Megan Abbott is a must-read for me. She’s a master of the slow-burn and always lands the ending on a powerful and resonant note. Beware the Woman is no exception. Highly recommend.

Beware the Women was a nail-biting and suspenseful novel. It had me on the edge of my seat anticipating what would happen next. Jacy, a young and newly married pregnant woman, finds herself trapped in a remote cottage with her husband and father-in-law. It doesn't take long for her to realize that things are not right. We follow Jacy as she tries to find a way out. I liked the storyline even though it made me uneasy, and I really wanted her to get out. I enjoyed how the book ended. Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC! I would really recommend this book if you like thrilling page turners!

4.25 stars

Ever since I picked up "Dare Me" off a random table in B&N in 2013 due to the cover I've been working my way through Megan Abbott's catalog hoping for another book that hit me as hard as that. "Beware the Woman" came damn close.

The story follows Jacy, pregnant with her first child, as she & her new husband, Jed, visit his father in a remote cabin in Northern Michigan. Jacy is the daughter of a single mom, & Jed is the son of a single father. Their relationships with their parents have heavily influenced how they view the other gender. There is a lot of reflection on the versions of ourselves we revert to when around our families, for better or worse, & how they can impact our other relationships in life. Jacy realizes there's a lot she doesn't know about Jed, & the more time she spends with his charming but reserved father, the more uneasy she becomes about his influence on her marriage. Things escalate when Jacy has a medical scare, & the men's reactions have her feeling more trapped than cherished in their isolated location. Their conviction in their opinions leads her to question herself & her perception of reality.

I binged this in less than 24 hours & am tempted to skip around my TBR to go directly to another Abbott book to keep the vibes going. I have a hard time explaining why I love her writing so much, but she has a talent for writing women & complex relationship dynamics & showing the threatening edge behind pretty things. In this story, the setting does a lot of that work & is a great backdrop for the mercurial relationships between the characters: the summer heat can be comforting as well as oppressive, the nature soothing but also harsh. If you enjoy reads that are heavy on atmosphere & vibes, this might be for you. But I will caution you to check trigger warnings, particularly if you have any sensitivities around pregnancy. This book actually ended up scaring me a lot more than some of my recent horror reads, because at the end of the day, what's more horrifying than humanity?

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, & the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This wasn't my favorite Abbott or thriller of the summer, but nonetheless I finished this in only two days. It was a real page turner with satisfying twists and turns. I wanted a bit more depth, but recommend whole heartedly as a summer read.

I devoured this book in two sittings - I was both gripped with fear and enchanted by the language. Abbott is so good at conjuring a pervasive feeling of dread, while also making some spot-on observations about marriage and relationships.

I finished this book last night and let it marinate in my mind for a day, trying to find the words for this review. I'm not sure if I have found them, but I also don't know what will help me, so here goes:
This suspenseful and upsetting book is filled with misogynistic men plus women who tolerate them for too long. I had trouble reading this, but I switched to audio and I'm not sure if it made it that much easier. I was confused and frustrated throughout, just like the main character, Jacy, stuck staying with her manipulative father-in-law and new husband in a remote town of Wisconsin for a seemingly never-ending, claustrophobic visit. Jacy is also pregnant and both men seem to have more control over the pregnancy than she does. There are Get Out-ish vibes and a few twists I did not see coming.
Overall, I think I needed to force myself to establish some separation and boundaries from the book's plot and characters in order to preserve my sanity and not throw it across the room! Thank you to Putnam for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. If this description intrigues you, I'd check it out. If not, you might want to pass on it.

I liked it but I felt like it started off strong and then ended weak. Somewhere in the last third of the book things took a really weird turn.

The newest release from Megan Abbott fell a little flat for me. A quick read, "Beware the Woman" lacked substance. I kept waiting for the plot to unravel itself with a scenario as wild as the lead-up, but I was left disappointed. A good story along the way, but the ending just left me wondering the point.

This was interesting and twisty, but took foreverrrr to really get into. The unexpected, unpredicted twist did redeem the slow plot. It was fine but just not one I'd urge others to read. Thank you for an advanced copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was a quick read which I love. It kept me wanting to find out what was happening. It was like a modern day Rosemary’s Baby. I did love the structure of the chapters.
I feel very in the middle about this one though. I didn’t love it or hate it. I went into this book blind having not read the synopsis. I didn’t know what the plot really was for probably half the book. It was quite slow paced. I also found most of the characters quite irritating.
I’m sure plenty of people with enjoy this book but it was not a favorite for me.

I'm sorry. I really tried. But I just wasn't feeling this one. Which is a disappointment because I LOVE Megan Abbott's other work.

First of all, the cover art is not doing this book any favors. It's dark and dreary and not at all something that my eye would be drawn to. Then there's the pacing...this story is SO SLOW. And the language is SO FLOWERY that I got lost and couldn't tell what was actually happening.

And then we have the characters...oh boy. Yeah, this one just didn't work for me.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you #netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Beware the Woman. Unfortunately, I ended up DNF'ing this. I found I was forcing myself to read it. Jacy is pregnant, and she and her husband Jed go to visit his father in a rural town, a 17 hour drive from their home. While there, everything is strange. She has some spotting, and so goes to a doctor in the little town, he seems to be holding things back from her. Her father in law seems very secretive, nice on the outside but what is he hiding? And even her wonderful husband seems to have changed. I didn't like how it just kept getting creepier and creepier, and decided that I didn't really want to know more.

Thanks to Megan, Putnam, and Netgalley for an advance copy of Beware the Woman.

Jacy and her husband Jed are expecting their first child and they are so excited. As newlyweds, Jacy has yet to see where Jed grew up and meet his father, Dr. Ash. As they arrive in the Upper Peninsula and are greeted warmly by Jed’s father, Jacy feels as though she finally has everything she’s hoped for.

After a few days relaxing and getting to know Dr. Ash, as well as his housekeeper Mrs. Brandt, Jacy is settling in nicely and even more excited for her future life. However, when Jacy has a little unexpected bleeding, the whole house goes on high alert and things take an uncomfortable turn. The history of Jed’s mother is revealed, death in childbirth, which has clearly affected all parties to the point of extreme paranoia with Jacy…or is it just Jacy’s imagination? As things get stranger and stranger, Jacy questions everything from her new family to her own mental state as she starts to feel as though she has got to escape.

This isn’t my first Megan Goldin, but I forgot how good she is at bending reality and making me question the mental state of the main characters alongside them. In her books, it would be so easy to make the characters naive but instead she writes them with a level-head, some life experience, and commonsense and puts them into scenarios that mess with their perception.

I thought the story itself was interesting. I enjoyed the folklore-type of aspects that worked well with the setting and gave the story another layer of creepiness, almost bordering into making me question if there were some supernatural aspects going on.

I also enjoyed that the core of the story revolved around a father-son relationship. So often in thrillers, the familial focus is on a mother-daughter relationship so this was fresh. I loved the secretiveness in all of the relationships; even those that felt secure and strong going into the story were taut with secrets.

There was a grittiness to this book that didn’t line up with others of Megan’s that I have read, so I feel like this could be a polarizing pick and I’m interested to see how people respond. I personally loved it and once again, am excited to see where she goes from here.

Newly married and pregnant, Jacy travels with her husband, Jed, to meet his father Dr. Ash at his home in a remote area of Michigan. Just with those few words you can expect this visit to go horribly wrong and you won't be disappointed. It's a slow burn right up until the end.

A solid 3.5 read. Very atmospheric novel. I enjoyed the journey of finding out what the mystery was. Some of the characters were inherently creepy and I liked the development of the plot around them. This was my first read by this author and I will read her again. Thanks for Netgalley and the publishers for providing me a free copy of the book.

Published: 05/30/23

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for accepting my request to read and review Beware the Woman.

One word - creepy. I liked this and cannot begin to tell you why. This was incredibly obvious yet I was compelled to stay with it, keep reading, and stay in the moment. Perhaps it is the writing? I wasn't thinking ahead, wasn't bored, and wasn't eye-rolling. The story was relatable and was quite disturbing but not in a horror way.

The ending was satisfying. It made sense.

There is profanity.

This is a book you need to read to feel it yourself.

Megan Abbott is an automatic-read for me. She is an unparalleled talent in writing, and I've enjoyed many of her books. This latest just reinforces my belief that there really isn't a writer out there that's doing it at this level.

Thank you to Putnam and NetGalley for the ARC! The vibes in this book are immaculate. Jacy’s sense of disorientation, unease and the overwhelming question of, “is this just a fever dream?” are palpable. I was enthralled and infuriated and silently begging for the reg flags to stop showing up through rose-colored glasses. What a journey. While I wish the ending was a bit more satisfying, this was so well done and I highly recommend. 4.5 stars!

Thank you Megan Abbott, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and Net Galley for allowing me to read this ARC e-book. This book had me questioning EVERYONE. Throughout the story it makes you wonder "nothing is every perfect" or you're just being paranoid. I don't know but paranoia in mysteries happen to be my all time favorite since logically you could chalk it up to whatever but there's always that chance.... and in terms of questioning things this book did not disappoint. I was on the pins and needles waiting to figure out the truth and devoured this book in one sitting.

This is certainly a well-structured thriller with a satisfying ending, but I think there are some significant problems with subject matter and presentation that need to be addressed, because this book made me very uncomfortable.

While I think it’s good that we have modern fiction addressing the topic of how dangerous it is to be a woman in this country right now (especially a pregnant one), I’m not sure it’s appropriate subject matter for a thriller. In a post-Roe world, I don’t think I’m ok with all of us getting our kicks and excitement reading about a woman, virtually alone and pregnant in an isolated location, trapped by a scary group of men who shame her for a past abortion and seek to effectively take over control of her body and decision making.

I understand what Abbott was trying to do here and I’m sure her intentions were good, but this belongs only in a completely different kind of fiction given the state of the world. I’m not ok with having a thrilling and exciting time reading about a woman in a situation like this at the moment.

Abbott has a habit of veering too close to uncomfortable ick territory to drive plot, and this one just felt like a bridge too far with the state of the country being what it is and women losing more and more of their bodily autonomy all the time.

The intention was fine, but this can’t be how we get our kicks as women right now. There are so many choices for material for a thriller, and Abbott is an excellent writer with a flair for uniqueness, so there were plenty of equally compelling and eerie directions she could have gone in instead of this.