Watching You by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Watching You begins with a bang, with a dead body in the kitchen. From the outset we are left to guess not only who the body belongs to, but who did it, and why. A cleverly written book with gradual reveals, an intriguing plot and strong characters.
The story follows Joey Mullen, who’s just returned from Ibiza with her new husband in tow. Despite being a newlywed, she promptly becomes obsessed with one of her neighbors, an older man called Tom, who’s described in such a way as I felt nothing but absolute distaste for him, as well as for Joey for being obsessed with him.
Lisa Jewell is a master at creating tension and writing excellent characters, and Watching You is no exception. So much creepiness – everybody watching each other – so many themes to talk about, so many well-written (if unlikeable) characters. I enjoyed the twist at the end and the themes of bullying, self-consciousness, innocent crushes turning into something dark.
Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read Watching You by Lisa Jewell in exchange for my honest review.
