Review #14 – The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

I’d had this book on my TBR list for quite sometime, and when I finally saw a good deal on it, did not waste any time in picking it up! Ever since it was published, The Girl Before seems to have got some pretty rave reviews across the readers’ communities. It’s also the first book by this author I guess.

So, the summary & image are like this :

“Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life.

The request seems odd, even intrusive—and for the two women who answer, the consequences are devastating.

Emma
Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass, and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant—and it does.
Jane
After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street she is instantly drawn to the space—and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home’s previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people, and experiences the same terror, as the girl before.“

This story, while alternating between two narratives (from Emma who’s the first tenant & Jane who’s the current one) gives an intriguing view into their lives, their reasons behind choosing this particular flat as their place of residence.

Now, it’s certainly not an ordinary apartment. Built by Edward Monkford, an attractive, slightly bizarre behaving architect who get high on power & control. He also keenly advocates the minimalistic style of living through this apartment. Its more than state of the art, it’s almost futuristic. If you want to understand Internet of Things (IoT) better, than this book will surely be a good beginner’s course! 😉

1, Folgate Street includes many interesting features , for eg – the complete control of the house is inbuilt through a mobile app. The shower automatically recognizes who’s stepping & according to their preferences, it changes the water temperature/flow style settings etc, the security is top-notch

So, Emma & her boyfriend Simon occupy this place first. Simon, being a slightly insecure boyfriend get a little worried about the charms of Edward taking their effect on Emma (rightly so!). Emma, has recently been a victim of nasty trauma at her own previous residence & has still not recovered completely from the after-shocks of it.

What happens to them in this house? How does Emma gradually fall into the so-called “temptor” Edward & is it a bad thing? Why did she end up getting killed at foot of the stairs inside this house?

All this starts getting uncovered by the next tenant – Jane. She also, goes through a detailed interview with Edward (as did the previous occupants) before she is granted the approval to occupy this flat.

Jane, has also suffered a recent personal trauma/loss, and is quite weak at the moment. Naturally, she also falls prey to Edward’s attractive & controlling personality. But, she inadvertently comes into contact with Simon (late Emma’s boyfriend) quite early into her occupancy, and from there-on she becomes a pseudo Nancy Drew & digs more and more info about her predecessors.

So, what does she discover? And inspite of the top-notch security system, is she really safe at 1 , Folgate street? You’ll have to read this book to find out 🙂

Hmm, well, it’s been sometime since I finished this book. But this story left me with so many unanswered questions which I kept pondering over before writing this review. Still no luck, am afraid :S

First of all, this feels like a cross between 50 shades of Grey & a detective thriller. Certainly engaging yes. but also makes you quite annoyed at both the MCs. Are they really that desperate AND / OR dumb? A guy is behaving so damn weird, and has a hundred and twenty rules about staying in his house – Why would you even bother giving him the time of the day? :S

Assuming you get your head to move over this point, the house does manage to keep your fascination level with the amount of info put in about it. Mind you, it does not turn too creepy even though the author tries his level best to make that happen!

Each of these main characters – Emma, Edward, Jane & even Simon are shown to have multiple levels of gray in their characters. There are some twists in the plot, which I certainly didn’t anticipate!

But, to call it a spine chilling thriller, would be a bit over-dramatic. It’s a good read, but do not go in expecting far too much! I would peg it at some level of “dormant thriller” 😀

What works –

1. I loved the description about the house  which goes on and on at places. That maybe coz am quite enthu about IoT, you see! 😛
2. The starting to mid part of this book is quite good. When the alternating narratives are building up between past and the present (Emma & Jane), it’s almost like a movie.
3. No-one is straight forward in this. I love such stories where nothing or no-one is in black or white!

 

What doesn’t –

1. Again, I had a problem with this story’s ending. Somehow, it felt as if the author did not quite know how to tie up everything together & was in a rush to end the book.
2. For all his faults, Edward’s character was not justified at the end (Can’t risk saying more at this point!)