The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn // Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Anna is trapped in her own house and trapped in her own mind.

It’s clear that Anna’s immediate world has circumvent to the walls of her home in New York. Falling from an esteemed career in child psychology and having her family leave her has Anna withdrawn. No longer in contact with other humans, she drops in on the agoraphobia forum or dabbles in spying on the neighbors. That is until the Russells move in.

Alistair Russell is overprotective of his family but does that mean he may be abusing them? Ethan Russell has an unhealthy love of MILFS but will Anna succumb to the temptation? Jane Russell hardly appears in the family unit but what if she doesn’t even exist? After Anna unwittingly sees a woman who she thinks is Jane stabbed to death across the park, she begins to doubt her own reality.

Add in a dose of alcoholism, not taking prescriptions as prescribed, and not knowing what to believe and you get this unreliable narrator. Of course, we get an inkling of what happened to Anna’s family. Is it a surprise anymore in this genre? I think it may be hard to watch Anna struggle and sometimes misstep. She’s off centered as an unknown tormentor revels in watching her panic. I think this is a solid read that doesn’t overstay its welcome. It came here for business and it delivered.

I could have done with a better final confrontation. There isn’t much aside from surface level writing to pull apart characters. It’s kind of comical how predictable it played out with the antagonist explaining their plan and Anna running for her life. I like that there was an attempt to use classic films as a way to direct the plot but sometimes there wasn’t a strong enough connection. I recommend this as a quick read where the setting takes place in a single house which does heighten a sense of insecurity. Honestly, my favorite parts of the book are Anna venturing outside of the house or practicing therapy.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage // Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

C O N T E N T   W A R N I N G :   A B U S E ,   A S S A U L T

This rating comes with mixed feelings. On one hand I really like the mind games between a grown woman and her seven year old daughter. On the other hand, everyone is slightly…twisted. And I love it.

Suzette is not cut out for motherhood. She thought she would succeed where her own mother failed. Hanna is the chance she always wanted to prove her self-worth and show her husband how much she loves him. But Hanna won’t cooperate. She’s willful, quick tempered, narcissistic, judgmental, and hates her mother. It isn’t hard to relate when Suzette has control issues and prioritizes social appearance over understanding her daughter’s feelings. Added to the fact that Alex always sides with Hanna and doesn’t support Suzette with parenting. No one is the victim.

The book only escalates as Hanna’s schemes become more dangerous. I did get frustrated with every character at some point. All of the manipulation can take a toll but that didn’t deter me from wanting to know how it ends. I needed to know who would be the victor. My only gripe is allowing Alex to play a more important role than the arbiter in the household. Maybe it’s a good thing that he stayed laize-faire for as long as possible before  it was absolutely necessary to make a decision.

The story is told in two perspectives. Suzette and Hanna take turns elaborating on the same events. It wasn’t confusing since the continuity was never repeated and instead revisited as memories to help the story move along. I thought that the alternating chapters were expertly told and never got dull so as to make me impatient with a single perspective.

In terms of the ending, there was something to be desired. You get a sense that this was the only solution so the focus is on the journey to get there. The open ended cliffhanger gives the impression of a sequel but I highly doubt there’s anything else to explore without rehashing all the shock value. Hopefully, the ominous premonition is enough to satisfy people’s sense for justice.

I recommend this for fans of thriller and suspense between a mother and daughter and their obsession with their male patriarch.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman // Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

C O N T E N T  W A R N I N G :  A B U S E , R A P E

Eleanor is honest to a fault. She is literal and applies rationale to aspects of life that are inherently irrational. Such as, why people want to purposefully arrive late to parties or why smokey eyes do not mean that your eyelids have caught on fire. She bull heads her biases and attempts to stronghold people into her worldview. When Eleanor sees someone who is overweight, she concludes that they are lazy individuals who don’t merit sympathy because they lack restraint for self-indulging. It’s quite appalling how apathetic she is to humanity and the misanthropic qualities she exhibits unabashedly to banal individuals.

Initially, it was difficult to even tolerate Eleanor. I failed to see where the character would go and was cautious that the story would only reaffirm her actions as acceptable. I  debated about dropping the book entirely in an effort to recoup my time I may have wasted. Instead, small aspects about Eleanor needled at me. I felt something was amiss as she lead us through her daily routine and her interactions with others. How she craves attention from strangers but avoided more intimate relationships. No, there were slippages where Eleanor would allow herself to acknowledge her moments of weakness. Eventually, she transformed from pathetic to sympathetic. I could relate to her social awkwardness and understood the anxiety to perform correctly in public.

Perhaps, that’s why this book is an instance of resistance. It’s sophisticated in presenting itself as not only a romance but self-awareness. In addition, it rejects that care should only be administered by the self and alerts us to all the times others have failed a person like Eleanor. This novel asks how do we value our worth especially in context to the people we surround ourselves.

Eleanor is fine until she is made aware that she isn’t. She begins to redefine being fine once she realizes the ways in which she is unraveling. In the hopes to get better, she has to let the hurt out. What’s left is the possibility to let healing in where the hurt used to live. Maybe it will work and maybe it’s futile, but that’s the decision Eleanor makes for herself.