My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve had my eye on this book for a while. Lisa Jewell, I guess you could say I’ve been “watching you.”
Watching You has a lot of different stories about a lot of different things that all somehow fit together wonderfully like getting that last jigsaw puzzle piece into place. Joey has a crush on the local school’s headmaster, Tom. Tom has a history with young girls. Young girl Jenna has a mother who is a little crazy. Her crazy mother creepily watches Tom’s young son Freddie. Freddie has his own issues. And one thing is for certain… everybody is kind of watching everybody in this twisted and exciting thriller.
What I loved about this book was the complexity it brought without going too over the top. Sometimes when authors add layers of complexity, it just makes the book more confusing for the reader, but I didn’t find that to be the case here. I also very much enjoyed the characters and how well differentiated they were. I was never confused about which character was doing what and felt like I had a good understanding of each of their personalities and motivations. I also thought there were some good twists and shocks throughout the book which I appreciated. And finally, I enjoyed the police transcript that was interspersed throughout the chapters. It added a good “crime drama” element that wouldn’t have otherwise been there and added to the mystery.
What didn’t I like? Honestly, nothing. The only reason I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is that it didn’t knock my socks off. It was a perfectly good thriller but nothing I haven’t read before. At the end of the year, I don’t know that it will stick out as being one of the top books I read, but it was still a really great book for you thriller lovers out there.
Home Sweet Houser 
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