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A review by lovelylittlereads
Don't Let Her Stay by Nicola Sanders
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book was... a most certainly a book. But, that's about all I can say about it. Before we dive into the full review and thoughts, let's get into a synopsis.
SYNOPSIS
JoAnne is a housewife living in the countryside with her new baby, Evie, and her husband, Richard. She knows without a shadow of a doubt she lives a charmed life. But, when Richard's estranged daughter from his previous marriage comes to live with them, JoAnne discovers that all that glitters is not gold.
Chloe is 20, and while at first JoAnne thinks it would be no problem to have her living with them, she soon finds out just how wrong she is. Chloe begins to display vindictive and resentful behavior, gaslighting JoAnne about conversations they'd had, being incredibly disrespectful - the list goes on. But, day after day, Chloe's behavior worsens. What seemed like innocent but frustrating 'acting out' becomes something that is threatening JoAnne's marriage, and maybe even her life.
Is Chloe truly there to rekindle things with her father? What truly happened to Chloe's mother, whose death JoAnne finds out was not as cut and dry as it may have seemed? And is her life and the life of those that she loves in danger now that Chloe has come in the picture?
Discussion
Alright, I can't lie y'all. This book was a very rough read for me. It might be one of my least favorites that I've read this year, and I genuinely regret not DNF'ing it. I'm only giving it two stars (which is generous) bc I 1.) did actually finish it. I tend to only do one stars for books that I DNF. 2.) There was an attempt at a twist at the end, even if it was incredibly predictable and poorly executed.
The characters in this were INSUFFERABLE. Literally, the only person I could stand in the slightest was the baby, and I don't even like kids like that.
Joanne was stupid. Every action that she took I found myself groaning out loud and wanting to yell at her. Truly, an absolute privileged idiot with zero substance or problem solving skills.
Richard was a GASLIGHTING prick. He was a terrible husband who constantly talked down to his wife and was just overall unpleasant. Even if he didn't do the things Chloe accused him of, JoAnne and Evie truly are better off now that he's dead.
And then let's get to Chloe. Listen, I understand that it was the point for her to be unlikeable. But, her being so unbearably whiney and just such a little twat - it made her so desperately unlikeable that I didn't even want to read about her as a "villain". I just wanted her to stop speaking.
The twist at the end might have been the most anti-climactic thing I've ever experienced. We go through all of this, have Chloe reveal that Richard is actually a piece of shit that murdered his wife (insert 'Sure, Jan' gif here), only for *shocker* Chloe to have been lying all along and truly be the horrible person we've suspected her to be. This book was literally so bad it had me praying to a God I do not believe in that the twist was that it was literally anyone else but Chloe or Richard. Fuck, even throw the grandma in there as being shady. Give me SOMETHING that isn't an Uno Reverse card of a twist. So unsatisfying.
I'm not quite sure why the BookTok girlies (which I am one, but you get my drift) are riding so hard for this book. Because literally ChatGPT could have written a better book and maybe even given a better twist.
Do not recommend.
SYNOPSIS
JoAnne is a housewife living in the countryside with her new baby, Evie, and her husband, Richard. She knows without a shadow of a doubt she lives a charmed life. But, when Richard's estranged daughter from his previous marriage comes to live with them, JoAnne discovers that all that glitters is not gold.
Chloe is 20, and while at first JoAnne thinks it would be no problem to have her living with them, she soon finds out just how wrong she is. Chloe begins to display vindictive and resentful behavior, gaslighting JoAnne about conversations they'd had, being incredibly disrespectful - the list goes on. But, day after day, Chloe's behavior worsens. What seemed like innocent but frustrating 'acting out' becomes something that is threatening JoAnne's marriage, and maybe even her life.
Is Chloe truly there to rekindle things with her father? What truly happened to Chloe's mother, whose death JoAnne finds out was not as cut and dry as it may have seemed? And is her life and the life of those that she loves in danger now that Chloe has come in the picture?
Discussion
Alright, I can't lie y'all. This book was a very rough read for me. It might be one of my least favorites that I've read this year, and I genuinely regret not DNF'ing it. I'm only giving it two stars (which is generous) bc I 1.) did actually finish it. I tend to only do one stars for books that I DNF. 2.) There was an attempt at a twist at the end, even if it was incredibly predictable and poorly executed.
The characters in this were INSUFFERABLE. Literally, the only person I could stand in the slightest was the baby, and I don't even like kids like that.
Joanne was stupid. Every action that she took I found myself groaning out loud and wanting to yell at her. Truly, an absolute privileged idiot with zero substance or problem solving skills.
Richard was a GASLIGHTING prick. He was a terrible husband who constantly talked down to his wife and was just overall unpleasant. Even if he didn't do the things Chloe accused him of, JoAnne and Evie truly are better off now that he's dead.
And then let's get to Chloe. Listen, I understand that it was the point for her to be unlikeable. But, her being so unbearably whiney and just such a little twat - it made her so desperately unlikeable that I didn't even want to read about her as a "villain". I just wanted her to stop speaking.
The twist at the end might have been the most anti-climactic thing I've ever experienced. We go through all of this, have Chloe reveal that Richard is actually a piece of shit that murdered his wife (insert 'Sure, Jan' gif here), only for *shocker* Chloe to have been lying all along and truly be the horrible person we've suspected her to be. This book was literally so bad it had me praying to a God I do not believe in that the twist was that it was literally anyone else but Chloe or Richard. Fuck, even throw the grandma in there as being shady. Give me SOMETHING that isn't an Uno Reverse card of a twist. So unsatisfying.
I'm not quite sure why the BookTok girlies (which I am one, but you get my drift) are riding so hard for this book. Because literally ChatGPT could have written a better book and maybe even given a better twist.
Do not recommend.