CONTENT WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MENTION OF ABUSE AND STALKING
Title: I'll Be Watching You
Author: Charles De Lint
Pages: 31/351
Finished: Stopped on July 18, 2019
First Sentence: A thunderstorm was raging in Rachel Sorensen's sleep.
Summary: (from back of book) Rachel Sorensen feared she would never escape her ex-husband's abuse. Then a passing stranger came to her rescue - a stranger who had watched her from afar.
He was a photographer, and Rachel was his perfect subject. He lived only to make her happy - and eliminate those who didn't.
Now he wants more than her beauty. She owes him her life - and he means to collect.
He was a photographer, and Rachel was his perfect subject. He lived only to make her happy - and eliminate those who didn't.
Now he wants more than her beauty. She owes him her life - and he means to collect.
Thoughts: I did not finish this one, not because it was bad, but because it was just too dark for me. De Lint wrote a number of books under the pseudonym Samuel Keyes. The purpose for this, as he explains in the introduction, is that the books are super dark and quite different from his normal affair. By using the pseudonym, his fans would be able to self select books for themselves before reading them. Those who didn't want to read the darker ones would be able to tell without getting mired into plot.
And this one is dark. Super dark. Not bad. Just dark.
In 31 pages, we meet four main characters:
Rachel - the main character who escaped from her abusive husband. Fully realized within a couple paragraphs. Also, her flashbacks are super disturbing. She also mentions something about how it doesn't matter what you wear as a woman. You're still going to get catcalled. Book was written in 1994 and it's still a thing today.
Lily - Rachel's best friend. When we meet her, she's in the middle of lecturing her boyfriend about how women can't "just get out" of an abusive relationship. It's a discussion that you could still have today and doesn't feel out of place.
Frank - Rachel's abusive ex-husband. His chapters are awful. How he views women... just makes your skin crawl.
Unnamed savior - hasn't saved Rachel yet, but he's absolutely disgusting. Clearly sees women as property. Just awful awful person. Made me sick to my stomach.
So my impression, the characterizations are fantastic. Gross and ugly, but fantastic. If the quality is of De Lint's normal books, this is probably a great book. It's just not one I'm interested in reading. So I'm going to count this one as read and strike it off the list of Newford books to read.
And this one is dark. Super dark. Not bad. Just dark.
In 31 pages, we meet four main characters:
Rachel - the main character who escaped from her abusive husband. Fully realized within a couple paragraphs. Also, her flashbacks are super disturbing. She also mentions something about how it doesn't matter what you wear as a woman. You're still going to get catcalled. Book was written in 1994 and it's still a thing today.
Lily - Rachel's best friend. When we meet her, she's in the middle of lecturing her boyfriend about how women can't "just get out" of an abusive relationship. It's a discussion that you could still have today and doesn't feel out of place.
Frank - Rachel's abusive ex-husband. His chapters are awful. How he views women... just makes your skin crawl.
Unnamed savior - hasn't saved Rachel yet, but he's absolutely disgusting. Clearly sees women as property. Just awful awful person. Made me sick to my stomach.
So my impression, the characterizations are fantastic. Gross and ugly, but fantastic. If the quality is of De Lint's normal books, this is probably a great book. It's just not one I'm interested in reading. So I'm going to count this one as read and strike it off the list of Newford books to read.
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