Amazing prose and deep characters pull you in, and the story slowly but fiercely burns to an explosive ending. Excellent!

A book that grabs you and won't let you go until you have devoured it. An incredible ending you will never see coming

I'm not sure what happened with this Abbott novel, but it was a big miss for me. The story follows Jed and Jacy, newly (and quickly) married...newly (and quickly) pregnant. They take a long road trip to visit Jed's father for the Independence Day holiday. While there, Jacy has a medical emergency and begins to feel like no one wants to listen to her - it's her body, her body, her body after all. I feel like the men just gaslit her throughout the whole book. Each chapter sounded like the last, everything seemed to repeat and it was so very slow. The author also included a few too many graphic, unnecessarily crude sexual encounters. The ending took too long to get to and wasn't worth it, for me.

This is not my first Abbott novel, but not the first I haven't enjoyed. I think it might be my last.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Jacy and Jed have been married for a couple years, and now that they are expecting a baby, they’re finally going on a road trip to spend some time with Jed’s widowed father in Michigan’s isolated UP. Although the visit starts off wonderfully, with Jacy feeling all of the love and hospitality from Jed’s father, Dr. Ash, after the first few days, things start falling apart with everything being pushed back on Jacy as paranoia…but is it? I liked this book but felt like much of it was a fever dream---not sure if these things were really happening or if they were just Jacy’s imagination. Personally, I would’ve preferred a little more clarity on what was really going on, as well as what everyone’s motives were. For me, this was just okay.
Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to start by saying I absolutely hated Jacy, at the beginning of this book. She was so in love but I knew there would be a twist coming and oh boy there was!
Things are not as they seem!

The last few chapters of this book will enthral you. I could not stop reading. The suspense builds up through the whole book, exploding on the pages. It's intense, twisted awesome and great. I was however expecting a bit more from the ending but I think that's just me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, GP Putnam Sons, for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by Megan Abbott - 4.5 stars!

Jed and Jacy, newly married and expecting a baby, head out on their first trip to visit Jed's father, Dr Ash, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Jacy likes Dr Ash, but their house manager, Mrs Brandt, less. Soon Jacy has a healthy scare and is taken to visit a doctor friend of Jed's dad, where she feels violated by all the men talking about her in another room. Now Jacy feels trapped in the cottage and that her every move is being watched and scrutinized. All she wants to do is leave, but that doesn't appear to be an option.

I'm surprised at the reviews for this one - I felt such a creepy, horror vibe that I raced through it. The ending was a bit abrupt, but I don't have to have all endings wrapped in a pretty bow, so I was okay with that. Set in a remote location where everyone is suspect, Jacy is pregnant and feeling completely vulnerable. There's a theme running through it about motherhood, women being controlled and their feelings ignored, which just added to the sinister vibes. I was totally surprised by the twist too! Don't miss this one - another great book by Megan Abbott!

Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott is a slow-burn, psychological thriller about a pregnant woman who goes to visit her father-in-law and his mysterious caretaker in an isolated house, a few miles outside of civilization. Much of the story is spent with the main character ignoring her instincts and choosing to stay in the house, despite all of the warning signs. In spite of the slow pace for the bulk of the novel, the ending comes rather abruptly, and an epilogue may have been helpful to provide further closure for the reader. This book didn't ultimately work for me, but I would recommend it to those looking for a psychological thriller, slow-burn mystery in an isolated location. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was on the fence about reading this one due to the somewhat mixed reviews I've seen. I'm not the biggest fan of slow burns and I tend to get bored and struggle to keep going if nothing is happening. I've read most of Megan Abbott's works and wasn't sure what to expect going in. She did not disappoint. Megan crafted an incredibly horrific psychological suspense with Rosemary's baby vibes. I was absolutely enraged and horrified by the way Jacy was treated throughout the book.

I will definitely recommend this to everyone.

Loved the idea of this book, but really didn't like the ending. It was way too abrupt and I actually thought my copy was missing pages. Besides the ending, Beware the Woman was so thought provoking. It really explored gender roles and female autonomy over their medical decisions. It's a slow burn with a sense of dread that builds gradually. With the slow burn, the ending did feel off with the pacing.

I made it about 40% of the way through this one before giving up. I found it to drag and not be as engaging as I wanted it to be. It did not hold my interest enough for me to care about what happened to the characters. I enjoyed the authors previous book and had high hopes for this one. Thank you to NetGalleg and the publisher.

Megan Abbot is just so good. While not my favorite of her novels -- I love a slow burn but this one was sometimes a little *too* slow, the narrator taking just a bit too long to catch on to what we already know - it's still an incredibly satisfying, smartly written, intensely insightful literary thriller.

I really wanted to love this book, and I think the bones of the book are there. Unfortunately for me, the book was really slow for me and hard for me to engage in. Then the book ended once I started to get interested in the story, so overall I felt very incomplete when I finished this book.

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley for review.

Atmospheric, creepy, and a definite vibe of you should know someone better before marrying them and getting pregnant. Add in a cabin in the woods, a old-school chauvinistic father in law, and no cell phone reception, and it's the beginning of a horror movie.

Great premise, long chapters, and a slow burn made this a good, but slightly short of great novel.

Thank you Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC!

Rebecca meets Cabin in the Woods in this new mystery.

It was three stars for me because it was too predictable. Locked cabins in the woods with no phone service or Wi-Fi in the middle of nowhere is sooooo overdone. I did like the dark, twisty vibes though.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Penguin for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me feeling all sorts of ways. Squirmy, is the way I'd put it. Which might not sound like a compliment but often, the sign of a good book is that it makes you think about things in a different way, some of which make you uncomfortable. BEWARE THE WOMAN is just that sort of book, as are so many of Abbott's works. She's so good at creating slow-burn suspense, and BEWARE THE WOMAN definitely got under my skin.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me turning the pages because I just had to know what happened. The mystery element was so good! There were several twists and turns that I never saw coming!

Beware the Woman
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Megan Abbott

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Penguin Group and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Honey, I just want you to have everything you ever wanted. That’s what Jacy’s mom always told her.

And Jacy felt like she finally did. Newly married and with a baby on the way, Jacy and her new husband Jed embark on their first road trip together to visit his father, Doctor Ash, in Michigan’s far-flung Upper Peninsula. The moment they arrive in the cozy cottage in the lush woods, Jacy feels bathed in love by the warm and hospitable Doctor Ash, if less so by his house manager, the enigmatic Mrs. Brandt.

But their Edenic first days take a turn when Jacy has a health scare. Swiftly, vacation activities are scrapped, and all eyes are on Jacy’s condition. At the same time, whispers about Jed’s long-dead mother and complicated family history seem eerily to be impeding upon the present. As the days pass, Jacy begins to feel trapped in the cottage, her every move surveilled, her body under the looking glass. But are her fears founded or is it paranoia, or cabin fever, or—as is suggested to her—a stubborn refusal to take necessary precautions? The dense woods surrounding the cottage are full of dangers, but are the greater ones inside?

My Thoughts: This is a slow burn creepy, claustrophobic psychological thriller. While the plot works well, paced at a slower level, building the plot in twisty layers, the ending needs something more. It was too abrupt. We should have slowly arrived to the end, just like the beginning of the novel, but it comes out of left field. The premise had so much promise and just fell a little short with the ending. Jacy and Jed’s romance is fast and just as fast is the pregnancy. Jed thinks they should visit his estranged cottage in Michigan, however, Jade has the pregnancy hormones and feels very emotionally unbalanced. The dysfunction family drama thriller is well executed until the end.

Jacy has terrible choice in men, as evidenced by the quick marriage and pregnancy with Jed. Jed has some of his father’s old school beliefs. Dad aka Dr. Ash is chauvinistic and extremely old school. Ms. Brandt, the caretaker, is very creepy. The cottage is in the middle of nowhere with no phone, no cell reception, and no WiFi. Dr. Ash becomes consumed with protecting his unborn grandchild, no matter the consequences. The characters were fleshed out well with creepiness and mystery. The author’s writing style was suspenseful, twisty, and paced well.

I would recommend picking up this book or audiobook today.

Megan Abbott has certainly made a name for herself in the crowded thriller field, and her latest book, "Beware the Woman," will add to her reputation. I loved the setting of this one; it was very atmospheric, and the description of the cabin and its surrounds felt claustrophobic and unsettling in the best way. I had a few problems with the characters, however--what is the father's motivation? And why does this woman even like her husband? I wanted more positive moments between them so that I could understand why she would stay in what was clearly a sketchy situation for so long. Overall, this was not my favorite Megan Abbott book ("You Will Know Me" takes that title), but it's tense and scary and gives serious "Rebecca" vibes; well worth a spot in your beach bag for some entertaining vacation reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and to GP Putnam's Sons for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review..

This book was an absolutely claustrophobic nightmare! In it a newly married woman and her husband go back to his father’s home. There she is slowly cut off under the guise of concern for the baby. Things devolve into what I consider the realm of horror. For a thriller I felt this was quite graphic. I also felt the ending was abrupt-I wanted a bit more of a conclusion. I recommend this dark thriller, but pregnant women beware!

a modern Gothic story, this has a different vibe than Abbott's other novels but i liked it! it's very slowly paced but the dread builds and builds. the ending felt a little abrupt (i guess i would've liked an epilogue) but overall, a satisfying read.