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A review by katherineshawwrites
The Woman I Befriended by Sara Kate
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book starts strong, hitting us straight away with Ellie's concerns about her new neighbour, and pulling us into a potential unreliable narration of paranoia and suspicion.
I thought the characterisation of Ellie - our first person narrator - was done very well. She was judgemental, neurotic, and a little annoying, but that made her feel real, and I enjoyed her POV very much. I liked the intrigue brought about by hinting that she'd done something like this before, and her past was teased out slowly as the story progressed.
My main criticism of the book is this - it's a thriller without many thrills. The setup is brilliant and there's a lot of intrigue, and it had me excited for all sorts of twists and turns. Perhaps Ellie would turn out to be the villain, perhaps her getting too involved would lead to disastrous consequences for herself or a loved one, but none of that really came to pass. It was an interesting story, but most of the action happened off-page, which had me missing those tense, stressful moments you expect from a thriller. The ending is unexpected (in a good way), but a little unsatisfying. I'd have preferred to have seen what happened on-page.
Saying that, it's an enjoyable read that you can whizz through pretty quickly, and I'd be interested in reading more from this author in the future.
I thought the characterisation of Ellie - our first person narrator - was done very well. She was judgemental, neurotic, and a little annoying, but that made her feel real, and I enjoyed her POV very much. I liked the intrigue brought about by hinting that she'd done something like this before, and her past was teased out slowly as the story progressed.
My main criticism of the book is this - it's a thriller without many thrills. The setup is brilliant and there's a lot of intrigue, and it had me excited for all sorts of twists and turns. Perhaps Ellie would turn out to be the villain, perhaps her getting too involved would lead to disastrous consequences for herself or a loved one, but none of that really came to pass. It was an interesting story, but most of the action happened off-page, which had me missing those tense, stressful moments you expect from a thriller. The ending is unexpected (in a good way), but a little unsatisfying. I'd have preferred to have seen what happened on-page.
Saying that, it's an enjoyable read that you can whizz through pretty quickly, and I'd be interested in reading more from this author in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Murder