Showing posts with label Psychological Thriller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psychological Thriller. Show all posts

Monday, February 4, 2019

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

4 Stars

I think this book broke my brain.  *LOL*  I picked it up because it had been recommended to me by a very good friend.  It also had a lot of good buzz about it.

It's a differently structured book.  We get differing first person POVs and flashback scenes/chapters.  It's also written mostly in present tense, I think... At this point, there's so much of that being written that I seldom actually take notice of it.

At any rate, I was luckily able to avoid all the spoilers about the book, only knowing that there was one helluva twist to it.  And I would say that it's really, really important to do that.  I think the book would be pretty much ruined if you were spoiled.

I hemmed and hawed about my rating (between 3.5 and 4) because while I thoroughly enjoyed my read and was pretty much surprised about the main twist (I had suspicions as the end got nearer and nearer), the mechanics of constructing that twist felt just a wee bit deux ex machina to me?  But maybe that was my expectations?

And Netflix is making a limited series from the book, so I suggest you read it before watching. :)

Anyway... it was very good.  Read it.  Don't get spoiled.

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone

4 Stars

I have no idea what I just read but it was fascinating.  Advertised as a psychological thriller, it is that, but it's something else as well. A character study?  A study on revenge?  A study on sociopaths?  What I can say is that the heroine of this story, Jane, left me feeling much the same as I felt about the heroine of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth Salander.  I pulled for her, rooted for her, had her back, but MAN, she scared the shit out of me.  She's a self-diagnosed sociopath but I'm kinda with the character, Luke, who sees something else in her.  Or maybe that's me looking for a reason to justify my rooting for her?

Well written in the present tense with a 1st person POV, I know some people will sneer, but it works really well for this story.

It's an unsettling read, but I understand why all the excitement on Twitter this past week about it.  I'm glad I took a chance and read it.