Watch Her by Edwin Hill seemed like it was going to be a promising novel. The plot summary sounded fun, interesting, and smart. I had a little bit of apprehension to the main character’s name Hester Thursby. I didn’t think it sounded very real, and honestly it seemed a bit odd. I waited a while to receive my copy from BookishFirst, and I couldn’t wait to dig in nonetheless!
Watch Her begins in 1997 when Maxine is moving into a new apartment in Boston. Her older brother, Stan, a police officer is leery of the locale and is very protective. She has a boyfriend “Nathan” that she quickly lets go upon arrival at her new apartment. The opening ends on the note that it was the day that Princess Diana died.
Following the brief introduction Hill fast forwards to present time. The rest of the novel takes place over a short period of time. The chapters rotate between chapters from different characters perspectives. Maxine, Hester, Angela, and Barrett. I felt like this would be a nice way to switch up chapters, but I felt like the characters were muddled. It didn’t feel like there was a very nice building of the characters. I didn’t find them to be very interesting, and actually sort of dull. However, not everyone is supposed to be liked I suppose.
At the heart of the story is the mysterious death of Maxine’s friends Tucker and Jennifer’s youngest daughter Rachel that just so happened to occur on the same day Maxine moved into her apartment. I figured out the culprit rather quickly, but there were some red herrings.
Maxine hires Hester to research a list of students that she believes there is some corruption occurring at the hands of Gavin. Gavin is Tucker and Jennifer’s older daughter Vanessa’s husband. This leads to a downward spiral involving corruption at a for-profit campus that Maxine and Tucker established. Which in turn merry-go-rounds back to… you guessed it! Rachel’s death!
Barrett’s involvement was rather unnecessary. At least in the quantity of page space he was given. Although a very interesting character. He played a very small role, and only was important for one aspect at the end. Angela was necessary since she was Hester’s friend, and also a police officer.
All in all, Watch Her by Edwin Hill was alright at best. Again, that is my opinion. I felt the characters weren’t really fun, and the lead Hester really didn’t feel like the lead. I felt it far fetched a librarian being caught up in such crime drama. I also felt the story was predictable, yet also some things were tied together loosely and seemed a little sloppy. I think anyone who enjoys a nice “beach read” involving crime, drama, a couple of mundane murders, a plot that you really don’t have to think too deeply, and some love and scandal. Well, it would be a book for you to check out. I’m not saying it wasn’t a decent or even a good novel. I simply felt like it was rushed being put together, and not my cup of tea.
Overall, I give Watch Her by Edwin Hill a lackluster neutral three stars out of five stars. I didn’t feel that it was atrocious, and I didn’t feel like it was amazing! I would recommend this to many group members in mine and my wife’s Facebook group Book Nerds. If you would like to join a great group of avid readers, reviewers, and authors as well please check out the Facebook link to Book Nerds and join today! That’s all I have to say about Watch Her. My star rating can be deduced by my criticisms in the body of this blog. No need to be too repetitive. Until next time, friends. Also, here is the Book Nerds link https://www.facebook.com/groups/735398456792824/
Watch Her begins in 1997 when Maxine is moving into a new apartment in Boston. Her older brother, Stan, a police officer is leery of the locale and is very protective. She has a boyfriend “Nathan” that she quickly lets go upon arrival at her new apartment. The opening ends on the note that it was the day that Princess Diana died.
Following the brief introduction Hill fast forwards to present time. The rest of the novel takes place over a short period of time. The chapters rotate between chapters from different characters perspectives. Maxine, Hester, Angela, and Barrett. I felt like this would be a nice way to switch up chapters, but I felt like the characters were muddled. It didn’t feel like there was a very nice building of the characters. I didn’t find them to be very interesting, and actually sort of dull. However, not everyone is supposed to be liked I suppose.
At the heart of the story is the mysterious death of Maxine’s friends Tucker and Jennifer’s youngest daughter Rachel that just so happened to occur on the same day Maxine moved into her apartment. I figured out the culprit rather quickly, but there were some red herrings.
Maxine hires Hester to research a list of students that she believes there is some corruption occurring at the hands of Gavin. Gavin is Tucker and Jennifer’s older daughter Vanessa’s husband. This leads to a downward spiral involving corruption at a for-profit campus that Maxine and Tucker established. Which in turn merry-go-rounds back to… you guessed it! Rachel’s death!
Barrett’s involvement was rather unnecessary. At least in the quantity of page space he was given. Although a very interesting character. He played a very small role, and only was important for one aspect at the end. Angela was necessary since she was Hester’s friend, and also a police officer.
All in all, Watch Her by Edwin Hill was alright at best. Again, that is my opinion. I felt the characters weren’t really fun, and the lead Hester really didn’t feel like the lead. I felt it far fetched a librarian being caught up in such crime drama. I also felt the story was predictable, yet also some things were tied together loosely and seemed a little sloppy. I think anyone who enjoys a nice “beach read” involving crime, drama, a couple of mundane murders, a plot that you really don’t have to think too deeply, and some love and scandal. Well, it would be a book for you to check out. I’m not saying it wasn’t a decent or even a good novel. I simply felt like it was rushed being put together, and not my cup of tea.
Overall, I give Watch Her by Edwin Hill a lackluster neutral three stars out of five stars. I didn’t feel that it was atrocious, and I didn’t feel like it was amazing! I would recommend this to many group members in mine and my wife’s Facebook group Book Nerds. If you would like to join a great group of avid readers, reviewers, and authors as well please check out the Facebook link to Book Nerds and join today! That’s all I have to say about Watch Her. My star rating can be deduced by my criticisms in the body of this blog. No need to be too repetitive. Until next time, friends. Also, here is the Book Nerds link https://www.facebook.com/groups/735398456792824/