Book: The Memory Watcher
Author: Minka Kent
Pages: 429
Read On: Kindle
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Plot Summary: Press, tap, refresh...
When Autumn Carpenter stumbles upon the social media account of the family who adopted her infant daughter years ago, she finds herself instantly drawn into their picture-perfect existence.
From behind a computer screen, Autumn watches Grace's every memory, from birthdays to holidays to bedtime snuggles. But what starts as an innocent fascination soon spirals into an addictive obsession that comes to a screeching halt the day the McMullen family closes their Instaface account without so much as a warning.
Frantic and desperate to reconnect with her daughter, Autumn applies for a nanny position with the McMullens, manipulating herself into Grace's life under false pretenses. And it's only then that Autumn discovers pictures lie, the perfect family doesn't exist, and beautiful people? They have the ugliest secrets.
General Thoughts: I read this book back in April or May...I am not entirely sure but I loved it and all these months later I find myself thinking about it, so I had to review it and recommend it to you guys!
Things I Liked:
1. I really liked the writing. The book was well-written and fantastically paced. I never felt bored or disinterested in the happenings of this book. It kept my interest piqued at all times. I cannot wait to read more from this author!
2. There are so many things that are so incredibly relatable in this book. For one the stalking, of course, I don't mean all of us are stalkers. No, I should hope not. But let's be honest..aren't we all a little bit guilty on snooping on someones social media. Haven't we all at some point or another lurked on someone's Instagram or Twitter and not engaged with them at all, just snooped on their updates. I know I have. So to have a book talking about this tendency...and taking it really far was a wholly relatable and enjoyable experience.
3. The one thing I dislike a whole lot about social media is just how curated it is. I don't pretend to be holier than thou and say that I don't curate my online life..but I do try to keep things real and honest. I loved, LOVED that this book showed how some one portray an idealised version of themselves, versions that are sometimes so far removed from the truth and versions that are just fake and immensely doctored, and they do all of this just to show themselves and their lives in a better light.
4. I love Instagram. TBH, I am pretty addicted to it. I love sharing my life and my thoughts and snippets of my world through this app. I also like seeing other people's world through it. I loved reading a book about this app..called Instaface here. I like when facets of our everyday life are mentioned in books, which sadly doesn't happen enough. I don't know why most contemporary books don't mention social media on them?!
5. A very important lesson in this book is to beware and aware of the certain risks of social media and sharing your life online, you just don't know who is on the other side of the screen and who is watching your content and keeping tabs on your life and on you and your loved ones. It's scary right? To think about someone getting obsessed with you and watching your every move on social media! EEK!
6. The other aspect of this book that is highly relatable is mothers who share their lives and the lives of their children online. Mommy bloggers if you will, for the lack of a better term. I have seen so many of them share everyday moments and cute pictures of their children all over the internet. Whether this is safe or not is whole other conversation! But I do think so many of these 'candid' moments are so staged! I love that this book highlighted this.
Grace is a mother who is overwhelmed and is frankly struggling with running a home and keeping her children under control, yet she shares a very different take on it all on her Instaface. She omits the tantrum throwing but shows a calm and smiling child and makes it seem like she is a supermom. Her entire persona is so curated and honestly quite fake and dishonest. This was shown so well in this book! I found myself nodding along and shaking my head so many times while reading this book.
7. Autumn is pretty shady, of course she is. She is actively stalking Grace and her family and is beyond obsessed! She even inserts herself in their life, which is just so creepy! Yet there is something so human about her. She is still someone you find liking and the author did a fantastic job of writing this complicated and vulnerable character.
8. Grace's married life was another thing I enjoyed reading about, the anatomy of a marriage that is going through a rough patch always makes for a good read. And seeing Grace deal with her marriage and her children and household issues came across as very real.
Things I Didn't Like:
I really enjoyed this book and I do highly recommend it.
But some of the things were a little less than perfect.
1. For one some of the connections between characters seemed a little too convenient. Like a little unbelievable.
2. Autumn goes a little too insane all of a sudden. Dramatic but a little to abrupt.
3. I also did kinda guess the big twist a mile away! But it didn't really ruin the book for me.
Rating: 4/5
I highly recommend this book. It's a perfect rainy day read!
8. Grace's married life was another thing I enjoyed reading about, the anatomy of a marriage that is going through a rough patch always makes for a good read. And seeing Grace deal with her marriage and her children and household issues came across as very real.
Things I Didn't Like:
I really enjoyed this book and I do highly recommend it.
But some of the things were a little less than perfect.
1. For one some of the connections between characters seemed a little too convenient. Like a little unbelievable.
2. Autumn goes a little too insane all of a sudden. Dramatic but a little to abrupt.
3. I also did kinda guess the big twist a mile away! But it didn't really ruin the book for me.
Rating: 4/5
I highly recommend this book. It's a perfect rainy day read!
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