When I wrote my Goodreads review for The Woman in the Window, I pretty much only read Sci-Fi and Fantasy books. Therefore, I was coming at it from the angle of someone who was used to much larger, grander and imaginative storylines. But I still adored this book for a lot of different reasons.
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The Woman in the Window is a book that not only explores quite an interesting theme but constantly throws little twists at you and moments of “huh?!” as I call them. Below are my thoughts.
Plot – 4.5/5
The Woman in the Window tells the tale of Anna Fox, a woman whose past has sent her into a downward spiral that now sees her living in her New York home alone with a huge fear of ever leaving. The story suggests that she’s still in contact with her ex and her daughter but she lives in the home without them after a big event forced them apart. She’s seeing a therapist and taking lots of pills to help and also drinking. All of this results in a woman whose view on the world we begin to question. She spends a lot of her time watching old films and looking out of her windows at neighbours. Then one day she sees her neighbour kill his wife. However, when the police come round, the wife is still alive and the police can’t do anything about it. Thus begins a fascinating look into what really happened.
I did enjoy the plot quite a lot. It had great pacing with rapid, thriller moments and some slower more tentative moments where we concentrate on the back story or delve deeper into Anna as a person. There are a couple of plot twists that grip you and have you turning the pages quicker to see where the story is going next.
Characters – 4/5
Anna as a person is quite interesting. She’s obviously got some issues that A.J. Finn makes quite clear from the outset. We hear her thoughts and opinions on the world and people and this gives us a better understanding of her psyche and then better able to guess her actions.
However, I must admit I didn’t love any of the characters. Though I think this is likely due more to my need for a comedy element, a redemption story, or a really nice character and none of these were really present in this book. Though some of the supporting characters are a cracking addition to the book and make you want them to keep popping up, none of them blew me away.
Summary – 4/5
On my Goodreads I gave this book a five-star rating. However, having read quite a few more books since then, including a fair few thrillers, I’ve decided that this may have been a little too generous. Five-star books are for those that “wow” me and are books I’d recommend putting to the top of anybody’s list. The Woman in the Window is a fantastic book and it’s one I would recommend to thriller lovers and those that love a good “mystery” it’s just some better characters short of being a five-star novel in my opinion.
