THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR - BOOK REVIEW

Title: The Couple Next Door

Author: Shari Lapena

Format: Paperback | Audio Book | E-Book

Pages: 308

Length: 8h7m

Published: 23 August 2016

Publisher: DoubleDay Canada

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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I know I'm late to this party. Let's be real, it's been out in the world for nearly three years and I've just gotten to it now. And I call myself a thriller love - it's embarrassing really. The Couple Next Door has sat quietly on my TBR shelf for far longer than I'd like to admit. The amount of times I've gone to start this book, and then gotten distracted with another is actually outstanding. But, that's one of the reasons why I LOVE Book Clubs, and exactly why this one in particular is one of my favourites - it's more geared towards what's already on our shelves, rather than rushing to the nearest book store for the hottest new release (which, I'll still do anyway).

I picked this one from my shelf, dusted it off and gave myself a mini-refresher by reading the back - which truly didn't divulge anything. Getting far enough into the first chapter and discovering we're actually embarking on an adventure of a missing baby, my heart stopped! As soon as it comes down to a missing child, I'm automatically in MAMA-BEAR MODE. Give it to me in novel form, and I'm like... "who is this MONSTER trying to make me imagine my baby being kidnapped?!". Well, that "monster" is Shari Lapena, and as soon as you see her name on a book, you know you're about ready to start on a ride of your life, filled with more twist and turns than Lombard Street in San Francisco.

There's a special kind of horror when it comes to a missing child. Parent or not, I think anyone can automatically feel something - you know, that stopping of your heart feeling. The whole "I couldn't even imagine what I would do if that were me in that situation" feeling. I think our brains are almost auto-wired to thinking about every parent around us and how horrifying of a situation it would be for you, or them, to ever go through. So of course, leave it to Lepena to dig into your inner psyche, exemplify that fear, and cascade it about one hundred notches in The Couple Next Door.

When Anne and Marco return home from a dinner party next door (yes, right..next..door) to find their six month old baby girl, Cora, gone from her crib all hell breaks loose as we, the reader, rush through the novel to find out Who, What, When, Where, and WHY!

Lapena sets a scene that so quickly hurdles straight into action - no, but actually straight into action. We end up going through so many whirlwinds of emotions trying to remain in one single headspace right from the beginning. At first, I was more TeamMomGroup, thinking to myself, "who the hell leaves their child home alone", am I right? Six months, six years, I couldn't care less. I instinctively thought to myself "there is no way you could catch me next door downing copious amount of wine while my little girl lays sleeping." New mama Anne, despite having done just that, doesn't seem all that comforted by the idea, clutching a baby monitor all night long, and "wonders what the other mothers in her moms' group would think if she ever told them. We left our six-month-old baby home alone and went to a party next door. She imagines all their jaws dropping in shock, the uncomfortable silence." That was me. In that exact moment as our story begins, Anne feeling guilty or not, I was one of those moms in her mom group - jaw dropped, and in shock.

I've read Shari Lapena before, and I've always loved the premises for her novels. And while I do enjoy reading them, I always feel there's something missing. Whether it be in her writing style, or how quickly she tries to get into the action of her thrillers, or something else entirely different, there's some sort of miscommunication in a story so well created. And I always struggle to really love it, no matter how much I like it, which drives me absolutely crazy.

This time, the action is so quickly unfolded that you don't necessarily have the time to truly process the emotions running through your mind, that you have no time to think about what the characters are- or should be, feeling. We've got Detective Rasbach arriving on scene before we can really sense the terror from Mom or Dad that comes with the situation at hand. What makes that worse unfortunately, is that our detective is so little described, that his words and actions almost feel irrelevant throughout the story.

You make it sound like this was planned," Anne says, and unfortunately, it almost felt like Anne was actually speaking to us, the readers, about the story itself. The entire plot must have been carefully outlined, which makes for an excellent foundation. How can anyone write any type of story without a solid foundation to stand on. But what happens with that foundations runs too dry? Every step during Rasbach's investigation is slightly transparent. What's worse, is that it becomes rather dull altogether. Aside from an occasional reference to his personal life here and there, that doesn't actually give us any insight into his character, his steps are both hurried yet slow, leaving us learning almost nothing about the detective who's meant to make up such a necessary part of the story. If it were a deliberate choice to keep Rasbach opaque, it would have been more effective to have him less visible throughout as well. Needless to say, the result would have ended in the same light whether he'd ever even made an appearance. Which at the end of the day, sometimes that happens - it's just how the story is meant to unfold. In this case though, I feel he was to have a larger role than he was given by giving Detective Rasbach so little characteristic to draw us in.

Thankfully though, we do see a much needed turnaround when Lapena takes the focus away from Detective Rasbach and the investigation itself, and starts unfolding the nitty gritty of everyones secrets. One thing is for certain, no matter what secrets Marco and Anne have from the police, their family and friends, and even each other, it's clear that they both love their little girl.

I know exactly what you're thinking - tell me again how much these parents love their child, yet decided to go spend their time with the next door neighbours and leave her home alone? Well I could, but I won't. That's a secret I'll let Lapena divulge into. What she does give away from the very first page though, is something that so many don't necessarily understand: the want, the desire, the necessity of feeling like an adult again when entrapped in early parenthood. She truly does give you a deeper understanding of how difficult it can be for new parents especially, to jump back into a notion of the life they previously had. The want and desire to step away and feel like themselves again, the necessity to relax, all the changes that along with kids - whether it be financial difficulty, emotion struggle, exhaustion - there's always something in the back of our minds, even if we don't want to admit to it. And as much as we all love our children, sometimes, we just need that bit of escape. Granted, I'd make sure I had a sitter ready for such occasions, and if that fell through... well, I'd either be looking for an alternative solution or rescheduling all together.

Just when you think you've figured this book out though, Lapena takes you on another rollercoaster, which in honesty makes the book fall a little flat. You've already gone through a kidnapping, a whirlwind of secrets through so many characters, and yet, the last two chapters changes its focus almost entirely that makes you wonder why it's even part of the story line anymore. In my opinion, it was taken a little over the top in hopes of keeping us full of suspense until the very last page. Unfortunately, all it ends up doing is actually checking you out. By that point, I'd reached a state of mental exhaustion that I couldn't take another hard gripped turn of events, to only be left wondering "well...what now?"

Never the less, The Couple Next Door was certainly a good and quick read for one of my March book clubs. For anyone looking for a bit of thrill and turmoil in their next book, or someone just getting into the suspense genre, Shari Lapena is always a great place to start. Giving The Couple Next Door a 3 star rating. Shari's imagination always has a way of making my mind spin in both a good and bad way.

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Another Book Club pick for March, so what better than sharing the discussion for anyone else currently reading, or going to be reading The Couple Next Door with a buddy or club! Want your very own Readers Guide for you and your book club? Got you covered, boo! Drop a "ME PLEASE 🙋🏻‍♀️" below, and I'll get it to your inbox!

Questions and Topics for Discussion

1. Imagine yourself in Anne’s position—would you have left your infant at home while going next door for dinner? Do you believe Anne is a good mother? How do you define that?

2. Why does Anne stay with Marco, even after everything she’s learned? Would you? Is it possible to build trust again after that type of betrayal?

3. Marco and Richard hate each other. How would each describe the other? Thinking about the way the story ends, how accurate are their opinions?

4. Rasbach says “It’s much easier to make money if you don’t care who you hurt. If you have scruples, it’s much harder to get rich” (p.284). Do you agree?

5. The press hound Anne and Marco, camping outside their door and assaulting them with questions. Do you think these kinds of media circuses are justified in the name of “news”? 

6. At one point, Anne thinks that she killed her own child. Why? Do you believe she’s capable of that? 

7. What was your reaction to the last line of the novel? What did Anne do? What will happen next for Anne and Marco? 

8. What is the title of the novel meant to suggest?