Blog Tour & Review: The Watchful Neighbour by Debbie Viggiano
Publisher: Unicorn Publishing
Publish Date: December 7, 2020
Kindle Edition
Standalone
Genre: Psychological Thriller
My Review:
Ummmm.... I really don't know where to start with this one. Insane characters ✔ Creepy neighbor ✔ Mystery shenanigans ✔... all things that I love. But sadly, this one didn't work for me for a lot of reasons. It starts off completely bananas... and I LOVE me some bananas! But then it just goes sideways and I don't think a perplexed look left my face for the first 75% and then I just got angry.
The main character, Jade, is completely unlikable - and as y'all know, I love to hate on characters... but she is absolutely vile, a total bitch to everyone and if she "mentally punched the air" one more time I was going to scream. A couple of examples: she "wanted independence" so with some financial help from her parents, got her own home 🤨. Then doesn't cook because food is just a necessity that she doesn't derive any pleasure from (ok, ok, that one's not bad, I just disagree 😉). It honestly hurt to be in her head. So, luckily we also get the POVs of some of the other characters... and they're all a bit whack-a-doodle themselves. Now, you're probably going to ask why I didn't DNF... well, admittedly, I DO love me some crazy and I'll suspend all the belief if it's insane in the membrane in the best way. Hear me? ... sigh.
Unfortunately the dialogue was bad, the whole story felt disjointed. We never get back to a certain part of Jade's personality that I feel needed to be addressed. The timeline of a certain relationship just felt unreal and forced. The only character I felt bad for was Puddles, Jade's cat. And then, I still waited. Waited for what surely will be a psychotic ending that will leave me satisfied. Right? SURELY?! Nope.... I got left hanging and then punched in the face with an epilogue that was highly unnecessary... though I understand "why not add THIS sour cherry on top of this weird ass sundae".
Look, I'll likely be the minority in this. And if you like completely insane thrillers with a lot of WTF, then this will absolutely be the read for you. It is chock full of these moments. And honestly, please do read this so I have someone to discuss this with. 😏
Prior to turning her attention to writing, Debbie Viggiano was, for more years than she cares to remember, a legal secretary. She lives with her Italian husband, a rescued pooch from Crete, and a very disgruntled cat. Occasionally her adult children return home bringing her much joy... apart from when they want to raid the fridge or eat her secret stash of chocolate.
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