The Other People

On reflection and balance, this is another winner from Tudor with the same rich narrative and creepy undertone. I didn't enjoy it quite like I did her previous books and found myself drifting off at points. I didn't feel much of a connection with the characters until the latter part of the story, which is a shame. But the pace did pick up and I ultimately enjoyed how things came together.

I listened to the audiobook and found the pacing to be really good at 1.5x speed. I saw a lot of criticism that this book was boring, so perhaps the format I chose to consume it helped it be more engaging to me. I liked that the paranormal element was introduced early on, and I felt compelled to keep listening because I cared about the characters. I appreciated that everything wasn't saved as a reveal at the end too. Figuring out the connections and who people were didn't hinder my enjoyment either, since the story wasn't relying on the shock of those reveals. I really appreciated that.

I would have liked a little more explanation of the paranormal stuff and feel like it was missing a lot. It felt very surface level and like something more was waiting to be revealed that ultimately never was. I also don't love writing that says super obvious stuff like it's profound, like “Parents love their children and will do anything for them.” Yeah, we know. The end was pretty cheesy too.

All in all, I think this was a really good book with just a couple things that didn't work fully for me. I'll definitely check out more by C.J. Tudor.

2/5 stars

Overall this thriller was underwhelming. I was intrigued and hooked in the beginning but it was very slow paced in the middle. I wasn't really thrilled with the ending but I think it could have been a lot worse of a twist. At some parts I was also a bit confusing with the different storylines but they connected quite well. The “is it supernatural or not” aspect was really intriguing in the beginning. I listened to the audiobook and it was mediocre.

This thriller was a fine one but it is very forgettable in my opinion and I doubt I'll remember the twist in a couple of weeks from now.