Heather, the Totality by Matthew Weiner was a one-sitting read for me. Thanks to Little Brown for my copy! This kept me reading one cozy evening last week. I was completely hooked very early on in the book. I couldn’t put it down!

Heather, the Totality follows two stories that are parallel in time but completely different in experience, and the build-up to the characters meeting is intense. Like, very intense. Matthew Weiner sure knows how to get you invested in the outcome from early on in the book!

The Breakstone family, consisting of Karen, Mark, and their seemingly perfect daughter Heather, are an affluent yet otherwise unremarkable family in Manhattan. Before Heather is born, Karen and Mark are a normal, somewhat uninteresting couple. Heather becomes the center of their universe, and brings a bit of tension to their relationship as having a child shifts the focus away from them as a couple.

Meanwhile, Bobby grows up in poverty. From his backstory of violence and grandiose delusions, we learn he is likely some sort of sociopath. When Bobby is hired to work on renovating the penthouse above the Breakstone family’s apartment home, he becomes fixated on Heather and fantasizes about what he will do to her when he finally gets her alone.

This book did have a few flaws for me. The detached narration style leaves the characters as more of sketches than fully developed people. They could have been further developed somehow. I also wasn’t a fan of the focus on female beauty. I didn’t like that Karen “didn’t know how pretty she was.” That felt a little cheap to me. Similarly, there is a focus on how pretty Heather is, and how she is so irresistible and charming partly because of her beauty. I prefer female characters to have more redeeming qualities than their looks.

Overall, this was a thrilling read. The tension leading up to the paths colliding is palpable. I wanted to know.. was Heather safe?! I was hooked from the start. If you’re looking for a quick read that will get your heart racing, this book is for you!

Jenna Reads Books, etc.

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Book review: Heather, the Totality