molly lou's Reviews > The Intruder

⁀➷ 2.5 stars ₊ ⊹

This is the third thriller I’ve ever read so I’m not claiming to be an expert on the genre by any means but there wasn’t really anything… thrilling. No spine tingles. This felt more like a psychological drama with heavy domestic themes. Which totally worked in its own right, but wasn’t what I was expecting.

Despite this, the mystery element was pretty compelling. The beginning didn’t fully grab me, but the more things ramped up, the more questions I had and the more gripped I got.

Another successful aspect was its alternating timelines. I can be a bit hard to please when it comes to dual narratives as I end up having a preference for one perspective over the other, but it actually worked well in this. The level of frustration over chapter cliffhangers was pretty perfect - not too many to thoroughly enrage me, but just enough to keep the ball rolling.

However, I was still never truly WOWED. The suspense and shock factor were too tame, and I’m not the biggest fan of how everything played out at the end. Freida’s attempts at making everything link together was at the expense of making sense. Overall not terrible but not particularly memorable either.

I’d recommend to those after a character-focused psychological fiction with emotional depth rather than a thriller to keep you on the edge of your seat. I wish I could have gone in with different expectations!

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

⁀➷ pre read ₊ ⊹
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ⤿ I’ve only read one Freida McFadden book before (Never Lie) and found it bingeable but thought the plot twist was underwhelming so I’m hoping the one in this is better. If all else fails at least it’ll be a quick, easy read🤞🏻.