being lazy and wanting to wrap shit up quickly, would Martha, or her parents have revealed any of their secrets to her? They’d all well and truly married that lie 20 years earlier. I don’t buy any of them coming clean.
Women who murder their children and suicide afterwards, don’t do it because they find out their husband has had an affair. This annoyed me because even the most basic of research into maternal filicide would tell you that. Why not write a more credible early trauma?
So I’m going to rate the book as 4 stars right up to chapter 37.
Chapters 37 through to 42 get 2 stars. Maybe 1 Star. Because it’s just characters explaining shit to each other.
43 onwards gets 3 stars because more stupid explaining of plot points, though less so than previous chapters, but never quite reverts back to the books earlier quality.
I really enjoyed reading it. It was well written, genuinely suspenseful with lots of unexpected plot twists. I couldn’t put it down but the ending completely bloody sucked.
But, as I’m sure I may have mentioned once or twice, my biggest pet hate in a book is when an author resorts to having one character explain the key plot points to another character. It’s lazy, it’s unimaginative and it bores the pants off me and this author, who was doing an amazing job of storytelling fell into this trap multiple times at the end. Why? She was doing so well.
Why the fuck wouldn’t her parents have just told her the truth. One conversation would have solved everything. Instead they held onto their lies despite clearly seeing it was destroying their daughter. It made no sense at all. They had nothing to lose by telling the truth.
And I have other questions,
Why didn’t she just take a photo of the writing on the wall, rather than risk her lease by having Alex come there?
Why do all the characters tolerate lying? It’s just constant throughout the whole book.
Why drink the LSD once she knew it was LSD? Surely pretending to have drunk it would have worked just as well, More-so when you consider she wouldn’t have been completely bent off her arse while somebody was trying to kill her?
Why, Other than the author being lazy and wanting to wrap shit up quickly, would Martha, or her parents have revealed any of their secrets to her? They’d all well and truly married that lie 20 years earlier. I don’t buy any of them coming clean.
Women who murder their children and suicide afterwards, don’t do it because they find out their husband has had an affair. This annoyed me because even the most basic of research into maternal filicide would tell you that. Why not write a more credible early trauma?
So I’m going to rate the book as 4 stars right up to chapter 37.
Chapters 37 through to 42 get 2 stars. Maybe 1 Star. Because it’s just characters explaining shit to each other.
43 onwards gets 3 stars because more stupid explaining of plot points, though less so than previous chapters, but never quite reverts back to the books earlier quality.
heemajeema's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-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
kristinauria's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Twisty and dark. Wonderfully written with a bittersweet ending.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Minor: Child death and Drug use
joannareads's review against another edition
3.0
This was a quick enjoyable read, although it was very far fetched! I liked the main character but felt like she made some really bad decisions.
There were some good twists and from the start nothing was quite what it seemed.
I’ll look out for other books by this author.
There were some good twists and from the start nothing was quite what it seemed.
I’ll look out for other books by this author.