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A review by chantaal
His & Hers by Alice Feeney
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
DNF @ 27% on audio. I'm sorry Richard Armitage, but not even you could save this for me.
The thrills of this entire thing rest on the author doing her best to write in a way that deliberately keeps information from the reader in a very awkward, infuriating way. Everything is "but not since the last time" or "ever since it happened", that drives me NUTS. It's one thing to do so sparingly to up the tension at certain moments, but this happens from the beginning and it's about everything. EVERYTHING.
I had to stop when I realized I spent 15 minutes of my commute in this manner about Anna visiting her MOTHER. 3-4 chapters of Him and Her back and forth for the same events from each perspective, but it starts with "she hadn't seen <i>her</i> in months" or "he knew what [Anna] would find behind that door". Spoiler alert: Anna's mother has dementia and her childhood home was a rundown mess because of it. Which you knew if you took two seconds to think about it but it's treated like some secretive, <i>thrilling</i> reveal!
On top of that, it's OBVIOUS that both Jack and Anna (Him and Her of the title) have big secrets relating to the murder victim and maybe the murder itself, but the way things are dropped is just so infuriating. It's like the characters KNOW that they're being written from a first person perspective and thus won't think about any details to obfuscate the narrative on purpose.
The thrills of this entire thing rest on the author doing her best to write in a way that deliberately keeps information from the reader in a very awkward, infuriating way. Everything is "but not since the last time" or "ever since it happened", that drives me NUTS. It's one thing to do so sparingly to up the tension at certain moments, but this happens from the beginning and it's about everything. EVERYTHING.
I had to stop when I realized I spent 15 minutes of my commute in this manner about Anna visiting her MOTHER. 3-4 chapters of Him and Her back and forth for the same events from each perspective, but it starts with "she hadn't seen <i>her</i> in months" or "he knew what [Anna] would find behind that door". Spoiler alert: Anna's mother has dementia and her childhood home was a rundown mess because of it. Which you knew if you took two seconds to think about it but it's treated like some secretive, <i>thrilling</i> reveal!
On top of that, it's OBVIOUS that both Jack and Anna (Him and Her of the title) have big secrets relating to the murder victim and maybe the murder itself, but the way things are dropped is just so infuriating. It's like the characters KNOW that they're being written from a first person perspective and thus won't think about any details to obfuscate the narrative on purpose.
Graphic: Alcoholism and Murder
Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual content