The Tenant Book Review | A Thriller by Freida McFadden
The Tenant is the latest book release by Freida McFadden. I have mixed feelings about her books but decided to check this one out since it was available with my Kindle Unlimited membership. I don’t always enjoy her writing style but I generally like the interesting characters, so this seemed like one worth checking out. Make sure you keep reading for my full The Tenant book review.
And if you are looking for more thriller recommendations click here.
What is The Tenant by Freida McFadden About?
There’s no place like home…
Blake Porter is riding high, until he’s not. Fired abruptly from his job as a VP of marketing and unable to make the mortgage payments on the new brownstone that he shares with his fiancee, he’s desperate to make ends meet.
Enter Whitney. Beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, and looking for a room to rent. She’s exactly what Blake’s looking for. Or is she?
Because something isn’t quite right. The neighbors start treating Blake differently. The smell of decay permeates his home, no matter how hard he scrubs. Strange noises jar him awake in the middle of the night. And soon Blake fears someone knows his darkest secrets…
Danger lives right at home, and by the time Blake realizes it, it’ll be far too late. The trap is already set. (from Amazon.com)
My Thoughts Before
It’s not a secret on this blog that I have a love/hate relationship for Freida McFadden books. I like that her thrillers are fast paced and keep you on the edge of your seat. But I don’t like how rushed they feel, and how she seems to like to throw in the craziest twists imaginable into every story.
At a certain point, I can’t help but feel that the quantity of books is more important to her than the quality of her books. And although that’s good for her wallet, it’s not great representation for the thriller genre.
But when I was that The Tenant was available in Kindle Unlimited I decided to check it out, out of morbid curiousity.
So here we go!
The Premise
I liked the premise of this story. Blake and his fiancee have recently purchased a brownstone in NYC, but when he loses his job they have trouble making their monthly mortgage payments. That is a very real life problem. While Blake searches for a new job, they decide to take in a tenant. They wind up renting out their spare room to a young woman named Whitney.
Things seem great at first. But the friendly and easy going Whitney soon starts acting differently. Blake knew that taking in a tenant was going to be an adjustment, but he begins to notice strange things happening around his home. Things begin spinning out of control in ways he never expected.
Blake was a Meh Protagonist
I didn’t really care for Blake and so I wasn’t super sympathetic to him throughout the story. He just felt like a boring finance bro to me. His inner monologue was kind of gross the way he talked about his fiancee and the way he observed other women. But maybe that’s what Freida intended when she wrote him.
The Plot Felt Underdeveloped
Right off the bat I felt like I was missing information. And that’s often how I feel when reading Freida McFadden books. It’s like she’s so excited to get the story down on the page that she only gives us the vaguest of descriptions. We’re told that Blake is losing his great job due to sharing secrets or whatever but it’s like how? Why? What proof do they have for believing that it was him who did it? Shouldn’t there be an HR investigation?
I Had To Laugh
Trying to fill a room in New York City must be so stressful. In a city with such a large population, there are a lot of different personalities. And the quirky cast who comes to interview for the room made me laugh. If I were in Blake and Krista’s position, I would be completely exasperated.
I Could Have Done Without…
This is a small annoyance but I didn’t care for the goldfish drama. Blake and Krista have a shared goldfish that they take care of together as a preparation for when they have a baby someday? And it’s silly. It doesn’t really add anything to the plot and it just made me see them as immature. Especially when Blake would talk to it. And the fish’s name is Goldy which made it feel extra silly.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Maybe. I would say it’s an average thriller – I rated it 3 stars on goodreads. I liked it more than The Crash but it still felt rushed and like it could use more plot development. The twist is crazy (per usual) and I’m wondering how crazy it will get as Freida continues to churn out book after book over the next couple of years.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
In Conclusion
Thank you for reading my honest review of The Tenant by Freida McFadden. The main characters drove me crazy a little but, but it was still an interesting book. I just wish that Freida McFadden would add more details to her writing. The plot is there but I need more description and more development to make it a 5 star read.
And if you enjoyed today’s The Tenant book review, you can read more thriller reviews here.
