Suspenseful, claustrophobic and misogynistic, Beware the Woman is a slow burn psychological/horror thriller with ramping intensity, veiled motives, and suspect actions. Megan Abbott has delivered a nail-biting novel filled with uncomfortable moments, enigmatic characters, and a highly uncertain outcome.
Newly married, deeply in love and pregnant, Jacy has never been happier. Now she’s accompanying her husband Jed to visit his father, Dr. Ash, in the Upper Peninsula. At first, everything is idyllic, loving and welcoming. But when Jacy experiences a complication to her pregnancy, the environment around her changes and she starts to feel trapped while her husband and father-in-law become controlling and overbearing. Is she in danger or just being paranoid? While she wrestles with that question, one thing is perfectly clear. She will do anything it takes to protect her baby.
The main draw of Beware the Woman is Jacy’s predicament and how she reacts. At first everything seems fine, but little weird moments occur that have her start to question what’s happening around her. Then the frequency of curious occurrences ramps up and she realizes that the situation around her is deteriorating and putting her in jeopardy. Realizing circumstances require an inner strength she doesn’t know she possesses, she must evolve her thinking and rise to the occasion to take control of her destiny. So while it takes a while for her to act on her paranoia – all while the reader is screaming at her to get out – in the end she shows an impressive fortitude to overcome the odds stacked against her.
Creepy and unsettling, Beware the Woman is an intriguing book with a solid premise, deliberate pacing, and odd characters that all contribute to raising the anxiety of the reader. It does lack closure to parts of the story and it doesn’t completely stick the landing, but the enjoyment is in the journey rather than the destination. For readers who are looking for a blend of psychological thriller and horror story, kind of like Get Out meets Rosemary’s Baby, this book is up your alley.
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