On this week's episode, we take a departure and review a suspense/thriller, A.J. Finn's Woman in the Window.
[00:00:00] Welcome to comfy, cozy a podcast for traditional book enthusiasts
[00:00:08] Etta: [00:00:08] This is episode 34
well, hello Cozers! This is just a quick update before we began. In today's episode, Deb and I will be reviewing AJ Finn’s Woman in the Window. I give a brief disclaimer that it's not very comfy or cozy, so proceed at your own risk.
[00:00:31] Also, we'll be having transcripts of all episodes. A big thank you to last week’ guest Kelly Brackenhoff for pointing out that it would be nice, especially for the deaf community, to make sure that we have transcripts of each episode. Also, it makes us more searchable. And sometimes you just feel like reading.
[00:00:54] books going good. A little stressful right now at work and whatnot.
[00:01:00] Also we've been very sick. Deb and I have been trading colds back and forth, and especially with the kiddos too. I am remarkably stuffy in this episode and probably right now. So, sorry if my voice is a little funny and. Yeah, well, a little bit of a lull before spring.
[00:01:21] I am ready for some warmer weather here in the States and a little bit of breaks here and there. All right, hope everything is good. Hope you enjoy the review and I will see you next Wednesday. Bye bye.
[00:01:50] It doesn't matter. That's exactly what you said before we started recording. I feel like that's a good place to begin. Today, we are looking at woman in the window, by A.J. Finn. So this is a little bit of a departure. Just want to put that out there in front of this episode. So this is more, I would say, of a suspense. Thriller obviously has, you know, some mystery like components, but it's hardly comfy. It's hardly cozy. So this isn't your cup of tea. Go ahead. And fast forward to the next episode, press, press, delete.
Deb: [00:02:29] No, we're interesting. Fine. This is casual dab. I'm sitting here in my robe, um, which is a joke because of the book, which we won't mention, but anyway, um, I, what made you, how did you get this book?
[00:02:46] Um. All our list to read because it's not a cozy thing. And, um, I really liked doing reading something out of the genre that we usually do a little bit. [00:03:00] But how did you come across this and what made you, you know, how did we get here? Yes.
[00:03:08] Etta: [00:03:08] That's going to take a long time. So there was a time in my life where I was an English major and I thought, I'm a reader, you know? I read literary fiction, read high quality novels. Okay. Okay. And so hold on, hold on. I'm getting there. So I signed up for the book of the month club, which is exactly not what someone literary would do. So shush. But that's what I did. And this is a book of the month club book.
[00:03:38] Deb: Oh, so are they usually like new releases and things like that?
[00:03:42] Yeah.
[00:03:42] Etta: [00:03:42] And you have like four or five to pick from there. I think way more expensive than they need to be. I don't know
[00:03:50] Deb: [00:03:50] if that's part of the thing. Yeah. So this is the first novel by this, um, by this author. I thought if I read the, the carer, or [00:04:00] excuse Finn, F, I, N, N, and, um, when you said, Hey, let's just read something different this time I didn't have any expectations.
[00:04:10] I didn't know what, what kind of book it was. And it was really. Um, a surprise on several levels. It's got this black cover with the, it says the woman in the window with these blinds and one of the blinds is bent.
[00:04:27] Etta: [00:04:27] You know, like someone's spying outside.
[00:04:30] Deb: [00:04:30] Yeah.
[00:04:31] Etta: [00:04:31] It says that right where it says woman, like that little woman and spine.
[00:04:36] Deb: [00:04:36] Yeah. But. It kind of in my mind, I put it in the same category, like gone girl and some of those other kinds of suspense “girl”, and, and retrain griller, that kind of stuff
[00:04:49] Etta: [00:04:49] in the window, you know, throw a little, you know, throw a generic lady term into a title and you are,
[00:04:56] Deb: [00:04:56] yeah, there you go. But it was definitely.
[00:04:59] It was [00:05:00] definitely, um, more of a thriller than
[00:05:02] Etta: [00:05:02] a comfy, cozy, a thriller, suspense or sort of nom,
[00:05:07] Deb: [00:05:07] but it wasn't
[00:05:08] Etta: [00:05:08] well reviewed. Super, super well reviewed.
[00:05:11] Deb: [00:05:11] So yeah, there were going to kill a
[00:05:13] Etta: [00:05:13] claim.
[00:05:14] Deb: [00:05:14] There were so many things I liked about this, and then several things I didn't like about this.
[00:05:22] Etta: [00:05:22] Good things. Okay.
[00:05:24] Deb: [00:05:24] Okay. Well, first of all, this, this story. Um, the way that she has it laid out, she's got these, most of the chapters are relatively short, and it takes place from October 24th through November 15th of some unknown year. And so there's, it talks about everything that's happening that day. But I got confused because there's mentions of.
[00:05:49] Pass cause you
[00:05:50] Etta: [00:05:50] don't do faces.
[00:05:51] Deb: [00:05:51] Faces are too confused. Well I, I got real confused about the time and all this all the time through the, through the book I was [00:06:00] pitching this old lady in a robe with some issues. It turns out she's only like 39 I was really, you know, I could not the time sequencing of, I had a hard time knowing when is she talking about something in the past and is this something today I
[00:06:20] Etta: [00:06:20] was going to flee done.
[00:06:21] I'm kind of given the challenges of the main character, you know, the days were starting to blend together. So she, she's a shut-in. Um, for reasons that become apparent later in the novel. And I thought that was really, really well done. And you know, this, she, she's the classic unreliable narrator, and you can't trust us things she's saying the whole time.
[00:06:44] And, you know, it gets to the point where she's starting to not trust herself. And
[00:06:48] Deb: [00:06:48] yeah, it was, it was really, really well written. This author writes really well. I liked the way that the, the structure of, of how things were except for the fact that I [00:07:00] couldn't figure it out. But, um, I also liked every little detail somehow fit into the story somewhere along the line, even when she's talking about some detail about the inside of her house.
[00:07:13] Or something. And I, you know, I'm thinking, Oh, she's just kind of talking. But no, those things kind of play a role. It was really everything linked together. It was well thought out. Um, and, um, the other thing that I really, really liked, um, was okay, so I thought I had a few figured out. And then. I thought I had it figured out again, and then I thought I had it figured out three times and I was wrong.
[00:07:46] So it's one of those things where you, you're really wondering what is going on and you come up with things and she'll lead you down one road and you . Kind of think you're, you've got [00:08:00] everything makes sense and lined up. And then I was wrong three times. I mean, I'm wrong a lot in my life, but I'm just saying, you know, this one really had me.
[00:08:11] Yup. Had me wondering what was going on. But the best thing I liked about this book, towards the end, I could not put it down the last a hundred pages. It was, I just stayed up all night. I just had to read it. I just had to read it. I could not it was really
[00:08:29] Etta: [00:08:29] good filler for sure. Um, yeah, it's certainly had a few red herrings and you know, just like, like any thriller, really, any mystery.
[00:08:38] Yeah. It pulls you one direction, you know, quite intentionally. And then in the polls, you the other way, and what I liked about this book the most. Is it had this, this sort of side mystery of what's happened to her family, and I felt like that was fairly obvious from the, from the beginning, not really the ins and outs and details, but you know the context.
[00:09:00] [00:08:59] Deb: [00:08:59] Something's happened because she's become, she's an agoraphobic. That's not really like she is housebound. Something happened to her. We don't know what it was. And you get bits and pieces throughout the book, but she became
[00:09:15] Etta: [00:09:15] housebound, but yeah, yeah, exactly. Like so, you know, it was something, something big and you're pretty sure what it, what it is kind of the whole time.
[00:09:23] And then there's this underlying mystery with, with, with, you know, her neighbors and a neighbor's gone missing and she's not quite sure, you know, if she believes herself or someone's in trouble, and she's battling, trying to go out and investigate or not. And that's really the heart of it. But it was this nice, you know, kind of juxtapose of like, Oh, this is obvious.
[00:09:45] You know, like, I'm enjoying this book, but it's not that. It's not that mystery, you know? Like, yeah, like you're not fooling me. And then everything else kind of, and kind of throws.
[00:10:06] But um, you know, I don't know why you're housebound. At first I thought she was really old. I don't know why. You are always on the internet and I don't know why you're always spying on your neighbors.
[00:10:19] Etta: [00:10:19] Who isn’t it always on the internet? And what about the internet is not literally spying on your fellow man?
[00:10:25] Deb: [00:10:25] Well, okay. She's, she's always talking about in her bathrobe. She's always roaming around the house, but she's housebound in a row. All of them have an, apparently every inch of her floor has Merlot stains. She and you quickly figure out minutes. She's a drinker. She's got problems there and she stays in and she does these weird things, but she's seen where things with her neighbors and you know, you don't.
[00:10:55] You don't really know what her deal is. Why I keep thinking, [00:11:00] Hey lady, you're educated. I think you know, um, you're supposed to be, you know, how is it that you're, you're so educated in, you know?
[00:11:19] But you know, you're in no position to be giving medical advice. Yeah. But you know, apparently she lives in some kind of bathrobe drinking Merlot and she must have a ship from Amazon cause she's on the internet a lot.
[00:11:34] Etta: [00:11:34] I think she needs a certain
[00:11:36] Deb: [00:11:36] day. I feel like this is
[00:11:38] Etta: [00:11:38] where our future is going.
[00:11:39] Everyone's going to stay inside, get their groceries and goods delivered. Well, it's a
[00:11:46] Deb: [00:11:46] little bit odd. Um, first of all, she needs a sippy cup. Definitely because I don't know how many times we were reminded of a spill cause she's always, you know,
[00:11:58] Etta: [00:11:58] she also takes a lot [00:12:00] of, you know, anxiolytics today.
[00:12:01] Antipsychotics.
[00:12:02] Deb: [00:12:02] Yeah. She's mixing and matching
[00:12:04] Etta: [00:12:04] pretty heavily
[00:12:05] Deb: [00:12:05] and she doesn't seem to get, take any, you know, any regard to what the instructions are for the meds and begin. If you're a medical professional, you should know better.
[00:12:15] Etta: [00:12:15] But at the same time, I mean that's like. That's what abuse is, you know, that's what escapism is.
[00:12:20] That's, that's what all of those things are. Um, but I, I could see for a lot of readers, um, you know, that being kind of, you know, triggering and harmful, I mean, much like a girl on the train, um, you know, alcoholism is definitely glamorized. And so that could be,
[00:12:38] Deb: [00:12:38] yeah. Or, yeah, that was, that was kind of odd to me, but, you know, and there were a couple of times when I thought, well, you know, she, she could, she, there was a couple of times where she should have called the police earlier.
[00:12:53] She, when she knew something and you know, um, she, she didn't call when she should, but then, [00:13:00] you know, I mean, she
[00:13:02] Etta: [00:13:02] didn't feel like we do like. Oh, don't go in there. I feel like she had very valid reasons to, to feel like the police when take her concerns seriously. Cause she's probably, yeah. But when
[00:13:17] Deb: [00:13:17] she got, probably when she does get proof first for one of the things she could have and then she didn't.
[00:13:23] And I'm thinking, you just put yourself, you know, in a, I going up to the dark basement kind of, you know, after the attic, you know what it was that kind of mentality. Um, but, and then another thing is, um, I wasn't sure of her age at this point, but, uh, at one point I thought, lady, don't you worry about VD or pregnancy, you know?
[00:13:45] Um, I mean, there's, apparently she wasn't on those meds or we would have heard about it. Huh? You know what
[00:13:54] Etta: [00:13:54] is strange is I'm not really quite sure what you're alluding to, and I hope we read this
[00:14:01] [00:14:00] Deb: [00:14:01] well. I don't really like some
[00:14:03] Etta: [00:14:03] Fabio cover book.
[00:14:06] Deb: [00:14:06] And I'm here. That cover
[00:14:11] Etta: [00:14:11] looks nice where she can,
[00:14:14] Deb: [00:14:14] no, there was one, I don't want to give any spoilers, but you know, she does have, you know, one little following and I'm like, well, there
[00:14:23] Etta: [00:14:23] may or may not be an element of romance.
[00:14:25] Deb: [00:14:25] Okay. I do know I do going on, and even even in her past life, the apparently so narrow assured, but anyway, I thought I couldn't, I couldn't quite, I don't know how to categorize this lady. I mean, she's just, she's just got issues. Do you think
[00:14:43] Etta: [00:14:43] you and Anna would be friends in real life?
[00:14:47] Deb: [00:14:47] New. Never one,
[00:14:49] Etta: [00:14:49] not even over the
[00:14:50] Deb: [00:14:50] internet.
[00:14:54] Deb: [00:14:54] Okay. All people, all people who are listening get curtains. There [00:15:00] are weirder weirdos out there looking in your window. They have nothing to do except we're, you know, taking pictures of your comings and goings and things. Yeah. Just shut your blinds. You may think you're not interesting, but apparently there are weirdos like this out in the real world.
[00:15:19] You think you are very
[00:15:20] Etta: [00:15:20] interesting. It's like a, what is it? The the, how was that Alfred Hitchcock thing where he's looking out the window.
[00:15:50] Deb: [00:15:50] I might have talked to her maybe on the internet, but. I think, [00:16:00] um, at some point. I don't think she was my type to hang around with on the internet. And she's so, so she, she runs this, that she participates in this agoraphobic little group thing where she fancies herself some kind of counselor to everybody on the internet.
[00:16:19] And I would like to say. The lesson is don't take advice from random weirdos on the internet. They're just out there. You don't know if they're real doctors. You don't know what they're doing. You don't know that they're home in a bathrobe spilling their Merlot taking pictures of their neighbors… complete psychopath.
[00:16:41] And you know, here you are thinking, Oh, she's so nice. She's giving me this great advice. Uh. Anyway, it just made me, it made me really, um, in forced the, you should be skeptic if you're, um, of skeptical of all these people on the internet.
[00:16:59] Etta: [00:16:59] Stranger danger [00:17:00] on the internet is a real thing.
[00:17:01] Deb: [00:17:01] Yeah. Yeah. And she's out there, you know, there's people like that out there.
[00:17:06] Yeah. Well, you know, and then, uh, you know, you never know, um, from your neighbors, you know. Well,
[00:17:16] Etta: [00:17:16] now that we've scared all of the coasters into not loving their neighbors and being terrified,
[00:17:22] Deb: [00:17:22] are you
[00:17:23] Etta: [00:17:23] going to read more thrillers or are you coming back to
[00:17:25] Deb: [00:17:25] come once in a while? I think it's nice to break things up.
[00:17:29] Um, you know, the, the comfy cozies are, are just,
[00:17:34] Etta: [00:17:34] that's our brand.
[00:17:35] Deb: [00:17:35] That's our brand and they're comfortable and stuff. But I mean, every once in a while I like to read. All kinds of different books. And I was really happy to, you know, to get out there and read this one cause it was really good.
[00:17:47] Etta: [00:17:47] So what made this not what, whenever you, whenever condescending term you like to use for cozies mind, candy, brain candy, what made this, not
[00:17:57] Deb: [00:17:57] that the fact that I [00:18:00] could not put it down and I was worried.
[00:18:03] I mean, I was anxious. Yeah. And you know, and I knew that something I don't like reading about bad things that have happened is really
[00:18:13] Etta: [00:18:13] kale for you.
[00:18:14] Deb: [00:18:14] Um, probably, Oh mm. I'm trying to think.
[00:18:23] Etta: [00:18:23] Something like mine mashed potatoes. It wasn't sweet. Definitely not good for you.
[00:18:29] Deb: [00:18:29] Well, I, it was just interesting because, um, it's one of those things, if you like the movies where you like to be scared.
[00:18:38] Yeah. And I don't, this book spooked me a little bit.
[00:18:42] Etta: [00:18:42] I would've read the, as I, I think you're very brave. I read it in the middle of the day.
[00:18:46] Deb: [00:18:46] Yeah, I bet. But I really liked it, but Oh, you know, I'll tell you, I was stumped three times and it was clever. I have to admit that, you know, it was artfully done. And you know, I mean, [00:19:00] yeah, I think.
[00:19:01] There's several things in here that just didn't add up for me as far as the character or the internet and the crazy neighbors and everything else. But, um, it was definitely fun for a change.
[00:19:13] Etta: [00:19:13] It was, and, and we had lots of changes going on. Greg and I bought a new house. You have a new house. Everyone's moving around.
[00:19:21] Deb: [00:19:21] I don't want to move. I'm
[00:19:22] Etta: [00:19:22] tired. I know. We're on like a TV trays in the middle of a living room.
[00:19:27] Deb: [00:19:27] I know. But it's too snowy to have my, have any more furniture moved from this house to that house, to another house. So
[00:19:37] Etta: [00:19:37] true.
[00:19:37] Deb: [00:19:37] But anyway, we're getting his word or getting there, but thank you for recommending this and be sure and get curtains to Aaron blinds in all of your houses and your windows because there could be a lady in a bath row drinking Merlot.
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