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WOW do I love an unhinged stream of consciousness story. Here our unnamed narrator, a professor who‘s obsessed with her neighbor, an actress, seethes as the actress seems to disregard her existence. Plus her husband has recently moved out leaving the professor to deal with his cat named Cat, whom she has no love for. With each passing page our narrator is simmering - becoming more and more manic. Really loved the audio narration.
TW: Infertility

I'm a fan of unreliable narrators and I enjoyed the slow descent into madness that the reader felt through our unnamed narrator.

Obsession is a strong emotion and this book does a great job of showing just how far a person can go.

This was really close to being a pick for me but there was a scene that I had a hard time with that made it a so-so. I'll put it as spoiler in the comments.

#TemptingTitles #April2023 Day 7: #OneWord
#photochallenges #thriller #psychologicalthriller

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I appreciate how Sims puts us in the mind of a woman who's gradually becoming unhinged. I like the exercise of trying to figure out from the clues the narrator gives how a scene would look from other characters' perspectives. But being inside the head of that kind of narrator always leaves me with a vague sense that I have done something wrong, which is unpleasant until it fades. So, I like the book but I need a palate cleanser.

A story about an unnamed woman‘s descent into madness after dealing with many emotional setbacks, and her deep obsession with her famous neighbors life. The life she‘ll never have. As the book goes on the main characters mental health rapidly declines and you never know what she‘s going to do next. This book will definitely make you uncomfortable, because it‘s like having a seat right inside her brain hearing her every very disturbing thought.

Looker by Laura Sims. An unnamed woman's decent into madness, she is obsessed with her famous neighbour. As her life falls apart, her fixation on 'the actress' becomes more intense. At only 180 pages, it was a quick read, disturbing parts, reminded me a little bit of the wives. I liked that there were no chapters and the story just jumps back and forth, but with intent by the author. It's a decent little thriller.
#summerreading

Reminiscent of The Woman Upstairs, The Other Wife, and with a twist worthy of Otessa Moshfegh, this was a great read. It‘s about the unraveling of a woman, after years of infertility end in divorce. We don‘t know if she was always unstable; if years of feeling like a failure took their toll; or if disconnection from other women her age leaves her feeling bullied, desolate, hurt. It‘s all in there. And it‘s an explosive combination.

Perhaps this suffered from being the last in a string of undemanding thriller reads for me, but it ultimately failed to fire. It‘s a short, tense exploration of a woman‘s decent/unravelling into a kind of madness. I think there was capacity here for this to be more nuanced and thoughtful than it ended up being. In the end, it relied on too many conventional plot elements and failed to generate an emotional response.

The main, unnamed character is unnamed, unreliable, and pretty unlikeable as she obsesses over her famous neighbor, spinning further and further into madness. And yet, I was hooked. We read this for book club and there was SO MUCH to discuss. This book is uncomfortable to read, and a wreck of a life slowly unfolding, but I couldn't help rubbernecking until the end.

Hmm. Not sure how I feel about this one. I feel like it didn‘t really have an ending. Like it was building toward something that never happened. But it‘s a short, quick read so I don‘t regret it.

If I take this novel in small bites, I enjoyed it. I highlighted several passages. For example:

"I‘m on an Emily Dickinson high, and I feel like cramming her sharp little words and lines down their throats. I mean, lovingly. Adoringly, even. It would be so good for them, so nourishing."

If I take it as a whole, I'm left itchy by this tale of a woman obsessed with her famous neighbor. ?

Day six of #7days7covers - also TBR... but look at this gorgeous cover!!!

Just got this from the library, any of you read it? Did you like it ?

I didn‘t love this one. An unnamed narrator‘s internal dialogue as she grows more mentally unstable. Trigger: animal harm 😿🚫

Not ready for Monday #dogsoflitsy

Starting this small book as a nice break between big books ❤️

This is an utterly compelling tale, disturbing and heartbreaking at the same time….it shows how some people use others‘ lives as a measure of their own, leading to dissatisfaction and feelings of inadequacy, especially when at a low point.

Unsettling, disturbing and I felt like a voyeur myself, watching this drama unfold. Thought provoking and magnificent…

https://orlando-books.blog/2019/07/25/looker-by-laura-sims-book-review/

This reminded me of several other books --I'll try to tag them in the comments, time allowing. It wasn't amazing but wasn't horrible either. So-so for this tale of obsession, despair, depression, and envy.

Congrats to @TheLibrarian on her #95kGiveaway ❤️🙌🏻🎉Celebrating in true Litsy style Carrie is sharing her big Litfluence number by gifting 2 books from the above stack. US Littens only. I‘d like to try The Line That Held Us and Looker, especially since @Reggie sung it‘s praises 🧡Thanks for the opportunity.

My sister just sent me this post from I Am Well and Good on Instagram, and my scorpio pick sounds right up my alley. Officially stacked!

Does the book for your zodiac sign match your reading interests?

I'm happy I didn't go into this book thinking it was a thriller because I would have been disappointed. That being said this is really fascinating. I really don't want to put it down.

#currentlyreading

I have several books in my TBR that I should be reading but I was in the mood for a thriller. I'm a little bit worried because the Goodreads reviews aren't great. It's a short book so... 🤞🏿

#24b4Monday
#currentlyreading

This colorfully dark story is about an unnamed woman hurtling towards the edge of her sanity. I spent most of this book in an upper body clench because of how awkward this got. And then I was afraid of and for this woman. Laura Sims is a great writer who you can tell is also a poet. This rich character study won‘t be for everyone but it was a pick for me! Thanks @collegecatlady for this selection. #groupZ

This unnamed narrator, who is an English professor is probably thinking “#SaveMe from these future wannabe #paperbackwriter (s)!” Just started this book tonight and thought it was a straight up stalker book by its description but it‘s so much more. #BeatleMaynia #MovieMayMagic

Having a night in. Italian food cooking and a thriller in my lap 🖤

I could not put this one down! It was a super absorbing, twisted read and I think I liked it?!

Starting this today! My library hold came in sooner than I expected #libraryloot

Already super into this one! Obsession, unraveling, mania- all things that make a great book that you can‘t put down!!!

Sooo confusing... definitely kept me on my toes! I couldn‘t believe this crazy lady. But still the ending and like no purpose for the whole book...

I thought this was a great book exposing the unraveling of a woman. At first you can relate but then she seems to be a little off and then before you know it she seems dangerous. I recommend it.

Kiddo on the mend. On to this book! Thanks @collegecatlady

Today has been a real ridiculous day at work in which I was way too hard on myself and texted my husband that I was getting fired. At least my boss laughed 😕 but I read this little gem and LOVED IT! Kind of surprised by the lowish ratings on GR, it‘s like a character study that I wouldn‘t classify as “literary” in which a woman‘s obsession with her actress neighbour gets dangerously out of control. It made me squirm.

I ended up choosing this fairly new release for our #lmpbc group and I won‘t say much, but I thoroughly enjoyed this in depth character study of a novel. I can‘t wait to see what you all think of it!

I don‘t know what it is about this book that I didn‘t really love. I think the tension felt like it built up to fall flat in the end. I liked the suspense of being on the side of someone watching in a way that is taboo. I just felt like the story itself needed more of an arc.

I finished reading this story in one day. The main character has major issues. The way that she is able to rationalize every single thing that she does , is frightening. I am rating this story five stars out of five. #looker #laurasims @ScribnerBooks

She has issues. A lot of issues. #looker #laurasims

Creeping and weird. This book key me guessing because I was not sure where it was going.

Giving this a shot. Reviews don‘t look so good, but I will give it a try.

What a disappointment. On Goodreads a lot of users marked it as a thriller but I feel like that‘s not true. If anything, the book should be categorized under boring.

It was about a women‘s obsession over her neighbor.

Getting in a little reading time while watching “Get Out” with the husband and of course my fur child.

#catsoflitsy

One of the biggest failings for me in this book is marketing it as a Thriller. It‘s a character study of a woman dealing with loss and an emotional break. I also didn‘t like the writing style at all, but that doesn‘t mean this one isn‘t for you. If any of you check it out, tag me in your review so we can chat.

Started this one this morning. I can‘t remember which book list recommended this one, but I‘m struggling to find positives in it so far. The protagonist is just so loathsome and I really don‘t like the writing style, but it‘s so short I‘ll probably finish it anyways. 🤷‍♀️ Tauruses, right?

Well, that was a whole lotta crazy packed into a slim 180 pages! The MC in this book has grown angry and bitter after her failed attempts to create her perfect life. She cannot get pregnant, her husband has left her, her job is going nowhere, etc. She becomes fixated on her movie star neighbor, who seems to have the perfect life she craves. As the MC grows more obsessed, her behavior grows more out of control. A quick, gripping read. 3.5⭐️

This taut novel is less of a twisty thriller and more of an engrossing character study about a woman‘s gradual descent into madness. I was hooked from the first page, drawn to the unnamed narrator‘s caustic voice and incisive observations. Sims‘ writing is precise and sharp, capturing the tragic madness of the narrator. The abrupt ending fell a little flat for me, but as a character study this debut was everything I wanted it to be.

😲 quick, tense and engrossing read. Follow an unnamed narrator as she obsesses over her neighbor and spirals into madness with tragic consequences. I enjoyed the writing style. It felt raw and fragmented like the mc. I also liked that the mc was not too well defined. It left her unreliable and murkey. At times the distinction between reality and the mc psychotic thoughts was blurred. I enjoyed it and read it in one sitting.

Captivating quick read which illustrates a quick descent into madness. I would have liked a bit more so far as character development. Overall a good read.

An interesting one-sitting read. Her writing is intriguing and different. I could have used a little more to this story of obsession, but overall a good, easy read.

I listened to Sims's Looker on Scribd, and the audio--narrated by Katherine Fenton--was definitely compelling. The narrative focuses on an unnamed protagonist whose life is unraveling. (I did have a problem with portrayal of the central premise--with the catalyst for her disintegration. Some recent conversations with a friend who had some of the same problems has made me quite sensitive about this issue.) (cont in comments)

Not bad. Short, creepy, kinda fun, pretty disturbing.