Wait, isn't this supposed to be a thriller?
I’ve always found ethics in psychology to be a fascinating subject, so the synopsis of this book immediately drew me in. There have been so many actual instances of experiments taken too far that it sounded just close enough to real life to be next-level disturbing…like those horror films that you’re thinking “this could totally happen” while you’re watching.
Unfortunately I didn’t entirely feel like it lived up to its great premise. Whereas a lot of the criticism of the duo’s previous collaboration, THE WIFE BETWEEN US, was that they threw in too many (in some cases, unnecessary) twists, I had the opposite issue here—it felt like 300+ pages of tension building up without the big twisty payoff at the end that I expected.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading this and thought the character of Jess was well-developed. I even loved the first part of the novel that focuses on her getting into and then initially participating in the study. I found myself thinking a lot about how I would answer the same questions, which was great because one of my favorite things about reading is when a book is able to keep me thinking about its subject matter even after I’ve put it down. So while it wasn’t a slam dunk for me, it was still a worthwhile read.
Unfortunately I didn’t entirely feel like it lived up to its great premise. Whereas a lot of the criticism of the duo’s previous collaboration, THE WIFE BETWEEN US, was that they threw in too many (in some cases, unnecessary) twists, I had the opposite issue here—it felt like 300+ pages of tension building up without the big twisty payoff at the end that I expected.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading this and thought the character of Jess was well-developed. I even loved the first part of the novel that focuses on her getting into and then initially participating in the study. I found myself thinking a lot about how I would answer the same questions, which was great because one of my favorite things about reading is when a book is able to keep me thinking about its subject matter even after I’ve put it down. So while it wasn’t a slam dunk for me, it was still a worthwhile read.