One of the things I love about Meg Abbott is that her books are all vastly different. They don't follow a specific formula and run the gamut, from historical to contemporary topical. So when I got the opportunity to be an advanced reader for her latest, I jumped right in, knowing no more than the title and the author. This led to a deep mystery of who the titular woman might be. The apparent choice early on is Mrs. Brant, a mysterious caretaker that brings to mind Rebecca's Mrs. Danvers, forever lurking in the shadows. There is also recurrent mention of a dangerous female predator slinking around the property. Could it be Jacy's mom or even Jacy herself? Will Jacy prove to be an unreliable narrator? I honestly had no clue where the story was going for about 3/4 of the book. When it rapidly turned, it was a surprise, but not necessarily a good one. Although I enjoyed the journey, I ultimately felt dissatisfied with the story overall. It did not have the nuance of Abbott's earlier books and the motivations of the antagonists were incredibly vague. The heavy symbolism grew tiresome, especially from a first-person narrative. I see what Abbott was trying to do here tying in the story to recent current events, but it didn't really work for me. Recommend only for the most dedicated of Abbott fans, she has so many superior stories to explore.

Note: I wanted to give this book an additional star for never once using the term "baby bump"

I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley.

This book was quite disappointing. It is the 4th book by Megan Abbott that I've read. One of them, You Will Know Me, was a 5-star book. But the others did not measure up to that one and neither does Beware the Woman.

This book is very strange and unusual. It is about a young married couple (she is pregnant with their first child) who go to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to visit his father for the first time. The whole book is about the ten days of weirdness that this visit becomes. It turns out that the couple has withheld secrets from each other. The father, a retired doctor, grabs control of his daughter-in-law's life when she has some complications with the pregnancy. The husband goes out and gets drunk a couple times. And lots of mystery surrounds the circumstances that led to the death of the husband's mother when the husband was born. The activities in these ten days were seemingly random. The characters were acting irrationally. To me, the reader, nothing about this scene was realistic or relatable, in sharp contrast to what I loved about You Will Know Me.

I hoped and expected that all the crazy going-on would get tied together and resolved in the end. That did not happen. The book just ended with a thud.

4 Stars out of 5 Stars. Megan Abbott is an auto-request and auto-read for me every time I see that she has a new novel. I fell in love with her writing style a few years ago and I cannot get enough of it. This novel is more horror than thriller as I usually expect from Abbott. However, I still really enjoyed it, the suspense and main mystery was compelling and kept me reading until the end. It was strange but not in a bad way for me. The novel feels a lot like a metaphor for the removal of Roe vs Wade this year and I felt that Abbott did a great job of turning that into a female-focused horror novel. I now want to read all the rest of the thrillers and cannot wait to see what she writes next.

Beware the Woman marks Abbott's departure from noir into the murkier and, often less successfully wrought, world of the modern gothic novel. I wasn't quite sure what to expect since the novel announces its genre quite earlier, but I found in the first dozen pages that Abbott is just as fine a writer of a gothic tale as a meticulously plotted thriller. The building dread was deliciously thick throughout and the pacing was strong. While there were fewer tangled webs to unweave than in, say, "The Turnout," the characters were complex, the story was rich, and I devoured it in a single sitting.

For fans of Abbott's previous works, don't fret about the slight shift in genre. Everything that makes Abbott a unique literary voice — her visceral prose, vibrant world-building, and uncanny ability to lay raw the reader while they read — is present in her latest work.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! What just happened? My heart was racing through this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy for the purpose of this review. It was a page turner from the beginning.

I find Megan's writing to be a bit different from what I usually read but I'm here for it! I devoured this story and was rooting for the main character Jacy and her new husband Jed. I felt like there should be trigger warnings about pregnancy and loss as well. Just an FYI.

This was one of the best slow-burn thrillers I’ve read in a long time. I was low-grade creeped out right from the beginning, and I had no idea what was happening — even in the very end. I tore through the book on a cross-country flight today and have already reread the last chapter twice.

I’ll acknowledge that some readers may hate the pregnancy storyline and some of the broken storytelling patterns. That said, this was a timely look at how some people view certain women’s rights issues… for better or worse.

Now excuse me. I must google Captain Murderer.

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Random House, for the advance copy!

This wasn't the thriller I expected. Although well written, the pace of the. first 3/4 was excruciatingly slow. It was difficult to ascertain where the book was headed. That was compounded by the fact that most of the characters had inexplicable motivations.

I haven't read this author before, but hear good things about her books. I was disappointed by this one.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for giving me this ARC. This is my honest review.

I read Beware the Woman in the course of a day. I began in the morning, intrigued by what was meant to be an idyllic trip for Jacy, newly married and pregnant, to visit her husband's family for the first time. I hung on to every word, as what was a seemingly normal experience of a woman attempting to relax on vacation and get to know her father-in-law--something that should be a pretty mundane, although hopefully nice experience-- felt so weirdly off-kilter from the very beginning and slowly became more and more disturbing and steeped in dread. Early into their trip, Jacy's pregnancy develops complications, and though her regular doctor assures her in a long-distance phone call that these things are a typical occurrence, the town doctor and her father-in-law (who seem suspiciously in cahoots), are treating it very differently. Jacy begins to feel trapped and housebound, she feels increasingly scrutinized and judged--not just in the present moment, but her past as well, pieces of which are being revealed without her consent, Even her husband seems to be changing in his controlling behaviors and overprotective attitudes toward her. I stayed up late into the night, on the edge of my seating, devouring the story so that I could finally learn what was driving the characters and what the mystery was, so in that sense, it was an incredibly compelling story. Once all is revealed, though, I look back and realize that I still don't know what was driving any of the characters. Not a single one. People are acting in these strange and bewildering ways and doing these concerning things, and I don't think we ever get a satisfying reason for any of it. For all that build-up, I wanted to be able to attach some reasoning to these people's actions, and that aspect of the story just wasn't there for me at all.

This felt like a different type of story than is typical from Megan Abbott. It didn't have the edge-of-my-seat thrills that I'm used to from her, but rather it had a sense of foreboding that got stronger and stronger as the story progressed. It's a creepy slow burn.

Jacy and her husband Jed are going on their first road trip as a married couple. They're going to be having a baby in a few months, and they want to visit Jed's father in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Jed hasn't been there in ages, but he wants to show off his growing family to his father, Doctor Ash. With no wi-fi or cell phone signal, the house is pretty remote. The closest person is the caretaker, Mrs. Brandt, who chastises Jacy when she brings up Jed's deceased mother. But isn't it normal for her to wonder about her husband's mother?

Why does it seem like there are so many secrets? Why does Jacy feel like everyone is talking about her? Following a health scare, Jacy is anxious to get back home to the city where she can talk to her mother and rest in her air-conditioned apartment. Except... it seems Jed's family doesn't want her to leave. Jed's father is a retired medical doctor, so surely he knows what's best. Right?

Beware the Woman is a bit of a departure for Megan Abbott. The terrible, wonderfully written characters are still there, and her masterful ability to write around solid details is also very much present, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions when it comes to character backstory and motivation. It starts out rather slow, with unwitting Jacy on a trip to visit her new father-in-law, but as with Abbott books, there is a slow twist even at the beginning that things are not going to go as planned.

This book has a bit more of a flair for horror than Abbott's previous books. Jacy is at first charmed by Doctor Ash, her husband's father. But changes lurk: her husband, Jed, starts to act more distant, less himself, more influenced in a way by his surroundings. He tells her a dark story about his father that doesn't seem to make any sense to Jacy, who sees Doctor Ash as an affable sort happy to grill and hike and show her old photos. But then the housekeeper doesn't act quite right, throwing Jacy off. When Jacy wakes up covered in blood, she's whisked away to Doctor Ash's friend's medical practice, where his friend examines Jacy and discovers she has placenta previa.

Cue the horror. From here, Jacy's body is no longer her own, but even that is a slowly tightening screw. The men huddle, determining what to do with her, while the housekeeper lurks nearby, always watching and never quite giving up what she's thinking. It starts to churn together into a story of paranoia, both medical and patriarchal. Doctor Ash and Jed just want Jacy to be safe--to think about her unborn child, to be calm and rational, to do what they say above all. Jacy wants to get the hell out, but at every turn she's threatened or scolded or had all of her means stripped away. She has no internet, no wi-fi, no reliable land line after a while. They're off in the woods, far from help. Jacy has to help herself.

This is a story of women battling back--taking revenge, taking what's theirs, owning themselves, making decisions for their own bodies when the men around them would like to be calling all the shots. It is an addictive ride, and quite a fast one when the plot starts to spin and spin, upping the tension and paranoia and slowly peeling back all of Jacy's ability to trust in other people to make the right decisions for her.

My one quibble is the housekeeper. She speaks in riddles and I was not entirely sure she needed to be so vague without explanation. There is also an extremely abrupt ending, which works for a novel that leans toward horror, and of course I can infer what happens, but I just wish these aspects of the novel had been a little cleaner.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read Megan Abbott's Beware the Woman.

Wow!

I started reading and could not stop until i finished. I think i may have held my breath through the entire book. This was one superbly written novel. I loved it

I am very excited to have received a Digital Reader Copy of
BEWARE THE WOMAN by Megan Abbott.

Four months after Jacy meets Jed, they get married at City Hall. The wedding happens so fast, Jacy’s parents and Jed”s father aren’t able to come to the wedding. Jacy’s mother has given Jacy this warning—“But they’re lone wolves, these kinds of men. Most men.” Jed drives through Michigan with his pregnant wife, Jacy, to visit his father. Jed’s father, Dr. Ash, lives in Iron Mountain in the cottage Jed remembers from childhood.

Once Jacy and Jed enter the cottage, you will find it hard to set this book aside The anticipation of things to come is great when you are reading a suspenseful novel such as this.

I admire Megan Abbott’s writing and the way she makes you
immediately comfortable in the story’s surroundings. You are right there watching the scenes take place in front of you. Her writing is insistent. You can like or dislike the story, but you have to finish reading it.

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

I was excited to read this book as it was recently chosen for an upcoming book club However, now that I have finished it, I am beyond confused by the choice. I can see some possible book club questions stemming from this novel, but overall I am not quite sure I understand the premise of the book.

Once I got past the first few pages before Day 1 it all made a little more sense. But once you got to know all the characters, you just get sucked in. I was immediately interested in Dr. Ash because he came off as kind but definitely hiding something. Learning more about Jacy and Jed’s relationship really pulled a lot together. It was hard to put this book down as it left you wanting to know what was going to happen.

Book: Beware The Woman
Author: Megan Abbott
Publisher: Penguin Group Putnam
Pub Date: May 30, 2023

Okay. Honesty first. What the heck am I reading?!? I haven’t the first clue. That was my first thought. I read the summary but not going to lie I kept going back to the summary asking, “what is this?” It’s like I was reading a dream and was never being told the whole story. I always felt like I was missing something. The story felt breathless. Like a race. And it was! At the mid way point I finally knew the direction it was headed. It was a good read. The writing style worked. It created the atmosphere they were trying to create. And the ending. Wow.

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is May 30, 2023.

Jacy and Jed are off on their first trip after their wedding to visit Jed's father who lives in a remote part of Michigan. Jacy is pregnant, but Jed's dad is a retired doctor, and she is really charmed by him when they first meet. But that changes when Jacy has a minor health issue. Suddenly, she is not allowed to leave the compound, and the charming doctor seems suddenly sinister. Good characters, but the whole premise was a bit much to swallow for me!

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC of this upcoming Megan Abbott book. Beware the Woman is narrated by Jacy, a 30 something year old New Yorker, who marries Jed after only four months because she knows that he is the "one". The book begins two years later when Jacy, newly pregnant and Jed are on a road trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to spend 4th of July with Jed's. father, Dr. Ash, who Jacy is meeting for the first time. Dr. Ash is a charming charismatic character who raised Jed on his own, when Jed's mother died in childbirth. The majority of the story takes place in the UP at Dr. Ash's isolated estate. The scenery and sights of the area are so beautifully depicted that I had to keep stopping to google them. Additionally, there is a handful of secondary small town characters, and their tight-lipped ways, and a possible mountain lion roaming the area, that all add to the suspense.

From the very beginning, there is a sense that something is off, a tension that permeates the book. There is little action happening and the story moves along quite slowly, yet I still found it compelling and hard to put down. Jacy finds all these locals a bit strange, finds that Jed is also not acting like his usual self and every day that passes leaves us more and more unsettled. I'd describe this book as suspenseful, but not a thriller, eerily gothic, but not a horror, with a locked room mystery feel, without being a mystery. In other words, hard to describe. For readers with triggers, there are lots, so do some research before picking up this book. I gave this 4 stars because I found it evocative and compelling.

Beware the Woman
by Megan Abbott
This one was just ok. Very slow, and it became as if Jacy was as bright as most. The men Jeb and the father in law as well as the housekeeper were all in charge, It was pretty not really much to like.

Well, this was different. Set in the country, almost seemed to be in the past. Jacy & her hubs travel to visit his dad for the first time, while she’s pregnant. The dad, House & Housekeeper all have so many secrets. If Jacy discovers them, will they allow her to leave? Or only without the baby?

I struggle with how to write this review. There really isn’t a lot of action in the first 85% of the book and then everything that happens in the last chapters leaves you wanting more. The novel is about a couple that married after knowing each other for 4 months. The story keeps telling the reader that everything they did was quickly and how they don’t know each other, but she’s only 10 weeks pregnant and they’ve been together for 2 years? The couple decides to travel to upper Michigan to his father’s cabin out in the woods so his dad can get to know Jacy, the young, pregnant wife before they can’t travel due to pregnancy. Things get weird and uncomfortable, both for Jacy and the reader after they arrive. There are some elements of thriller, horror and supernatural even, but none of the genres really fit to describe the novel. I’d give this 2.5 stars. I love Megan Abbott’s other books, but this one fell short for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam’s Books for sending this book for review considerations. All opinions are my own.