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A review by pagesplotsandpints
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
4.0
<b>Read Complete 6/25/24 |</b> 4 stars
<b><I>See my updated Riley Sager ranking below my review!</b></I>
I REALLY enjoyed this book and I'm so happy I did! Riley Sager's books can be really hit or miss for me and a bunch of them were just middle of the road reads when everyone else was absolutely loving them. Apparently I tend to have the opposite reactions to a lot of his books because it seemed like not as many people were loving this one, but I really appreciated the vibes! This may also be a different change of pace for Riley Sager fans since there's a male protagonist instead of a female lead.
I loved the quiet little cul-de-sac feeling of this book and I'm always a sucker for a domestic-type thriller where there's suspicion among the neighbors, and it really had a lot of thriller tropes I enjoy: missing person, suspicious neighbors, "is it paranormal or not", and cold cases. I just really liked the whole feeling of the book where it was lightly creepy and chilling so that I was always anxious to see what happened next. There was also a creepy institute in the book that was really giving me Hawkins Lab vibes, even though it was not at all like Hawkins Labs. I liked that it was some creepy entity that no one really knew anything about and especially with a group of younger kids, I really picked up on a Stranger Things feel, so I loved it!
I was worried about the ending as I was working my way through the book and with some of the reveals about 70% in, I was worried that the final reveal was going to be a little bit cheesy and take a turn into the weird, but those doubts went away and we came back to a solid thriller finale. There were a couple more twists, one of my BIG theories finally being revealed and I was so excited to be right about it, and a satisfying ending that I didn't see coming.
I can definitely see why not everyone will like this one, but this checked a lot of the boxes that I like in a thriller! I really clicked with this atmosphere and the overall feel of the story, but it is a little different than some of his usual reads... but that's also why it worked for me! Super happy with my read here and I'm so glad I liked it.
AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: I listened to this as an audiobook, borrowed from my local library. Santino Fontana is the narrator (you may have also heard him narrating Caroline Kepnes' YOU books, singing as Hans in FROZEN, or seen him acting in CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND). I really, really love Santino Fontana's voice, so much. Buuuut I also didn't love his voicing choice for a lot of the characters here. I was really happy to listen to him as this narrator but if I didn't have a bias, I might not have loved it as much. Some of the voices he chose for the characters were a little weird (does he get direction how to do them or does he make the choice?) and some of the narration was a little funky. But hey, I enjoyed it anyway.
<B>UPDATED RILEY SAGER RANKING: </B>
1. HOME BEFORE DARK (2020) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨| 4.5 stars
2. MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (2024) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 4 stars
3. THE ONLY ONE LEFT (2023) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 4 stars
4. LOCK EVERY DOOR (2019) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ | 3.5 stars
5. FINAL GIRLS (2017) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ | 3.5 stars
6. THE LAST TIME I LIED (2018) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ | 3.5 stars
7. SURVIVE THE NIGHT (2021) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 3 stars
8. THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE (2022) | ⭐️⭐️✨ | 2.5 stars
<b><I>See my updated Riley Sager ranking below my review!</b></I>
I REALLY enjoyed this book and I'm so happy I did! Riley Sager's books can be really hit or miss for me and a bunch of them were just middle of the road reads when everyone else was absolutely loving them. Apparently I tend to have the opposite reactions to a lot of his books because it seemed like not as many people were loving this one, but I really appreciated the vibes! This may also be a different change of pace for Riley Sager fans since there's a male protagonist instead of a female lead.
I loved the quiet little cul-de-sac feeling of this book and I'm always a sucker for a domestic-type thriller where there's suspicion among the neighbors, and it really had a lot of thriller tropes I enjoy: missing person, suspicious neighbors, "is it paranormal or not", and cold cases. I just really liked the whole feeling of the book where it was lightly creepy and chilling so that I was always anxious to see what happened next. There was also a creepy institute in the book that was really giving me Hawkins Lab vibes, even though it was not at all like Hawkins Labs. I liked that it was some creepy entity that no one really knew anything about and especially with a group of younger kids, I really picked up on a Stranger Things feel, so I loved it!
I was worried about the ending as I was working my way through the book and with some of the reveals about 70% in, I was worried that the final reveal was going to be a little bit cheesy and take a turn into the weird, but those doubts went away and we came back to a solid thriller finale. There were a couple more twists, one of my BIG theories finally being revealed and I was so excited to be right about it, and a satisfying ending that I didn't see coming.
I can definitely see why not everyone will like this one, but this checked a lot of the boxes that I like in a thriller! I really clicked with this atmosphere and the overall feel of the story, but it is a little different than some of his usual reads... but that's also why it worked for me! Super happy with my read here and I'm so glad I liked it.
AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: I listened to this as an audiobook, borrowed from my local library. Santino Fontana is the narrator (you may have also heard him narrating Caroline Kepnes' YOU books, singing as Hans in FROZEN, or seen him acting in CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND). I really, really love Santino Fontana's voice, so much. Buuuut I also didn't love his voicing choice for a lot of the characters here. I was really happy to listen to him as this narrator but if I didn't have a bias, I might not have loved it as much. Some of the voices he chose for the characters were a little weird (does he get direction how to do them or does he make the choice?) and some of the narration was a little funky. But hey, I enjoyed it anyway.
<B>UPDATED RILEY SAGER RANKING: </B>
1. HOME BEFORE DARK (2020) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨| 4.5 stars
2. MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (2024) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 4 stars
3. THE ONLY ONE LEFT (2023) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 4 stars
4. LOCK EVERY DOOR (2019) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ | 3.5 stars
5. FINAL GIRLS (2017) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ | 3.5 stars
6. THE LAST TIME I LIED (2018) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ | 3.5 stars
7. SURVIVE THE NIGHT (2021) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 3 stars
8. THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE (2022) | ⭐️⭐️✨ | 2.5 stars