The Couple Next Door Book Review (Blog Tour)

I am so happy to be today’s host in The Couple Next Door Blog Tour.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I am excited to share my review.
I’d like to thank Rebecca Hunter from Penguin Random House UK, for giving me this opportunity.

About the book:

PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF ALMOST ANYTHING.

‘2016’s most talked-about new thriller’ Stylist

‘Meticulously crafted and razor-sharp. THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR lingers long after you turn the final page’ HARLAN COBEN

Fast-paced and addictive, THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR announces a major new talent in thriller writing.

You never know what’s happening on the other side of the wall.

Your neighbour told you that she didn’t want your six-month-old daughter at the dinner party. Nothing personal, she just couldn’t stand her crying.

Your husband said it would be fine. After all, you only live next door. You’ll have the baby monitor and you’ll take it in turns to go back every half hour.

Your daughter was sleeping when you checked on her last. But now, as you race up the stairs in your deathly quiet house, your worst fears are realized. She’s gone.

You’ve never had to call the police before. But now they’re in your home, and who knows what they’ll find there.

What would you be capable of, when pushed past your limit?

‘How well do we ever know those around us? THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR will keep you glued to the pages in search of the answer. Even then, you’ll never guess the truth…until it’s too late’ LISA GARDNER

My Review:

I finished The Couple Next Door  few days ago, and I am still in shock.

This is the story about every parent’s worst nightmare: about a child being abducted.

In this incredebly composed, thought provoking  debut, we follow the story of Marco and Anne, who went to the dinner party next door and left their 6 months old daughter Cora alone in the house.
They’ve been checking on her every half an hour, but once they came home for good, they found her crib empty.

This novel grabbed my attention from the first, and it held it until the very last page.
It played with my emotions and turned me into a little detective myself, as I observed every character and tried to put all of the pieces together.
I couldn’t help but release some heavey breaths and „Oh my God“s while going through this nerve wrecking story, full of twists and turns that made me question almost every character.

Because of the way this story is presented to us and demands readers attention, I cared about finiding the answers more then I cared about the characters.
Don’t get me wrong! I still cared about baby Cora and wanted a happy end she desperatedly needed, but this book is the one you read for it’s story.

It perfectly pictures what kind of effect one tragedy can have. How people’s actions, if they were snowballs (metaphorically speaking), with time grow bigger and bigger and become too heavy. Call it domino effect, call it butterfly effect, call it however you like.
It also shows us how life can be turned upside down in a glimpse. One minute everything is fine, and then the next, nothing is.

The writing style is simple and it reads quicky. Those who can read fast would probably finish it in a day.
It is written in third person, following multiple perpectives.

The end left me satisfied and I was happy to find all the answers I was looking for.

I am pleased I had an opportunity to read Shari Lapena’s debut novel and to discover her as an author.
I hope she will continue to write and I am looking forward to read her other books that future may hold.

About Shari Lapena:

Shari Lapena worked as a lawyer and as an Englsh teacher before writing fiction.

The Couple Next Door is her debut thriller.

 

 

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