The Woman in the Window

Book Review

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.” 

13 comments

  1. Great review! Sorry to hear that this didn't meet your expectations. I hope you enjoy your next read better!

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  2. shucks - the premise had such promise!

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    1. I know and I bet the book club will have some interesting discussions on this book :-)

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  3. I lie your review. I'm glad I didn't pick this book up.

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  4. well, i think i will just wait for the movie :) thank you for the review - enjoyed reading it..

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  5. Great review. Had this in my TBR list but won't rush to read it I don't think!

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  6. Great review. Shame it sounded like it could have been really good. I would have switched from the audio book to the kindle copy too. Hope your next read is better.

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  7. Great review, I miss picking this one up when it came out here. I'm glad I did , I guess I'll see the movie at some point.

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  8. Great review! I wasn't a huge fan of this novel either.

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  9. Your review made me smile! Despite that, I think I'll try it anyways! That main character hits a bit too close to home and now I'm curious! haha

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  10. I bought this book and read a few pages and just could not get into it! I was disappointed with myself because I typically finish a book! I know I will pick it up later to try and read it! Great review and I totally agree about how the book started!

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  11. Sorry you didn't like it. I haven't read it yet, but I was looking forward to it. I guess it will drop a bit further down on my to-read list. Thanks for the honest review.

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  12. Great honest review, I'm sorry this book really didn't work out for you I hope your next read is a much better one. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.

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