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A review by abithoughtful
Watching Edie by Camilla Way
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Heather and Edie were best friends as teenagers. After one fateful night at the Quarry in their hometown, they never see each other again - never, that is, until Heather turns up on Edie's doorstep years later and squeezes her way back into her life. At first it seems innocent, a woman reconnecting with her old friend, but as the situation intensifies, Edie begins to wonder if the past is coming back to bite her after all.
This is told in two first person perspectives, Heather's 'Before' and Edie's 'After'. This pair of unreliable narrators creates instability in the narrative, as we only occasionally get Edie's reflections on the past to corroborate or dispute what Heather is telling us. The suspense is built skilfully, and the final reveal is pretty brutal. While it's not quite the unexpected twist I hoped for, this novel is quite daring in its finale, holding the readers' sympathies like putty in its hands.
I liked its depictions of obsession, love and abuse, and how the relationships in this book explore the interplay between those three elements. It's nuanced in this, examining the line at which something becomes toxic, and the ways abusers use someone's love as ammunition against them, as well as the choice to interpret something as harmful just because it doesn't serve you.
The reason I didn't five star this is because I find suspense that relies on the novel witholding information that is known by both narrators to be frustrating and a little cheap. I don't feel like I've been skilfully misdirected, I don't feel like I've been drawn into someone's self-deception, I just feel like I've been manipulated by characters who knew full well what they were doing. Which I suppose is thematically appropriate, and maybe the novel WANTS you to feel a bit gaslit? As psychological thrillers go, this is one of the better ones I've read, and if this is a genre you dabble in a lot this one comes highly recommended.
This is told in two first person perspectives, Heather's 'Before' and Edie's 'After'. This pair of unreliable narrators creates instability in the narrative, as we only occasionally get Edie's reflections on the past to corroborate or dispute what Heather is telling us. The suspense is built skilfully, and the final reveal is pretty brutal. While it's not quite the unexpected twist I hoped for, this novel is quite daring in its finale, holding the readers' sympathies like putty in its hands.
I liked its depictions of obsession, love and abuse, and how the relationships in this book explore the interplay between those three elements. It's nuanced in this, examining the line at which something becomes toxic, and the ways abusers use someone's love as ammunition against them, as well as the choice to interpret something as harmful just because it doesn't serve you.
The reason I didn't five star this is because I find suspense that relies on the novel witholding information that is known by both narrators to be frustrating and a little cheap. I don't feel like I've been skilfully misdirected, I don't feel like I've been drawn into someone's self-deception, I just feel like I've been manipulated by characters who knew full well what they were doing. Which I suppose is thematically appropriate, and maybe the novel WANTS you to feel a bit gaslit? As psychological thrillers go, this is one of the better ones I've read, and if this is a genre you dabble in a lot this one comes highly recommended.