Review: Watching You

Watching You by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In Watching You, Lisa Jewell took me to the nice neighbourhood of Melville Heights, where everything looks just perfect, but there are a lot of secrets and mysteries. The idea of a community, everybody watching, and nobody actually being what they seem to be, put me in its grip as I read this novel. Although the story did have some exciting parts, at the end it gave me the feeling of some disappointment.

The narrative follows Tom Fitzwilliam, the likeable head of the local school, who gets to be an object of passion for his latest neighbour, Joey Mullen. Joey’s crush on Tom is complicated by the keen observations of his son, Freddie, a teenager with aspirations of becoming a spy. Meanwhile, one of Tom's students, Jenna, starts to feel suspicion regarding the kind of man her teacher really is. This happens amidst her mother slowly deteriorating mental condition, and suspicion hurls regarding the possibility of Tom stalking them.

Jewell is good with the tense atmosphere, and the interrelations among the characters are interestingly interwoven. She combines the views of Joey, Freddie, and Jenna in order to give the reader a close view of what is happening. Actually, it is the obsession with love and friendship which connects this book, actually reflecting the fickle nature of the human relationship.

However, even with such a stellar start, I found the book uneven, pace-wise. While the first half of the book did a pretty decent job of building tension, the second half felt rushed, especially toward the climax. The big reveal of the overarching mystery did not come as a surprise, and I wish it had been more emotionally charged than it was. I wanted to know more about the motivations, especially those of Tom, who, through the diary entries, seemed to have a much darker history than what was let on.

Generally speaking, Watching You is quite an interesting book, entertaining me very much despite the fact that most of the plot twists were anticipated. Of course, the reader who is in need of a thriller with much character development and emotional sides may not find this satisfying. I recommend this book for the readers who love a light mystery with a little drama.

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