The Window by Amelia Brunskill
- Genre: Mystery/ teen fiction
- Average rating on GoodReads: 3.77
- My rating: 2 out of 5
I can’t classify this book as a thriller because absolutely no part of reading it thrilled me.
Plot Summary
The novel is narrated by Jess Cutter, a 15-year-old high school sophomore whose twin sister, Anna, was recently found dead on the ground outside her bedroom window.
Although the author never clearly states this, Jess is clearly a less-than-completely-healthy child, and seems to either have Asperger’s or some other form of mild autism. As we progress through the story, there are multiple situations that highlight Jess’s social awkwardness and overall struggle to fit in— but I don’t mean that in your typical high-school-outcast kind of way.
With that said, Anna was Jess’s polar opposite, at least as far as social skills are concerned. While Jess kept to herself and spent every night at home in her bedroom, Anna started making friends with a new crowd, and was sneaking out to see them on a regular basis— something her family knew nothing about until, of course, Anna was gone.
Though the local police had ruled Anna’s death as an accident, determining she’d fallen from her window while sneaking out, Jess has a gut feeling there’s more to the story… and she starts investigating on her own to find out what really happened to her sister.
My Thoughts And Rating
Obviously, I never buy books unless I think they have potential, so as you could guess, I had high hopes for Brunskill’s The Window.
Sidenote: Make sure you check out my July 2019 Book Haul if you haven’t seen it already!
Unfortunately, though, I could tell within the first few pages of this book that I’d made an error in judgement— aside from the writing being lackluster, I found the story to be too slow-moving, which is almost an accomplishment within itself, given that this novel is only 336 pages long.
To be fair, I do have to admit the plot twist was pretty satisfying, and the little details that unfolded as the story reached its climax definitely helped make this read a pleasant one. I just think the writing could have been more polished, and I also need to mention that whoever proofread this book should seriously consider another career choice (so many missing words, typos, and grammatical errors!).
All in all, I’m giving this book 2 out of 5 stars. I don’t recommend it, and I’ll probably steer clear of other titles from Amelia Brunskill, at least for now.
