The Woman in the Window

BOOK REVIEW: The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn

Release Date: January 2nd, 2018

Genre: Suspense, Psychological Thriller

449 Pages

Publisher: William Morrow

I rated ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 on Goodreads

SYNOPSIS:

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems. 

REVIEW:
I dove into The Woman in the Window blindly, meaning, I knew nothing about the plot, which I'm glad.  It's a pet peeve of mine how every new suspense that comes out becomes the next "Gone Girl", which happens to be a book/movie I totally disliked!  
Sorry, I'm getting distracted...

This is my Book Club's pick for December, so I knew I had to read it.  I had both the audiobook and the kindle e-book, so I started with the audiobook, which I had to put aside after a few chapters.  I usually enjoy audiobooks but I felt this particular one was not doing justice to the story.  Anna Fox drinks several bottles of Merlot every day, combined with her pill popping habit, and I just didn't think she should sound sober and cheerful, so, I grabbed my kindle and read on.   
This change worked much better, because in my mind existed a totally different Anna Fox, one that was tipsy and possibly delusional.

Besides the drinking and prescription drugs problem, Anna suffers from Agoraphobia, due to a tragic event in her past.  The story started out very interesting, but the constant old movie references and repetitions just made it boring for me. 
Anna pouring wine.  
Anna sipping wine.  
Anna spilling wine on her robe.  
Anna sipping more wine...
I got the message!  
Anna is self-destructive.

Anna herself is a child psychotherapist, so I thought, that maybe, she should be able to pick up on some of the clues, and instead, she was clueless (blame it on the wine?).  I figured out the first twist pretty early on (very similar to another book by the way) and I'm certain most readers will do so also.  

As I write this review, the movie version of this book is already in production and Amy Adams is playing Anna Fox.  I'm pretty sure the movie will be a blockbuster, but would I recommend the book? 
Nah.
Wait for the movie. 

“No family, happy or unhappy, is quite like any other. Tolstoy was chock-fullo’shit. Remember that.”