Genre: thriller. ⭐️Stars from Goodreads 3.75. ⭐️Stars from me 2.
You know how sometimes you go to a shop with very poor choice or quality of products and after some time of browsing through mediocre options you start liking things you wouldn’t like if there originally was a better choice?
That’s what’s happening with my judgement of thrillers. This month has been filled with such bad thrillers that my perception has adjusted. I no longer expect clever characters. Maybe a thriller’s plot cannot happen without their stupidity? I no longer expect to be surprised about who the villain is. I’m thankful to be just slightly entertained. I’m thankful if the word “somehow” does not pop up in each line of internal monologues.
With all that new judgement adjustment I was intending to give Behind her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough four stars. Only some of the characters are idiots. The villain becomes obvious twenty percent into the book but you still can’t guess what’s going on so you have a reason to go on with the book. You watch females in love, a blond guy, and psychological abnormalities entangled together and heading somewhere unpredictable as the end gets nearer. After all the predictable thrillers that unpredictability alone deserves four stars.
Suddenly, eighty percent into the book it becomes clear why you can’t guess what’s going on. Apparently, the book is of a different genre altogether!
Imagine a Sherlock Holmes story where a mystery is explained by a green gnome living under a kitchen sink. You thought you were reading a gnome-free story but a gnome becomes the main tool of the plot. Eighty percent into the story! It’s literature, so everything can happen. At least that seems to be the author’s opinion.
The four stars quickly lost two of their mates after that. The remaining two stars are still a product of a perspective adjustment. Had it been another genre I would not have forgiven the language, the stupidity of characters, the “green gnome” plot twist. But I have learned not to expect much from a thriller, so Behind her Eyes does receive two stars from me, although it is a generous rating.
Love this review. Green gnome theory is good, I might pinch that. I actually have Cross Her Heart by the same author on reserve but not read Behind Her Eyes. Difficult to judge with thrillers until you’re some way through, isn’t it? I’m writing one at the moment so taking note of what works 😉
Nice to see you here! I was wondering how your reviews are going. I think I’ll take a short break from thrillers. Haven’t been too lucky with them. I hope you liked yours. 🙂
I couldn’t read thrillers all the time, but I read the occasional one mixed in with other genres. I can usually tell in the first chapter whether it’s a ‘good’ one. Hopefully I will do one review a week, it depends if I finish a book!
I try to choose thrillers carefully. They are good in audiobooks, or shall I say the best audiobooks are thrillers because it does’t take much to keep your attention glued to the audio when there’s lots of action. But the downside is that it’s hard to find a good thriller. They are full of cheap tricks, they seem to be just products but not books.
Yes they are the trend at the moment so there seem to be too many similar ones as if they are made at a thriller factory or something! I don’t listen to audiobooks because I actually can’t concentrate on them at all…
Exactly! That’s what I was thinking, they come from a thriller factory, perfect phrasing. It took me some time to get used to listening audiobooks. In the beginning I was also constantly trailing away with my thoughts.