My Thoughts
OMG. What the freak did I read!! If you think Woman Down by Colleen Hoover was a romance or thriller or even some kind of romantic suspense, you are sadly mistaken. This was a cringe fest from first page to last. I was super creeped out. And I still am.
This book was some kind of graphic extra marital affair that came about when a writer’s block afflicted author, the main character Petra, announced on social media she wanted to experience all that her characters would go through in a love affair triangle. Including a kidnapping scene.
Loosely based on some of the Author Colleen Hoover’s own personal life, this book was pure taboo romance, serving the trope of cheating, until about 80% when it decided it should at least pretend to act like a thriller.
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What I Liked
I liked the vulnerability Petra showed initially. That pulled me toward her. I felt she was honest about her previous debacle on social media and didn’t shy away her present apprehension or even the writer’s block that kept her from writing. She showed how the vitriolic words of her readers affected authors. Though I understood where she was coming from, but my words on this review could not be stopped.
Trying to pull me in with the words “twisty thriller” written in the blurb while giving me cheating sex scenes is called cheating thriller readers. If this book was categorized as dark romance or taboo romance, I would have understood because I wouldn’t have spent my time and money in getting this book.
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What I Disliked
I kept hoping for a tendril of suspense to wrap me in its intriguing arms and turn me inside out – thrilling me – but all it did was warp my insides, churning my stomach and grossing me out.
This was not a thriller. All my thriller writers would cringe if they read this book. This was not even good romance. All this story did was glorify cheating and making it erotic and sexy. The main characters even excused their behaviors, calling it research. No siree. This was no research, just your on-the-go infidelity.
The first 80% of the book had the main characters indulging in graphic sex in various places, where even the appearance of the husband didn’t manage to slow them down. Of course, Petra did make her usual excuses, pretending she was scared and angry, then scared, then angry, yet couldn’t seem to stay away from the hero. Maybe those lines when she supposedly was scared was what this author and her fans would call thrilling. I would say – eeeeuuuu. NOOOOO.
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Would I recommend?
What do you think? Would I recommend this book? Not even in my nightmares. It gave me nightmares.
If you wanted to know how it felt to cheat your husband and then run around like a headless chook, scared at the idea of being found out by your husband, yet continue to cheat till the last page, go for it.
The blurb called this a twisty thriller, I called it a cringy affair. Stay away. Stay far, far away, thriller readers.
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Level Up Your Book with My Beta Reading Services
Speaking of gripping books, this is exactly what I help authors achieve through my beta reading services. I know what makes a book work – those vivid landscapes, the pulse-spiking thrill, and characters that leap off the page and into your heart. Having analyzed countless books like this one, I offer both beta reading and developmental feedback that helps authors polish their manuscripts into stories that readers can’t put down. Woman Down certainly needed honest beta reader like me to convert it into a “twisty thriller.”
If you’re working on your book and want to create stories that give readers book hangovers, let’s connect for a beta reading session.
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meet nila
Hi. I am
Nila
Beta reader, book editor, Pinterest manager, Showit VA
I’m a beta reader and book editor and PA for authors, specializing in story clarity and developmental feedback. I run a sustainable online business that keeps working for me 24/7.
Along with this, I offer Pinterest management for overwhelmed creatives and entrepreneurs and set up and customize Showit templates when the tech side gets too overwhelming.
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