BOOK REVIEW | THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW BY AJ FINN (SPOILER FREE)

If you haven’t heard the title of this book, you probably have heard the movie that goes by the same title on Netflix.

The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn is about a child psychologist whom never went out of her house due to PTSD. Agoraphobia, it is. Often, she spent her time stalking her neighbours through her window apartment, playing chess online and checking in on her patients on Agora. 

One day, her life changed when she saw something she shouldn’t have overseen. A murder through one of the windows of her new neighbour, the Russell’s. She started to question her sanity when apparently, the woman she thought she met didn’t exist. Even worse, people don’t believe the proof she provided of that woman’s existence.

This book reminds me a lot of The Girl On The Train which I read a few years ago. The same unreliable narrator and alcoholic with traumatic past. 

The pacing of the book is quite slow. It is centered more on the main character, Anna Fox, about her daily lives, her internal thoughts and struggles with alcohol and medication abuse. 

Anna Fox is an unreliable narrator. Though most thrillers use this aspect as a suspense, I found it frustrating at times. Especially upon revealing the truth about the murder. However, it did keep me on turning the pages. I couldn’t even put the book down to find out more. But some people may not like unreliable narrators. Hence, deterring the enjoyment. 

The amount of times Anna drank alcohol worries me because she knew people didn’t believe her as people knew about her alcoholism, YET she drank anyway. She even claimed she needed the alcohol to make her think CLEARER. I’m a Muslim, thus I don’t drink. Alcohol is haram in our religion practice. But I know for a fact alcohol doesn’t clear up your head. And I know it’s just an excuse alcoholics use to drink. Kind of like sugarcoating yourself to make bad things less worse. But the truth is, you’re just harming yourself.

There are a lot of plot twist in the book. Some are pretty predictable, some are shocking, especially nearing the end. The ending is a good wrap up but it made me feel a bit meh because the truth behind the murder felt rushed. Kind of like, oh. And not, wow damn. If you know what I’m saying. 

The characters are well-written. I think some of them felt real, especially Detective Little. I love how some characters are rude to Anna and a few cared about her. It shows that even with our mental issues, there are people who care about us even when our minds try to convince us otherwise. 

Overall, if you’re in a reading slump and in need of a page turner, this book is the answer. But only pick it up if you can tolerate with unreliable narrators. If you enjoy The Girl On The Train, you will definitely enjoy this one too! 

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️