A review by doodlebeanz
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

2.75 

This book IS NOT a psychological thriller like it claims to be. At all. I am realizing that those words are slapped onto every 'thriller' out there and it leads the reader to expect twists and turns and WTF moments... this book provides none of those. I'd call it a domestic 'thriller', since I cannot think of a better word atm, but it is barely a thriller. Domestic fiction, maybe? There are thriller elements, considering not all is as it seems, but there were absolutely no plot twists or moments that leave you saying 'wtf' like other classic domestic thrillers do.

Amber is a POS. Jackson is a POS. I feel bad for Daphne since she got mixed up with them both. I also feel bad for the children involved. although they were written pretty unrealistically considering they were supposed to be under 10... but that's neither here nor there.

The whole
Jackson being utterly insane and sociopathic twist was obvious from a thousand miles away. Why can't the women be the crazy ones for once? I would've loved if Jackson was the victim and Daphne was the sociopathic one at the end of the day. I actually thought that was going to be a big twist, considering how she was described from Amber's POV. Jackson's whole characterization of anti social personality disorder was so... tired. And overdone. Like every thriller has a sociopathic lunatic who hates women. Let me read about a sociopathic woman who hates men. I'd read that book in one sitting! Amber was sociopathic for sure, but she was still a victim to Jackson at the end. I also think her whole back story was so glossed over. There should've been a flash back to her story like there was for Daphne meeting Jackson.</spoilers>

I am just really bored with popular hyped up thrillers that I see on booktok / booksta. None of them have good twists anymore. I was more shocked by Verity by Colleen Hoover which I read about a year ago and gave a 2.5/3 star than I was by this book. Please, thriller writers, I want you to creep me out. I want to be scared to have my lights out in my apartment. I want to look over my shoulder constantly. This gave me no excited (aka scared lmao) butterflies. It was very straight forward and got right to the point. It was entertaining for sure, but just didn't live up to my expectations. 2.5 star for me sadly.
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