The Woman in the Window

I like to try to read books that have movies or shows coming out soon, so when I saw that Netflix was making this with Amy Adams in the lead role I grabbed the audiobook from the library.

This was okay. It's an unabashedly Hitchcockian and pulpy thriller, and it does a pretty good job of it. There are twists and turns, and thrilling moments, but there wasn't anything overly inventive or memorable about it. Also the ending was stupid.

I think it'll make for a pretty schlocky movie, but there's enough talent involved that I hope it's a fun thriller at least.

A final note about the audiobook: After it was over there was a segment where the narrator did a Q&A with the writer. I wish more audiobooks did stuff like that.

DNF at about 1/3 of the way through. Perhaps the most telling thing is I quit just as we got to the murder scene. If you've been bored for the run of the book, and you're still bored while reading about someone being stabbed, it's time to give up.

Evidently this author is a big fat liar and awful person, but the real reason not to read this is it's desperately tedious, with no one to root for. Not only is the main character stupid and dull, with a main character trait of “drinks enough to kill an elephant” (note: not actually a character trait!), we also get treated to a classic “male author describing female character” passage, plus the “hero” of the story going way out of her way to fat-shame her 8-year-old daughter - what? (Also, it turns out that the daughter is actually DEAD, which takes the obsession with preventing her from being chubby to new levels of psychopathic shallowness - must be this author showing his psychological cards, huh?)

The only good thing about this book is it reminds readers to go watch some Hitchcock films.

DNF at page 165

The Woman in the Window is basically a rip off of the 1960s movie Rear Window. Don't bother reading the 400 something page book, just watch the movie.

I hated this book. Anna, the main character is an agoraphobic alcoholic. She was annoying, whingy, and I just really didn't like her at all. By the time the story actually got started (around page 150), I just didn't care enough to want to continue reading.

There are so many great reviews for this book, and I can see why. The concept is great (although unoriginal), but with execution. The writing was terrible. Sentences and paragraphs just rambled about nothing.

If you are a thriller reader, then I don't recommend this one. If you are new to the thriller genre, go for it.

A brief synopsis:

Dr. Anna Fox, a child psychologist, is agoraphobic. Separated from her husband, she lives alone in New York City, unable to leave her home. She spends her time watching classic films, drinking a lot of wine, playing chess online, and her favorite pastime, spying on her neighbors. When a new family moves in across the park from her, she becomes obsessed with them. While watching their house, she sees something terrible happen. But why does no one believe her?

What I enjoyed:

The first twist. I really didn't expect it. It was about three quarters through the book, and after finding it out, I couldn't stop reading until I got to the end. And that's why I got four hours of sleep last night, thank you very much, A.J. Finn. I am admittedly kind of a snob when it comes to mysteries or thrillers. Having grown up with Nancy Drew, then moved into Mary Higgins Clark stolen from my mom's collection, I now as an adult find mysteries and thrillers overwhelmingly predictable for the most part. Maybe it was because I was so tired when reading this, but I really didn't anticipate this one. I gasped and was so excited that I hadn't guessed it. It was kinda bizzare, which I loved. That was definitely, I think, the best part of the whole book.

Something I also really liked was the sneaky little Easter egg of the title itself. I didn't realize it until I was done reading it. But the protagonist, Anna, is a huge fan of classic black and white movies. They're talked about and quoted a ton in the book as Anna is always in the house and watching at least one a day. The Woman in the Window is also the title of a classic mystery film from 1944. :)

What I didn't enjoy:

The first three quarters of the book were slow. Not excruciatingly slow, but slow enough that I was like, “Can we please just get to the point?” There's a lot of lounging about the house, watching old movies, drinking wine. Like, lots of wine drinking. I'm unsure if the author was trying to show us how unreliable a narrator Anna was because she was drunk all the time and mixing it with pills, but I got that in the first few chapters. It was totally unnecessary to constantly talk about it for the entire rest of the book. It took away from the plot and was boring. (And also made me feel a little like the author thinks we're simpletons that are unable to latch on to a concept.)

I feel a little guilty saying this because maybe if I had read this one first, I would have liked it more, but this book was SO similar to The Girl on the Train that I was bored. It's SO similar, I was a little blown away. I actually just did a reread of Girl on the Train because my husband was reading it for the first time and it had been years since I read it so I read along with him. Because of that, it was very fresh in mind. Female narrator is unreliable because of alcoholism, sees something terrible happen, no one will believe her, she can't remember if it's real. Yikes. They're almost the exact same plot, y'all.

Recommend for:
Huge fans of The Girl on the Train that want to read more like it. Or someone who likes a light mystery but rarely reads them. I for sure do not recommend this to anyone who is an avid mystery reader. This is one that if you've read one, you've read them all.

Absolutely loved this book from a sci-fi/fantasy fan

As stated, I'm mainly a fantasy/sci fi reader, but absolutely loved this book. It had twists, turns, was fast paced and really made you understand the character.

The story kept throwing curveballs at me and huge twists that I didn't see coming (and I like to think I can see when a twist is coming).

The book is obviously about agoraphobia and it was fascinating the read this and understand the phobia better.
Would highly recommend!

I enjoyed this book, and it was a quick, suspenseful read. I had heard so many people rave about it, that I think my expectations were a little too high. It was good, I'm glad I read it, and there were lots of twists and turns. It is definitely a book that you can dive into and read quickly. I saw a few of the twists coming, but others shocked me. A great book if you want a mystery and a suspenseful story.

One of the most underwhelming books for the year:( I didn't get what I was expecting.And I didn't like the twist. It so not what I was expecting. One thing though the mc in this book who is an unreliable narrator isn't like any of the other unreliable narrators I have read(Rachel from [b:The Girl on the Train 22557272 The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574805682l/22557272.SX50.jpg 41107568], Camille from [b:Sharp Objects 18045891 Sharp Objects Gillian Flynn https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475695315l/18045891.SY75.jpg 3801], etc) Anna was actually likable most of the time. Even though it is slow paced the chapters are very short so it was very easy to get through:) I don't like that a child was the 'twist' I hate when books do that, ik irl there are ppl like this but I didn't like the idea of him being the big twist behind the entire book:( Also the part about ed and Olivia being dead that was so sad. But I guess in a way it was Anna's fault for cheating when I read this she became a bit unlikable.

Recensie van audioboek (via Storytel)3 sterretjesNadat ik alle Frieda Klein-boeken van [a:Nicci French 183956 Nicci French https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1409167422p2/183956.jpg], voorgelezen door één en dezelfde voorlezer, heb beluisterd, was de overschakeling naar een nieuwe voorlezer een beetje wennen. In eerste instantie vond ik deze echt niet zo aangenaam, maar na een korte wenperiode, was dit snel vergeten. Ik had vrij snel door hoe het zat met haar gezin, maar de grote twist had ik niet zien aankomen.Het hoofdpersonage in dit boek is niet zo bijster origineel, gezien de laatste jaren veel boeken met onbetrouwbare vertellers zijn uitgebracht. Denk maar aan [b:Het meisje in de trein 25153867 Het meisje in de trein Paula Hawkins https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1426512273s/25153867.jpg 41107568].Verwarring door alcohol en pillen is goed overgebracht, alsook het claustrofobische gevoel van binnen te zitten.Al bij al een leuke tussendoor thriller.

I highly recommend “The Woman in the Window”, to those out there who like a twisted suspense novel. The main character, Anna Fox, is an agoraphobic who becomes captivated by the lives of her neighbors through watching them out her window. Of course, she sees a murder or does she? We have all experienced that safe place in our lives. In the case of Anna Fox her “safe place” becomes not so safe. I do not want to say much more and ruin the story. I found I had trouble putting the book down, because I wanted to see what would happen next. I am not usually surprised by the endings of a book, but “The Women in the Window” shocked me with the who, what, when of the end. I will read more of A. J. Finn in the future. I will comment that Amazon puts this book with Gone Girl and writers like Tana French who I love don't get me wrong I just want to say what A.J Finn has here stands on it's own very well without the comparison and is uniquely it's own.

3.5 stars The ending really redeemed the whole book for me. The beginning was pretty boring and slow. If you've read ‘The Girl on the Train' or any of the hyped psychological thrillers that came out in the last couple of years you'll probably be able to piece everything together. I'll admit I didn't really see the last twist coming, and that was refreshing.