I had trouble getting into this book and ended up skimming through it. What a bummer! The premise just didn’t do it for me.

It's not every day that you come across a novel with a blind protagonist. Mallika Narayanan does an excellent job of portraying Audrey Hughes as a convincing blind woman caught up in the murder investigation of her neighbour. Character development is the strength of this debut novel and as the story unfolds you'll realise why it's the main focus. Unfortunately this means that the plot is neglected.

The author alternates between Audrey's and Sarah's points of view. Naturally, the narrative jumps around in time, which can be difficult, especially since it can be difficult to keep track of who the narrator is because the POV switches frequently.

The story was a little slow for me and felt repetitive at times. Sarah (the earlier version of her) and Audrey were too similar and readers will notice the difference between "current Sarah" and "previous Sarah." This, unfortunately, spoiled the story for me. But kudos to the author for creating an unexpected yarn!

3.5 ⭐️’s
Told in two voices and jumping between timelines made this one a difficult book to follow at times, especially with the characters similar characteristics! The differentiating feature being one of them was blind, adding some depth to the overall story. A slow burn for sure, but a good debut by an author I’m looking forward to seeing more from. Thank you to Union Square & Co. and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

his one was really brilliant. I read it straight in an hour, and I didn’t even suspect the twist until just before the reveal. There are enough moving parts and complexities to disguise the twist, which is a good thing, because without the twist this book wouldn’t have half of its impact.
I loved how the author didn’t neglect character work in favor of the plot, and I really felt connected to Audrey and Sarah as well as many of the side characters, particularly Dan, Celia, Priya, and Detective Greene. Docked a star for some of the writing, especially concerning the character of Mac, who was really important but barely built up.

If I'm being honest, this book was a bit of a mess. There was a lot happening which made all of the happening things feel less impactful. At that point, it's just kind of an eye roll on the next twist.

Y’all this book was a wild ride. There were so many twists and turns that I was totally blindsided (?????) by the Big One. I also genuinely did not know what was going on for a not-insignificant amount of time, but I was enjoying myself nonetheless.

I needed something with Light Crime ™️ to get me out of my either-romcoms-or-murder spree I was on, and this fit the bill! Although there is murder? It just seems like it is not the primary focus somehow.

Complex, interesting, and multi-layered. I didn’t connect fully with the narrators, which made it a bit hard to get invested. But that is a me problem, not a book problem.

A blind woman stumbles upon her neighbour who is covered in blood and appears to have been murdered. There’s a baby upstairs and the police seem to be seeing the blind neighbour as the main suspect.

This is heavily character led and a decent read, I just found it a struggle to stick with it, as it’s a slow burn.

A decent, murder mystery with a difference.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

Two women, Audrey and Sarah, who at first seem to be very much alike - tell their stories in dual timelines. This is confusing at first, as they have a lot in common, both New Yorkers, both now live in a stately neighborhood, both have jobs in an accounting or auditing environment. What differentiates them is that Sarah has a kid, but only later and Audrey is blind.

The author clearly favored character development over plot and I applaud that. Halfway into the book I felt the author wrote in the similar style as Moshfegh Otessa, and I consider this a compliment. The downside is that the main plot development only happened at 80% of the book, and sadly the reveal of the mystery just didn't do it for me. It felt very convoluted and strange and I was left with some questions still. What I really liked was that the author had the guts to put her main character as a blind person. I can only imagine that this made the writing extra difficult, but it really added to the main eerie atmosphere.

All in all I believe that this a good debut and that Mallika Narayanan is an author to follow. I sure will read her next book. Thank you to NetGalley, Union Square & Co and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley and Union Square & Co for the copy of In The Dark I See You by Mallika Narayanan. I was so confused at first because the POVs were two women and it was hard to differentiate them because they were both in the first person. The timelines were confusing and I had trouble even figuring out what the main storyline was. Then I got to the end of this book and understood how great and complex the story really was. It was disappointing that it took a character to explain it all instead of seeing it unfold. Based on the story, I look forward to this author’s next book. 2.5 rounded up to 3 stars

Felt that the twist was great, but everything leading up to it was pretty confusing. I wish this book was organized in a different way- maybe more clarity on when Sarah’s timeline is taking place and less bouncing back and forth between current timeline and past. Overall an interesting read.

This was a great mystery novel, it had everything that I enjoyed from the genre. The characters were what I was hoping for and I enjoyed the suspenseful atmosphere that they dealt with it. I enjoyed the whole feel of the book and it left me guessing from the start to finish.

I wanted more from this book. There was a lot happening but at the same time there was nothing happening. The big twist was good but not satisfying enough for the build-up.

I’m not that big of a fan of crime novels, but this one was really brilliant. I read it straight in an hour, and I didn’t even suspect the twist until just before the reveal. There are enough moving parts and complexities to disguise the twist, which is a good thing, because without the twist this book wouldn’t have half of its impact. I loved how the author didn’t neglect character work in favor of the plot, and I really felt connected to Audrey and Sarah as well as many of the side characters, particularly Dan, Celia, Priya, and Detective Greene. Docked a star for some of the writing, especially concerning the character of Mac, who was really important but barely built up.