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                                     The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

                                                               5/5 stars

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW is a novel that everyone and their mother seems to be reading this month. I've seen countless pictures, read reviews, even spotted coworkers walking the halls with this book clutched in their hands. It's the "it" book right now and after reading what it was about, I had to get my hands on it.

As I've mentioned in a pervious post, Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW is one of my all time favorite movies, so naturally the plot of this story appealed to me. A woman, a recluse in her apartment, spends her days drinking wine, watching old movies and spying on her neighbors. One night, she witnesses something that sparks a whirlwind of events that had this reader eagerly flipping the page to find out what would happen next.

A.J. Finn really captured Anna Fox's voice. Her thoughts, her dialogue, her turmoil is all clearly depicted so that the reader gets a full picture of the events playing out. I wish I could say that THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW wasn't very predictable, but it was. I had guessed the big shocks early on and after reading and speaking with others who have read this story, it looks like I wasn't the only one. However, it was still a heart racing read and accurately predicting twists didn't take away from my experience reading this book at all.

Believe the hype. If you're a fan of thrillers and stories that will keep you guessing from start to finish, get your hands on a copy of THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW. You won't be sorry.

"I think of Dr. Brulov in Spellbound: “My dear girl, you cannot keep bumping your head against reality and saying it is not there.”

[pinotandprose-blog]

                             The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin 

                                                     4.5/5 stars

THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin was a book I had seen floating around social media for some time. The story is about four siblings who, with the powers of a mysterious stranger, find out the exact date they are going to die. The novel proceeds to follow each of the Gold siblings as they navigate their way in life with the knowledge of when their last day on earth is going to be.

First, we follow the youngest Gold, Simon, find strength in his sexuality and identity as a gay man. We watch him transform from a quiet boy of sixteen, destined only to follow in his late father's footsteps of becoming a tailor and dressmaker to a man, knowing exactly what he wants out of his short life. After Simon, we get to travel along with Klara (my favorite!), the mystical magician and all around girl-power dream. Klara wants to be a magician, but her obsession with her deceased family members and her eery connection to the afterlife ends up knocking her down before she can truly be the star that she was destined to become. Then comes Daniel. Daniel is the oldest boy and works as an army doctor. We get to see his love story with his wife, his rocky relationship with his brother-in-law, his newfound connection with his niece (Klara's daughter --ah, the scenes with uncle and niece connecting and getting to know each other are some of my favorites!), and we get to feel the regret in Daniel for not being there for his younger siblings, especially his brother, Simon. Lastly, we meet an older Varya. Varya was given the greatest outcome from the mysterious woman back when the Gold's were curious children and yet, as an adult, she has become obsessed with the idea of prolonging human life. The novel ends with one Gold sibling alive, yet not having truly lived.

THE IMMORTALISTS poses a lot of questions for the reader. Would you live your life a certain way if you knew how limited your time on earth would be? And if so, what's stopping you from living your life-doing exactly what you want to do, right now, without knowing?

Did this mysterious woman on Hester Street have the sight and powers to see when the Gold's were going to die, or did the power of suggestion, the power of influence, dictate how each sibling lived their life so that their expiration date was completely self-made. A self-fulfilling prophecy that could have been prevented by doing x, y and z.

It's a provoking story that really gives us great characters, each one uniquely beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something to read. With that, I'll end this post with my favorite few lines from this story which so happens to be found in Klara Gold's part.

"Klara won't be a woman who is sawed in half or tied in chains - nor will she be rescued or liberated. She'll save herself. She'll be the saw."

Hell yeah.