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A review by motquana
Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Another thriller by Peter Swanson checked! 4/5
I drew some conclusions about what I could "always" find in Swanson's books when I read Nine Lives but apparently I spoke too soon!
In Before She Knew Him, you knew the murderer right off the bat. The whole novel is Henrietta's - a woman with history of bipolar disorder - pursuit of the truth to a death related to her a couple years ago. But it's not all that, one thing leads to another, as always with Peter Swanson's work, more chilling truths unfold and more deaths come. There always lies a twist in Swanson's novels, though for this one, I could kind of guess what it was but I continued to read to find out how he was going to unveil it.
I think Before She Knew Him is another candidate for film adaptations because it really has everything in it - suspense, twists, even gender equality debates.
From a reading point of view, however, perhaps knowing that Matthew was the ultimate perpetrator made the book less interesting a little bit because I found myself rather distracted in the first three chapters. At times, I also feel like he was kind of starting a propaganda with some social issues too idk, maybe I am overcomplicating stuffs. I also think he could have done a bit better towards the end about Hen because she was actually an interesting protagonist.
I drew some conclusions about what I could "always" find in Swanson's books when I read Nine Lives but apparently I spoke too soon!
In Before She Knew Him, you knew the murderer right off the bat. The whole novel is Henrietta's - a woman with history of bipolar disorder - pursuit of the truth to a death related to her a couple years ago. But it's not all that, one thing leads to another, as always with Peter Swanson's work, more chilling truths unfold and more deaths come. There always lies a twist in Swanson's novels, though for this one, I could kind of guess what it was but I continued to read to find out how he was going to unveil it.
I think Before She Knew Him is another candidate for film adaptations because it really has everything in it - suspense, twists, even gender equality debates.
From a reading point of view, however, perhaps knowing that Matthew was the ultimate perpetrator made the book less interesting a little bit because I found myself rather distracted in the first three chapters. At times, I also feel like he was kind of starting a propaganda with some social issues too idk, maybe I am overcomplicating stuffs. I also think he could have done a bit better towards the end about Hen because she was actually an interesting protagonist.