They hold on to each other, weeping. Two shattered people, one of them a liar.
Rating: 2/5
Trigger Warnings: violence, mental illness
Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t read the book, this review will contain spoilers so it’s up to you if you continue…
The Couple Next Door, supposedly the ‘most talked about thriller of the year’ (presumably that means 2015, when it was published), focuses on the Contis, a young couple who have recently had a baby daughter, Cora. They make pretty good parents until they make a fatal mistake: leaving a baby alone. Their daughter goes missing whilst they are at a dinner party just next door - leaving barely an hour between the baby last being seen and her parents, Anne and Marco, arriving home to find her gone.
You know what I love in a good mystery? Some actual fucking suspense. I have so many problems with this book.
I’m not saying the plot isn’t good, I’m not saying it isn’t an interesting story, because the premise is great. Child goes missing with the parents next door plus a whole bunch of interesting variables about the people surround the disappearance? Yeah, sounds like a good formula for an interesting mystery.
But my god the writing ruined it. There was just zero suspense from beginning to end. The opening of the book had no build up whatsoever: eight pages in and baby Cora has disappeared. I get that you need to get into it fast and grab people’s attention, but I cared so little about any of the characters at this point that I just thought “okay”. Yes, I could see the panic from the parents, but that’s because that’s what happens when a child goes missing - I didn’t care specifically for Marco and Anne. Why should I when I know nothing about them?
The writing just really grated on me throughout, which is a real shame because I wanted to enjoy the plot. Everything was just stated. Nothing was left for me to work out, I didn’t get the opportunity to observe the qualities that made up these characters because I pretty much just got told anything I needed to know about them: I got told about Rasbach’s lack of sentimentality - which I’d have worked out from his opinions about the family, Cynthia’s selfish coldness came across in her dislike for children and attitude towards the videotape - I didn’t need you to repeatedly tell me she was cold.
Also, I just have to mention this: why the fuck is Jennings even a character? He has about four lines in the whole book! We could have just had Rasbach as our detective, no need to mention this other guy who is occasionally there but mostly absent. That one just really frustrated me.
So we find out the plot halfway through - underwhelming to be honest, it made me dislike Marco, nothing would redeem him to me, and I didn’t want to read the rest of the book. I’m glad I did because it did get more interesting, if a tad convoluted, however I never regained any sympathy for Marco (guess I’m like Rasbach in that respect). I don’t care how financially desperate you are, why are you listening to someone who is basically a stranger and agreeing to kidnap your own kid? I get that you were drunk but you were sober when you followed through. Then we come to the ending which…jesus you couldn’t just end it a chapter earlier? I was so ready to live with that ending; Richard arrested, Cora safe, Anne not sure whether she could forgive Marco. Then you just stuck that extra chapter on the end because happy, complete ending with loose ends tied? Apparently we can’t do that anymore.
I’m sad I didn’t like this book more as I was really looking forward to reading it. Ah well, on to the next.
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