Watching You Without Me

I worked and lived in small Nova Scotia town for 20 years. Everyone knew everyones business or they would work to find out. The fact that Trevor was able to gaslight and deceive people seems to be a stretch.

Actual Rating: 3.5 Wow, this was a hard one to rate. It wasnt a bad read and I actually was quite invested in the outcome, but it was not necessarily a captivating book. This book follows Karen. When her mother suddenly dies, shes forced to move back home to Nova Scotia and take care of her disabled sister Kelli. Even though shes new to everything, at least Trevor, a hired caregiver and close friend of her mother is always there to help. Karen grows to depend more and more on him, while at the same time feeling uneasy with his presence; hes pushy and bossy and seems to make himself a tad bit too comfortable in their home. But what right does she have to say anything when she was the absentee daughter who left to live her own life, the one who only called home once-a-month because it was what was expected? The plot for this book definitely started out a little too slow for my liking, and it also wasnt the type of story I was expecting. From the original blurb I thought it would be more thriller/mystery and to be honest I think it does the book a disservice to market it that way its a lot more contemporary/family. I didnt really get into it until about 40% in. After that, even though I was more invested in the developments between Trevor and Karen, it still very slow, as if we were trudging towards an end result that I already saw coming. Nevertheless, I really appreciate the realistic and subtle way in which emotionally and mentally abusive relationships and questionable power dynamics were portrayed. At its core, Watching You Without Me was not very character-driven, and Karen was not very likeable because it felt like she kept making bad decisions. HOWEVER. And this is a huge however: I get it. I completely understand the difficulty of recognizing toxicity and bullying when its happening to you, and the difficulty in taking any action at all. It feels like Karen does well not as an individual, but in representing a concept, and Im okay with that. The writing style was overall pretty good. There were no lines that jumped out at me for their eloquence and it took me a while to get invested, but as a whole I felt like the book wrote a good story and made its reader think. Overall, I think this would be good for a reader of contemporary fiction, especially one who reads about navigating dysfunctional family dynamics or taking care of a family member with disabilities.

Thank you so much to Knopf/Doubleday Publishing, Lynn Coady, and Netgalley for my advanced review copy of Watching You Without Me. This book was a psychological family drama that was just short of creepy. Part of me still doesnt know what to think about this book, and the other part is WOWed by the great writing. Thoughts: This story was more of a slow-burn that you could see building over time. It wasnt necessarily a thriller, but was psychological and was dramatic. I enjoyed the writing style and could easily imagine myself inside this story. I think the character of Kelli is what made me enjoy the book so much, and I was captivated and entertained by her parts of the book. I found myself getting so mad with the main character and found her to be weak-willed and frustrating. I dislike when characters just go along with what is happening and then wonder how they get into terrible situations. I enjoyed the heartwarming moments in this book, but found myself getting stuck by how annoyed I was with Karen. I liked all of the real life elements to this story and can imagine how realistic this story would be to a health worker. There werent many surprises in this book, but I still enjoyed the journey it took me on. In the end I would give it 3.5 stars for a solid and eerie story.

In the new psychological thriller, Watching You Without Me, Karen returns home to Nova Scotia to close down her deceased mothers house. But her original plans to put her 250-pound mentally handicapped older sister, Kelli, in a group home are upended when she meets the charismatic caregiver, Trevor. The pacing in this book is more like womans fiction or even gothic novels than like a modern thriller. Its more a slow-boil of atmospheric dread than a race to the conclusion. However, the character building is finely honed. Everyone, even the villain, only act as a real person would in the same situation. Nothing they do feels solely like a plot device. Unfortunately, I found the conclusion disappointing so 3 stars. If you like slice-of-life literary fiction, you will probably rate it higher. Thanks to Knopf Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I havent read a book set in Nova Scotia before, so I was really looking forward to this book. Karen has returned for the first time in ten years. Shes been dealing with the guilt over the death of her mother from cancer< now she finds herself the caregiver of her developmentally disabled sisters. Trevor, a home care worker, comes to help. And the reader hears the alarms going off, but Karen doesnt. She needs the help, being a caretaker is exhausting. Im stopping right there. The story is somewhat predictable, but that s okay. Its also about maturing after you have grown up and how family is important.

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