Watch Out for Her
Watch Out for Her
By: Samantha M. Bailey
“It made me wonder: To what lengths would she go to fill the void? And what was it she was looking for?”
“Desperate people do desperate things. Not always on purpose. But sometimes.”
I read Samantha Bailey’s debut book Woman on the Edge and really liked it!
This is her second book and it was also pretty good!
Like Woman on the Edge, this book alternates chapters between our two main characters: Sarah in the present and Holly in the past.
Holly is the daughter of a rich pharmaceutical entrepreneur. Having never known her mother who died in childbirth, Holly feels immense pressure to please her dad who partly blames her for her mother’s death. She will do anything for his approval, which as of late means doing ‘whatever it takes’ to convince rich men to invest in her dad’s empire.
When she starts babysitting for Sarah’s son, Jacob, she sees a family she could be part of. Sarah is like the mom she always wanted.
But as we read Sarah’s chapters in the present we know something has gone awry. They have moved to get away from Holly. Sarah had viewed Holly as a daughter, until something happened to change all of that.
Now Sarah is living in fear, anxiety, and paranoia, feeling like Holly has followed them. Someone is watching her.
“Holly— young, beautiful, her whole life an exciting blank slate. But then I stopped trusting her. And in the end, I wanted only to protect what was mine.”
Also like Woman on the Edge, this book is aptly named ‘Watch Out for Her.’
This statement could be taken two ways- ‘Watch out for what that person will do because she is dangerous’ or ‘Watch out for her, keep an eye on the ones you love.’
Both are relevant to this book.
What really happened with Holly? Is Sarah really in danger or is her paranoia in her head?
Comment number one to be made about this book is that I’m a little tired of the ‘anxious, neurotic, and paranoid woman/mom trope.’ I feel like I’ve read so many books where the women are portrayed that way. I get that it creates mystery and deception on what is really happening, like an unreliable narrator thing, but it would be nice to see normal moms who care about their kids but function in a healthy and sane way.
Comment number two is the content in this book. I don’t remember if her debut had a lot of swearing, but this one did have 23 f-words and 11 s-words, and some sexual content that isn’t explicit but is several places in the book as these are the kinds of things Holly has felt obligated to do to earn her father’s approval.
Comment number three is the trigger of one of My Reading Quirks. Someone’s hair is described as smelling like strawberries. Big no-no.
Comment number four is that I did end up figuring out part of the ending but Bailey did a good job making me second-guess myself.
Comment number five is this book creates a discussion around what happens when people are defined by their family. What are the pros and cons? How does this shape behavior, identity, and future relationships? How can you avoid defining yourself and being defined by your family? If you plan to do this as a book club read, would be interesting to discuss! Another good book club discussion could be about each of the three main character’s addictions and how it influenced their families and the story.
It was a suspenseful read and just like her first book, I read this one fast. Without remembering everything about the first book, I think I may have liked that one better than this, but it’s hard to say.
In general, I would recommend this one!
This book releases April 26, 2022— feel free to pre-order through my affiliate link below!
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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