The Couple Next Door
Ratings143
Average rating3.3
God. Talk about a plethora of unlikable characters. Every single person in this book was just awful and I couldn't root for any of them!
Spoilers
Ann is whiny and ridiculous. She gets crazy thoughts in her mind and just whines and whines about them.
Marco is probably the most likable of the whole slew- and he stole the freaking baby!
Richard is just a self-righteous asshole who I want to punch in the face.
Cynthia is a slutty manipulative bitch.
The detective is so sure of himself and his theories that you just want to scream.
Alice isn't bad, but you just want to reach out and slap her for being so blind.
Gah. Glad this book is over.
The book was enjoyable overall, but I found the ending to be confusing. One of the characters, who was involved in another person's plan and helped carry it out, managed to avoid any consequences. This inconsistency left me feeling puzzled in a negative way. I would have liked it more if this character had faced the same outcome as the main mastermind. To be honest, I didn't expect this and found it illogical. However, there were a few plot twists that were well done, although I can't discuss them further without giving away spoilers. On another note, I was disappointed with how the wife's character was portrayed as a helpless damsel in distress, rather than as someone dealing with postpartum depression. In my opinion, her character lacked proper development and depth.
very meh, & anne's a dumb bitch
whole thing would've been 200 pages shorter if she just called that damn police officer
also makes 0 sense how margot or wtv he's called got NO sort of punishment for his absolutely careless, selfish and stupid actions
2.5, took forever to finish
I really enjoyed this domestic thriller. It had great characters, differing POV story telling -which I love and a fast moving plot. Plus a good amount of unexpected twists.
Quick read, interesting characters.
The ending was more predictable than what I've seen in other Lapena's work but it was one of her best books in my opinion.
Trigger warning for fatphobia (directed at one of the characters by herself).
I think thrillers are not for me. This one felt manipulative and dumb. I took one star off for the absolutely ridiculous and predictable ending.
This book was just “meh” for me. I had to pull myself forward reading only to end the book with a mediocre ending. Somewhat predictable.
“Everyone is faking it, all of them pretending to be something they're not. The whole world is built on lies and deceit.”
When their babysitter cancels, Anne and Marco decide to go ahead next door to a dinner party with the neighbors anyway. After all, they share a wall, they'll have the baby monitor with them, and they'll take turns checking every half hour. When they return their baby Cora is gone without a trace.
From that point the book takes off like a freight train and never applies the breaks. This was a book I read over the course of one two-hour sitting and I couldn't have put it down if I wanted to (and I did...I finished around 1:30am!). Around the half-way point you start to get a handle on what's going on but the pace doesn't slow down at all. This is a novel that maintains the suspense all the way to the last line.
The book is a touch melodramatic but I didn't find that to detract from the story in the least.(I watch a lot of Law & Order: SVU so maybe that's why?) The narration happens in an emotionally distant present tense making for some unsettling storytelling. Everyone around Cora seemed to have both a motive for the crime while simultaneously seeming innocent. Even though you know what everyone is thinking you can't tell who is telling the truth at any point. It all combines to create a pulse-pounding read.
Though it had some flaws this was a great debut and I can't wait to see what Ms. Lapena will come up with next.
(Thank you to NetGalley and Pamela Dorman Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
Well, it was about time I read another Shari Lapena book! I read An Unwanted Guest and I have to say, I enjoyed this one quite a bit more. I mean they were both good but this one dared to go where the other one did not, it was dark and twisted and the characters were rotten to the core. I have been in a bit of a reading slump due to personal stuff going on in my life and if it hadn't been for that, I would have definitely finished this book much faster. It had almost everything I ever want in my thrillers and it did not disappoint. I will definitely be picking up the rest of Lapena's books very soon.
To begin with, The Couple Next Door is about a couple, Anne and Marco, who have an infant daughter and one night they go to a dinner party next door and leave their baby in her crib whilst keeping an eye on her through the baby monitor. In a shocking turn of events, the baby goes missing and things start to unravel for all the parties involved. I freaking loved this plot! I thought it was unique and fresh and there were nonstop thrills all throughout this book. I prefer my thrillers to contain shock value all throughout and this book did not disappoint on that front. It definitely kept me reading and holding onto the edge of my seat because I wanted to know what would happen and the fate of all the characters involved.
Further on, the characterization was good. I didn't think it was extraordinarily great but it was good, above average. I got to know the characters and their dark flaws and secrets but there was still the feeling of being kept at a distance, in my opinion. It might have also had something to do with the writing style. For this reason, I didn't get too attached to the characters but because the story was so exciting and thrilled me to the bone, I still wanted to find out what the outcome would be for all of them. Either way, it was not bad, not bad at all.
Finally, the writing style is the thing that I have most trouble with in Lapena's novels. It is a very particular style choice and takes a while to get used to but once you get used to it, the story definitely begins to flow. I find her writing a bit over simplistic, even for me and I often feel- the simpler, the better. But not in this case. Also, the tense it's written in might have something to do with that as well, it just doesn't seem to flow as well with this tense choice. Either way, it wasn't bad and didn't take away my enjoyment of the book and the story itself.
In conclusion, I absolutely loved this book and am not surprised that it's a New York Times Bestseller because the plot was something else entirely, in a good way. I would recommend this book to any and all thriller lovers, especially those looking for a very exciting and unputdownable read. You won't be disappointed!
3.5 stars, nothing amazing but still pretty entertaining !! i gasped Many a time
God. Talk about a plethora of unlikable characters. Every single person in this book was just awful and I couldn't root for any of them!
Spoilers
Ann is whiny and ridiculous. She gets crazy thoughts in her mind and just whines and whines about them.
Marco is probably the most likable of the whole slew- and he stole the freaking baby!
Richard is just a self-righteous asshole who I want to punch in the face.
Cynthia is a slutty manipulative bitch.
The detective is so sure of himself and his theories that you just want to scream.
Alice isn't bad, but you just want to reach out and slap her for being so blind.
Gah. Glad this book is over.
Just couldn't put it down, it flew by. I feel bad saying it was a “fun” read because a baby gets kidnapped, but I had fun reading it.
No se trata de un libro espectacular, pero es entretenido y ameno. Tremendamente adictivo y con bastantes giros inesperados. Muy recomendable. Eso si, me quedo con su libro “Un invitado inesperado”.
very meh, & anne's a dumb bitch
whole thing would've been 200 pages shorter if she just called that damn police officer
also makes 0 sense how margot or wtv he's called got NO sort of punishment for his absolutely careless, selfish and stupid actions
2.5, took forever to finish
Not bad. I wish Graham would have presented a more intruiging character. Alas, you can't always get what you want.
this is my first shari lapena and it was such a surprise!!! went into it expecting a mid 3 star thriller that i've seen before but this really got me. i listened to the whole book in one day, it was so entertaining and interesting and even tho i had my suspicions and kinda knew where the story is going i had so much fun. i didn't guess the biggest reveal tho but i also didn't try too much to figure it all out. excited to read more books from the author now!!!
In the beginning, this book it felt familiar, like I'd read it before. I'm certain I'd started it, but found it in my TBR pile and brought it with me to the beach. It was a page-turner and I finished it, then my daughter finished it in our one week away. Lots of twists and fun.
I should have returned this steaming pile to the library at the first mention of the Easy Amnesia trope.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EasyAmnesia
Cardboard characters in an unnamed, generic city going through the motions of a mystery whose only reason for existence is to flatter the intelligence of readers who guess the “twists” about 5 minutes before they are made explicit.
I'll never read this author—though I'm sure it's a pseudonym because he/she is ashamed of their craven ripoff of The Gone Girl—again.