Celebrate 5 Years with The Memory Watcher (Anniversary Edition)

Carrie: 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐱 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐜𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬.

As part of my penance for binge-reading a string of 2024 releases, I...

United States on Sep 10, 2023

Lisa: I liked the book the difference between what is real and what is fake lead to an interesting story but the ending could have been done a little better. I will be reading the watcher girl the sequel to this book

Australia on Feb 06, 2023

Darren M. Reed: This was a slow starting book that in my opinion never quite peaked. I will say it kept my interest, and kept me turning pages but I never felt on edge, never felt suspenseful. The entire book alternates chapter by chapter between two characters Daphne and Autumn. You learn from the very beginning that both have issues. I also feel the author left a lot unresolved at the end.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

you learn almost immediately that autumn has deep rooted issues. Anyone that obsessed about someone else is life obviously has problems. She is obsessed with the McMullens and you learn quickly that their oldest child is adopted and the child was Autumns. The McMullens appear perfect in social media but are far from perfect. He is cheating and she is cheating.

Autumn hates her boyfriends sister she doesn’t seem to even care about the boyfriend but it’s only with him because he lives next to the McMullens. Eventually, autumn has a fight with the sister and thinks she killed her. However she was really killed by someone else after she left.

The only major twist Is the fact that while autumn is being investigated for the crime it is discovered that she’s not...

United States on May 27, 2021

Gml Alberici: This book had lots of 5 star reviews so I thought I’d give it a try. I really didn’t enjoy it at all. I need to like or at least empathise with the characters and they were all thoroughly unlikeable. Both Daphne and Autumn were superficial and I had no sympathy for either of them. I didn’t feel that you got to know either one of them. You know that Daphne came from a poor background and that Autumn’s family life was less than idyllic. Autumn had lost touch with her family and there must’ve been a reason. But she was so irritating that I wasn’t very curious. The children weren’t particularly interesting characters and Grace who is pivotal to the story came across as a real brat. I’ve read other books where the child characters were really interesting and added lots to the story. I skim read the last 30 percent and the storyline just became more and more implausible. At the end I thought I was reading a different book as it was so removed from what had gone before. Autumn had suffered greatly as a child and that explained her weird character, but as she was so unlikeable I couldn’t really empathise. Graham, Daphne’s husband was a real prat and Ben, Autumn’s...

United Kingdom on May 10, 2021

: Autumn Carpenter is a chameleon. She changes her colours to suit her surroundings, from her appearance to her relationships. But now she's in the perfect relationship with Ben. He's loving, caring and considerate. More importantly, he lives just a stones throw away from the McMullen family. And that's all Autumn really cares about.
Daphne McMullen is a pampered housewife and mother to three adorable kids. She spends her days in expensive active wear, sipping lattes and occasionally stopping by her dealers house to get a hit. They seem like the perfect family, but you just can't believe everything you see Instagram. Her husband enjoys extracurricular activities and her three kids are hell raisers, especially Grace, who holds a special place in Autumns heart.
I enjoyed this a lot. I've read Minka Kent before and she writes strong, realistic characters you love to hate. Autumn was a lot like me, especially her trip to the supermarket. It was like reading my own thoughts on the page. Grocery stores are like real zoos with humans for animals. I understanding becoming bored with your own life but she definitely took it to extremes and it was great fun to read. Daphne's story lines...

Australia on Jan 31, 2020

Heidi (but books are better): I’ve noticed that a lot of my favourite books appear totally out of left field. Somehow they have slipped under my radar, and I come across them accidentally: maybe I am attracted to the cover, or there is a special deal on Amazon, or I randomly pick out a title from my bottomless tbr list. And then: Bingo! All the stars align!

The Memory Watcher was such a book for me. I don’t even know how I first came across it, only that once I started reading, it totally blew my socks off. How could I have missed this one on social media and the many book blogs I follow when it first came out? Perhaps because it’s not your typical psychological thriller, starting off more like a slow character study that evolves into a very clever mystery with a “hall of fame” twist I certainly did not see coming! Minka Kent’s evocative writing immediately drew me in, and whilst I am usually not good with unlikeable characters, this dysfunctional bunch had me totally enthralled from page one. I was even a bit sad when it finished, because I had grown quite fond of being a spectator of these people’s lives – does that make me sound a bit strange?

Over the recent years, I have...

Australia on Jun 15, 2018

Liz Barnsley: Really thoroughly enjoyed this well written, mostly well plotted psychological thriller - I purchased it off the back of reading several good reviews and it was well worth it.

So we have Autumn, who watches closely the family that adopted her daughter - she insinuates herself into every part of their lives. But sometimes golden lives hide dark secrets as Autumn is about to discover.

For the most part I was highly fascinated by this one, especially the characters. Autumn is a chameleon, she fits the people she is with or tries to. Hints at a not so wonderful childhood just increase her mystique and her voice is strong and engaging. You do fall for her and her determination to protect the child she gave up, plus the story is twisted as you like. The surrounding characters are equally engaging, Daphne the perfect wife whose perfection falters as the story goes on, Graham the wonderful husband who is not so wonderful. Ben, Autumn's long suffering boyfriend who loves her but doesn't really understand her and Marnie the edgy, unlikable sister of Ben who peripherally causes all sorts of shenanigans.

Overall then a great tale well told, a bang through page turner -...

United Kingdom on Mar 31, 2018

Bookie32: This is a 4.5, I am dinging some off for the ending, and leaving some unanswered questions, it overall, a great read that I didn't want to put down.

This book isn't quite what I thought it would be based on the blurb. The blurb wasn't wrong, per se, it is just that the book has a lot more to the story than that, and I really liked how the characters were fleshed out first.

The story takes time getting to the Nanny plot, introducing the reader to Autumn and Daphne first, giving us a glimpse into their lives, and motivations. Yet this isn't tedious, and in fact, is quite interesting. I don't want to give too much away, but each character has built their lives around a false image they portray to the outside world, each for very different reasons, but both find that world crumbling around them.

Here are my thoughts, sorry for the length, but I really wish I had someone to discuss this book with.

What I liked: maybe small spoilers, but nothing major

-The book was different than I expected, I thought it would be a lot more cliche crazy woman, hand-that-rocks-the-cradle-type plot, so I was pleasantly surprised that Autumn wasn't trying to steal...

United States on Oct 07, 2017