Book Review: Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Purchase on Amazon $13.99 Kindle | $24 Hardcover

Published: December 26, 2018

Pages: 336

My Copy Came From: NetGalley & Atria Books

Read Via: Kindle

My Like Level: 3.5 out of 5

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

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Book Synopsis from Amazon:

The instant New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the “riveting thriller” (PopSugar) Then She Was Gone delivers another suspenseful page-turner about a shocking murder in a picturesque and well-to-do English town, perfect “for fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, and Luckiest Girl Alive” (Library Journal).

Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you.

As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom’s teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.

One of Tom’s students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she’s not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna’s mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam…

In Lisa Jewell’s latest brilliant “bone-chilling suspense” (People) no one is who they seem—and everyone is hiding something. Who has been murdered—and who would have wanted one of their neighbors dead? As “Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace” (Booklist, starred review), you will be kept guessing until the startling revelation on the very last page.

Purchase on Amazon $13.99 Kindle | $24 Hardcover

My Thoughts:

I made the worst mistake as a book reviewer. I read this, then got busy and didn’t write this review for a couple of weeks. So as much as I enjoyed this book, I am struggling to remember its details. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, but I guess it wasn’t a story that sticks with you long after you read it.

Watching You kept my attention, and it did keep me guessing until the end. In truth, I struggled a bit with some of the decisions characters made, which seemed dumb. But I know that as a writer, your characters need to do dumb things to further the plot line. All in all, it was a good book with a twisty plotline that I really enjoyed. Don’t let my short review make you think otherwise. Let me know if you read this!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this Advanced Readers Edition of Watching You by Lisa Jewell.

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