I did not finish this book, and will not be leaving a formal review anywhere online. I just could not connect with the heroine. Maybe I'm over the unreliable narrator? I don't know. Thanks so much to the pub for providing me the opportunity to read!

Unfortunately, this one will be going into my DNF pile. I struggled with the narrative style of this one and although the premise interested me, I couldn't connect to Lily and found her to be too "all over the place" to follow her plight. I was not the right reader for this one!

This book sounded good on the outside or in this case the book cover. In the beginning I was fine with it. What I mean by this is that the story read too juvenile. In fact, Lily, came off as childish. She was making fun of her neighbors..Instead of a bit of mystery with Lily people watching, it came off as an intrusion of privacy. I did not even get to the part of the story where Lily's neighbor was dead. If, I had been not so turned off by Lily and the writing, this could have been a good book.

The Watcher by Ross Armstrong is a recommended novel of suspense with an unreliable narrator.

"Lily Gullick lives with her husband, Aiden, in a brand-new apartment opposite a building that has been marked for demolition. A keen bird-watcher, she can't help spying on her neighbors.
Until one day Lily sees something suspicious through her binoculars, and soon her elderly neighbor Jean is found dead. Lily, intrigued by the social divide in her local area as it becomes increasingly gentrified, knows that she has to act. But her interference is not going unnoticed, and as she starts to get close to the truth, her own life comes under threat."

With a nod to Hitchcock's Rear Window, the narrator, Lily, is watching her neighbors and neighborhood out her window with binoculars and giving those she sees names, as well as recording what they are doing. Her husband, Aiden is even writing a book about the famous director. The Watcher is written in the form of a long letter or journal entry to a recipient who is identified much later in the book. As the novel progresses, Lily reveals more about herself and you will begin to realize that something is off with her and her responses. Can she be believed?

This is a satisfying debut novel and has several surprises along the way that you won't see coming - along with some you might. Since Lily is the only character we have any insight into, we have to view the action through her perceptions and conclusions - and they will start to feel skewed after a bit. It is a novel about perception and creates a fair amount of psychological suspense as the action and Lily's conclusions become more intense.

Those who enjoy mysteries and like following the point-of-view of one character should certainly look into The Watcher.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1981335402
on 4/25/17: http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/ Amazon and B&N

Release Date: 04.25.17

Ross Armstrong's forthcoming debut novel, The Watcher, is a stylish and experimental challenge — one that will surely leave many a reader scratching his or her head when the story is done, but not without a faint sense of satisfaction . . . an inkling that something unique was just experienced.

Lily, the protagonist, lives in a new apartment building with her husband, Aiden. An avid bird watcher, she has taken to watching the people in the apartment building next to hers. Though she does not know these people, she is fascinated by them — going so far as to make names and backstories up for them. Soon she witnesses a murder and becomes entirely obsessed with catching the culprit, for she suspects he lives in the apartment she has spent so much time studying. Things get dangerous, out of control, and confusing . . . needless to say, Lily is the definition of an unreliable narrator (and I don't consider that a spoiler, as it is very much hinted at in the synopsis and apparent from page one). This is an in-depth look at a spiraling character in duress. The reader is totally inside her mind, helpless to do anything except hang on tight.

Like most reviewers have said, this novel confused me — but that's the point. It's intentional, though the reason for that does not become apparent until the story's final quarter. I must admit, I spent the first 50% of this one annoyed, lost . . . intrigued, too. This one just broods, right from the start. Lily is an interesting character, for sure. The author keeps the reader at a distance from her, yet by the end one feels as if he or she fully knows this character. I can't explain it, for this book is up to tricks I've ever experienced in modern fiction. I'll say this: The Watcher contains reveals that will knock you on your ass. So buckle up.

I finished this one feeling relieved that I made it through, relieved that it was over . . . and so happy I requested an ARC. While I can't award it a full five stars (the experimental style isn't a full success; I don't feel as though I fully grasped everything, either . . . maybe that's the point?), I can give it a solid four. Recommended. The Watcher hits shelves on Tuesday; check it out if you're looking for something off-beat and a little weird.

When picking this book I definitely was guilty of going for the cover. As well as it claiming to be, "The Girl on the Train meets Rear Window". Obviously I had to read this! Otherwise I didn't know much else.

We follow Lily and her husband Aiden. They have just moved into a newly built apartment complex - which is across the street from an estate that has been marked for demolition. Lily is an avid birdwatcher, and can't help but occasionally spy on the neighbors. Enter the "Rear Window' element. One day, while birdwatching and spying, Lily witnesses something suspicious - and shortly after, her neighbor Jean is found dead. With the extreme divide in her neighborhood, Lily must tread carefully as she looks for answers. Her interest doesn't go unnoticed, and she becomes a target.

This book was very different than most thrillers I've read recently, in that it was entirely written from Lily's viewpoint. There was no jumping perspectives in this one. So you really got into her head and were able to become attached to Lily and her growing obsession with "birdwatching" in her neighborhood. It read almost like journal entries, which was a style of writing I haven't read in a long time. So it was a refreshing change. Even with the one perspective, this book read very quickly. I definitely did not expect that twist ending and reveal! I won't go any further at risk of spoiling it.

If you're a fan of Rear Window and thrillers, then I would definitely recommend this one to you! I give this a solid 4/5 stars.

A big thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was extremely difficult to read based on the sentence structure and seemingly incorrect grammar od quite a lot of sentence. The sentences were frequently short, choppy and truly didn't even make sense a lot of the times. I couldn't continue and this is a Do Not Finish for me.

I really wanted to like this book but gave up reading about 50% in. An interesting premise but the character of Lily was distanced and off-putting, making the book a chore to read.