An excellent nail biting story which had me second guessing what I thought I knew from the beginning. A real page turner for readers of domestic noir.

This book was a winding, twisting mystery. I was engaged the whole way throughout, and I truly enjoyed the book. It was like a Gillian Flynn story, very well written.

Thrilling story, with a fabulous plot!! Highly recommend to everyone who is a fan of this genre. Kept me turning the pages well into the night.

Ugh. Where do I start?

Okay… Good stuff. Our heroine, child psychologist Doctor Anna Fox, has agoraphobia which means she cannot go outside her house without having a panic attack. Anna’s condition creates an atmosphere of isolation (always a great trope in thrillers) without actually placing her in the snowbound cabin in the woods. The writer also gives Anna a background that would credibly give her the phobia.

Anna’s days, isolated in her own house, are spent talking to others with agoraphobia online, playing chess (also online), and watching old black and white crime/mystery movies. Oh, and she also pops pills like lollies, drinks copious amounts of wine, and photographs her neighbours without their permission.

The movie references are great. Anna basically solves most of the mystery plot by rewatching scenes from her favourites. AJ Finn overall borrows heavily from the plots of the movies Anna watches, especially Rear Window, Vertigo, Shadow of a Doubt and Gaslight.

Now… Less than good stuff. The plot twists were obvious. There’s two major ones, I suppose you’d say, and I guessed them both by the first third of the book at least. *yawn*

Talking of yawning… The next thing I have to complain about is Finn’s annoying habit of making objects make weird sounds with his tags. Every window and door, for example, ‘yawned’. It felt clever in the first couple of chapters but after that it just got on my nerves. Less is more.

Next complaint is about the romantic subplot. Or lack thereof. I could tell the writer was a man from the gratuitous sex scenes which were not only oddly placed and paced, there was actually zero need for them. Awful, awful, awful.

My final whinge is the length of the book. I might have had more love for the book if it was half its size. Really, there is no way this book should be so long. There are patches where nothing happens or, alternatively, places where it felt like Anna/Finn was repeating themselves over and over. Scene after scene of boring dialogue and/or Anna’s thoughts. I know enough about sleeping pills to even be tempted to take one just to numb myself from the tedious patches of writing. If I'd been editing, I’d had advised cutting the book size.

I suppose, overall, the book is readable and I can imagine it will make a good movie. But it’s nothing original and the writing style was not the best.

I would probably not rush out to read Finn’s next offering.

2 out of 5

This is a brilliantly written thriller full of twists and turns, which leaves you questioning the main characters mental state the entire time. The short chapters made it easy to tell yourself, Ill just read one more chapter, ok maybe just one more! It was very hard to put down I really enjoyed this book and give it top marks 5/5 stars.

Great read! Well written, if a little bit different. And my gosh the twist at the end was unexpected and certainly got me in the edge of my seat!

Well, this book surprised me. The hype surrounding this book is massive, and I had been hearing about it left right and centre. Usually that can sometimes scare me off a book, but in this case, and because I was in the mood for a good page turning thriller, I was eager to read this! And I wasn't disappointed. About a third of the way in I very much understood the comparisons to "Girl on the Train" and "Gone Girl", which was fine, if not slightly overly familiar. But from about halfway in when things started happening that I HAD'NT guessed or semi-guessed already, I was totally immersed! This book kept me up all hours - partly because I couldn't stop reading, and partly because it freaked me out and I could barely sleep. Talk about creepy, this book had that in spades! And that left me thinking I had just read an EXCELLENT new thriller.

Hi there.... I'm so sorry but by the time I requested this and then got to it the book at expired in NetGalley so I didn't get to download it. I usually download them to Kindle when I receive them as they don't expire there but I obviously didn't do that.

I obviously couldn't score the book but NG won't let me submit unless I do, so I'm just adding three stars. Apologies again.

I read this novel in a different format and was very impressed by the twists and turns of the story, and the compelling characters. Thrillers aren't my usual beat, but this had everything that anyone who's ever loved Hitchcock at his best would ever want.

This file was corrupted and I never got to enjoy this novel. What a shame!!

5★
“I press the camera to my eye and zoom in: the ’Today’ show. I might head down and switch on my own TV, I muse, watch alongside my neighbour. Or I might view it right here, on his set, through the lens. I decide to do that.”

Child psychologist Dr Anna Fox, 38, has been housebound for the better part of a year with agoraphobia - a fear of open spaces, the great outdoors, or the ‘public square’, (the meaning of the Greek word ‘agora’.) Many things can cause or trigger it, including PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), which we are led to believe may be her problem. She’s counselled some pretty troubled kids, after all.

She sees a nice Dr Fielding regularly (house calls, obviously) and promises she’s being a good girl, taking her drugs (“meds” he keeps correcting her), and not drinking . . . much.

We know better.

“‘These pills,’ he says, ‘are not to be taken with alcohol.’ In the kitchen, I chase the pills with merlot. I understand Dr. Fielding’s concern, I do; I recognize that alcohol is a depressant, and as such, ill-suited to a depressive. I get it. I’ve written about it—”

She doesn’t just chase them with alcohol, she pretty much lives on merlot (a lovely red wine I can recommend, med-free). She binges on merlot and wonderful old black and white movies - mysteries, like ‘Vertigo’, ‘Rear Window‘, ‘Gaslight’, Bogart and Bacall. Great scary stuff.

She drinks and drugs herself to sleep and doesn’t wake until midday most days, clearly unstable. Except for the young man renting the basement, she’s home alone, missing her husband and daughter. She finds comfort in conversations with them and also with her ‘clients’ in an online agoraphobia forum where she ‘counsels’ them as “thedoctorisin”.

When the police visit her after she has frantically reported seeing something terrible happen in the house of a family who’s just moved in, she can’t get a straight word out from them nor they from her. She’s recovering from a panic attack, so the detective approaches her carefully, eyeing the coffee table.

‘All this yours?’ he asks, inspecting the wine bottles. ‘Nice merlot.’
I shift in my seat. I feel like a naughty child.
‘Yes,’ I admit. ‘But …’
It looks worse than it is? It’s actually worse than it looks?

The latter, no question.

The story wends its way back and forth through her early marriage, before her PTSD, into the more recent past and up to today, when she’s such a lost, emotional wreck. Intellectually, she understands her condition, but her heart is not ruled by her head, and she is still terrified to leave the house.

“I can’t move. I can feel the outside trying to get in—. . . It’s swelling against the door, bulging its muscles, battering the wood; I hear its breath, its nostrils steaming, its teeth grinding. It will trample me; it will tear me; it will devour me.”

She’s fighting a losing battle to be believed by anyone, what with her predilection for replaying black and white thrillers continuously, sometimes drunkenly sleeping through them while full of who-knows-how-many pills she’s remembered to take.

Dr Fielding calls, worried, and as they chat about her meds and next Tuesday’s appointment, she gets ready for her evening.

“I twist the cap off the bottle.
‘And you’re sure you’re feeling all right?’
‘Completely.’ I fetch a glass from the sink.
‘You’re not mixing with alcohol?’
‘No.’ Pouring.
‘Good. Well, I’ll see you then.’
‘See you then.’ The line goes dead, and I sip.

I’ve concentrated on the alcohol (and meds), because that’s what she’s concentrated on. So have the police and the neighbours. She’s unravelling badly, faces breaking down, and now gets frightened even at home.

“I step into the hall—the one area of the house I dislike and distrust, the cool gray zone between my realm and the outside world. Right now it’s dim in the dusk, the dark walls like hands about to clap me between them.”

It’s not looking good for the once-good doctor, and Finn scares both us and her out of what’s left of her wits before he brings it all to a masterful and unexpected conclusion.

You may possibly be right with a few things you guess along the way, but only because he has led you there. Don’t get complacent. I doubt you’ll figure it all out.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Australia for the copy for review from which I’ve quoted.

Dr Anna Fox is a doctor currently without a practice but there are always people, others like herself, whom she can still help even whilst confined to her New York home. Without her much loved husband and daughter, there are too many hours in the day that Anna finds she needs to fill with small human interactions, elsewise the pills and wine will step up and do that for her. There is the gorgeous downstairs lodger, the online forums where she counsels other agoraphobics, her physiotherapist, her ex business partner, the myriad of delivery people who bring her food and other supplies. It has been a very long time since Anna has been able to put foot outside her own door. But this does not mean that she does not observe life outside.

The mix of small common encounters that make up family life are all close by and on constant display for Anna to watch unseen from her own upper windows. These domestic vignettes, observed via her camera lens or at most times just by Anna’s naked eye are always absorbing, so it is especially interesting when a new family move in over the road. Meeting a new neighbour is a treat and the lovely Jane Russell kindly stays with Anna for the afternoon on a day that she especially needs the company. The days do tend to blur though when you spend your hours taking your medication incorrectly with alcohol. When Anna sees her neighbour stabbed and pleading for help from behind the glass of the townhouse opposite, it is not an easy task for Anna to get anyone to listen. Anna is a witness to a killing, but no one is taking her story seriously.

Reserve yourself a little time and settle in as this engaging novel will be a one or two sitting read. Anna, despite all she has experienced, is immensely relatable and a warm narrator to listen to. There is no shame, there is only the present and the need for Anna to get herself through one day and then through the next. It is very easy to see only a few pages in why THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW was a monster hit straight out of the gates. Immersive, introspective and warm, this read totally wraps you up in the four walls of Anna’s townhouse as her growing concerns about the neighbours become yours.

Brace yourself for the huge jump scare at chapter’s end in the final quarter of the novel - I promise you will be leaping out of your seat! (Tip: Do not read this book on public transport).

Author A.J. Finn (was quite surprised to find this was a male author) does an excellent job in building up both tension and our worries for Anna’s welfare, an obviously intelligent character who is coping the best way she can with loss and mental illness.

This book is presented as a psychological thriller which reads at a good pace, even if the plot appears somewhat familiar. I quite liked the book as it reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 mystery/thriller film with James Stewart, ‘Rear Window’. Here, instead of a broken leg, we have a lead who, not only suffers from agoraphobia, but also is presented as an unreliable narrator with the amount of alcohol and prescriptions drugs consumed. Anna Fox is suffering from a personal tragedy and her connection to the outside world is through the internet and the few visitors to her home. Basically she spies on her neighbours and witnesses a crime. Or did she?

I believe the author has done a solid job here in making you a part of Anna’s world through her thoughts and fears - even at times if it is somewhat repetitive. It can be difficult to sympathise with Anna with her counting of wine bottles and daily pill intake. Whilst trying to make you fully appreciate the depths of her despair, it just makes the story drag. The writing is short, sharp and engaging, but somewhat predictable in areas, with twists that may or may not surprise you.

I did enjoy the throw back to ‘Rear Window’, especially Anna’s love for old movies that run in the background as I have always adored the old classic Hollywood movies. There were often interesting parallels and it made you question whether something really did happen, or if Anna just saw it in a movie. Ultimately, if you're looking for a readable mystery, this one definitely fits the bill. I don't think it's one where you'll find memorable characters but it certainly keeps you turning the pages.


This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

What can I say? I read it. I liked it, in places and in others I did not.

The book felt like something old. I have not seen Rear Window from start to finish, but I did watch Hitchcock's movie after I have read the book. Yes, the book is an old story told in modern language.

Rear Window is all about suspense, love, devotion, betrayal and support. The main character, wounded photographer has a whole support network around him. He has people he can trust and who chan trust him unconditionally and support him all the way.

Reading The Woman in the Window I had a constant thought

If only she had someone who believed her unconditionally and supported her. A sort of 'presumption of innocence'. In this case, 'presumption of sanity and truth'

But the poor heroine did not have anyone. She did not have any friends. Her family was no longer with her. She pushed all the people away, even those she paid to look after herself. She was 'ripe for the picking'. And picked on she was.

The suspence of the book is masterful. I enjoyed the turn of events and guessing game that goes with it. The inner reminiscence and 'self-eating' of the main heroine was a bit much in places. But I guess, I have not walked in her shoes... or drank her wine, so to speak

After finishing the book, I wanted to find a list of old movies that were mentioned in the book. Thanks to blogging world, I found just the thing. The New York Public Library Billy Parrott, Associate Director, Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street offers us a list of  Movies mentioned in the novel.

There are plenty more reviews of the novel. One worth mentioning is The New York Times, Jane Maslin The Woman in the Window review

In short, there is a woman in the window, there is a very bad person, a very wicked person, a lot of old movies, a lot of merlot drank and spilled, grief, loss and deception galore.

Have a read, if you dare

The Woman in the Window is the best psychological thriller I have read in quite some time. It will have you hooked from page one. The characters are intriguing, the plot is enticing and the writing is completely gripping. This is sure to be THE novel of 2018. Highly recommended to all readers who enjoy psychological thrillers. Looking forward to reading more from Finn.

Book Blurb...
What did she see?
It's been ten long months since Anna Fox last left her home. Ten months during which she has haunted the rooms of her old New York house like a ghost, lost in her memories, too terrified to step outside.
Anna's lifeline to the real world is her window, where she sits day after day, watching her neighbours. When the Russells move in, Anna is instantly drawn to them. A picture-perfect family of three, they are an echo of the life that was once hers.
But one evening, a frenzied scream rips across the silence, and Anna witnesses something no one was supposed to see. Now she must do everything she can to uncover the truth about what really happened. But even if she does, will anyone believe her? And can she even trust herself?

My thoughts…
The Women in the Window has been toted as potentially the biggest thriller of 2018. I was certainly drawn into the story. The writing style of the story, being in first person and with an unreliable narrator meant, as a reader, I was never sure what the truth was and therefore where the story was going.
I can see why the author and this book is getting mentioned along with the Hitchcock classic, Rear Window.
An ending I did not expect at all. Certainly put this on your to be read pile if you are into a good mystery/thriller.

Trigger warnings for mental health and addiction

By now you will no doubt have either read The Woman in the Window or have heard so much about it that a replay of the blurb will be redundant and highly irritating. For the minority who have been happily living in a bubble, the basics of this book are:

🤷🏻‍♀️ Unreliable main character
🍷 Alcoholism of the ‘why haven’t you died from alcohol poisoning yet?’ variety
💊 Pills, so many different types
💤 Alcohol and drug fuelled sleep
🔪 Murder mystery, AKA, the mystery of whether there was a murder
🚶🏽‍♀️ So 🚶🏻‍♂️ much 🏃🏿‍♀️ people 🕺🏽 watching 📷
📺 Oodles of black and white movie references.

I’m really conflicted about what to put in this review as I don’t want to wander too deep into spoiler territory. I’m also really confused about how I feel about this book, probably because there were so many elements that I simultaneously loved and hated. So, I think the way this is going to work is to outline my loves, my frustrations and then sum up with some random thoughts.

The Woohoo Bits

The Writing
With such beautiful sentences that I had to read to someone, I enjoyed the writing style and am keen to read the author’s next novel. Here are just some of my favourite visuals and lovely sentences as examples:

“now shame live-wires through my body.” (20%)

“It takes an ice age, the words thawing in my mouth before I can spit them out.” (38%)

“I feel as though I’m falling through my own mind.” (50%)

“My shadow stretches along the carpet, as though trying to detach itself from me.” (57%)

“My head was once a filing cabinet. Now it’s a flurry of papers, floating on a draft.” (57%)

In keeping with the bazillion movie references there is a cinematic quality about this book and I feel like it was written with a movie deal in mind. I am interested in seeing how the introspective nature of the main character translates to film. I’m sure I’ll watch the movie, if only to compare it to the book. I hope the movie Anna isn’t a stick figure as the book one is overweight.

The Exploration of Mental Health
I loved that there were multiple mental health conditions portrayed in this book and that they weren’t glossed over. It wasn’t implied that you can flick a magical switch and all of a sudden become the poster child for mental health overnight. The struggles were gritty and the judgemental attitudes towards those with mental health conditions were unfortunately realistic.

The Meh Moments

The Red Herrings
Are they truly red herrings if the reader can tell that’s what they are, or are they merely sunburnt?

The Predictability
It does take some of the thrill out of a thriller if you expect what happens in the thrill parts to happen before they happen. I’m one of those people that can’t even predict what they’re having for dinner that night yet I nailed most of the ‘surprises’ well before they happened, and that’s really kinda sad.

The Obvious [insert dramatic scene here] Moments
The internet just so happens to load slowly one time in the book [insert dramatic scene here]. It was a dark and stormy night [insert dramatic scene here as well].

All of the Black and White Movie References
… which just so happened to coincide with what’s happening in the story at the time. If you’re a black and white movie buff the multitude of references will have you reliving the described scenes in your mind as you read and you’ll most likely want to revisit some of your favourites after you finish reading.

If you’re like me you’re only vaguely familiar with a few of the titles in the main character’s personal movie library. Therefore you’re likely to have meaningful moments and possibly (I don’t know because I haven’t seen most of the movies) foreshadowing of things to come fly right over your head and you won’t even look up at the buzzing sound so you’ll miss them entirely.

The Many Moments Where the Characters are Just Clueless
Sorry, Anna, but there were so many times the answer was right in front of your face but you couldn’t see it for looking. I know you’ve killed a gazillion brain cells since you’ve been home bound but surely you can’t miss all of the clues.

Also, Dr Fielding, I’m assuming you’re the one writing the prescriptions here. Aren’t you just the teensiest bit suspicious about how many medications you’re prescribing and the quantity of each? These medications are scrutinised by physicians, now more than ever.

Where Unhelpful Stereotypes are Reinforced
There is so much media hype these days surrounding prescription medication addiction and the portrayal of the main character buys into all of the negative stereotypes. I’m not denying that there are people who abuse prescription medication and become addicted. There’s no doubt that this can and does happen.

What really angers me as someone with chronic pain is that the stereotypes and the media hype, while making it more difficult for people to abuse medications also makes it that much harder for someone who legitimately needs these to function to get them. I know a lot of legitimate pain patients and we’re not taking medication to get high. It helps us do things that most people take for granted, like not having to choose whether you’ll eat that day or have a shower.

Is Anyone Going to Pay Attention to the Needs of the Cat?
This made my blood boil! 🤬

The Random

I Expect This Book to be a Popular Book Club Selection
I’d say that you should play a drinking game with your book club buddies and take a drink each time the main character does, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t survive do let’s scrap that idea. Perhaps you could have a raffle where you guess how many times she has a drink and the person whose guess is closest to the real number wins a book store gift voucher or something else appropriately bookish.

The Unfulfilled Easter Egg Potential
There’s an email address listed in the book and I had hoped for a sneaky marketing Easter egg in the form of an automated reply relevant to what’s happening during that part of the book. Sadly my cool marketing idea has not been implemented. 😢 Just know that if I ever write a book, there will be Easter eggs.

In Summary

It confuses me no end how I can love the writing style, find sentences so beautiful I have to read them to someone, yet be bored at the same time. Because I accidentally figured out most of the ‘aha!’ moments they turned into ‘uh huh’ ones. To quote Anna:

“I feel as though I’m at a movie and the film is over and the lights are up and everyone’s filed out of the theater and I’m still sitting there, trying to work out what happened.” (59%)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for the opportunity to read this book. I purchased my own copy after struggling reading this on my iPad so all quotes are from the published edition, not the advanced reading copy.

I loved this book. It was the type of psychological thriller I enjoy. I loved the way the characters were introduced, and the way Anna Fox and her life was described. Anna was watching her neighbors and her neighbors were watching her. Anna Fox lives alone in a large multi-storied house. A lodger lives in the self-contained basement. Anna has agoraphobia and has not left her house in 10 months. She also has other mental health issues and takes multiple medications mixed liberally with lots of wine. Anna spends her time watching her neighbors, watching old movies, learning French, playing chess online and contributing to an online forum for people with agoraphobia. Anna is convinced that she saw her neighbor being murdered but the police do not believe her. They think she was hallucinating.

A page turning mystery with so many twists my brain was firing way more than usual! I loved the characters and found them quite believable and relate-able. I will definitely recommend this book to all my book loving friends!