Premise: Emotionally unstable mom is under attack by her highly intelligent sociopath seven-year-old daughter while oblivious and easily manipulated dad fails to see the danger.

This book was highly recommended and hyped up as disturbing. It started off slow and throughout the book there was a lot of "filler" paragraphs with the mom's backstory. While I understand it was provided to help the reader understand the mom's fragile mental state and explain/justify why she is neurotic, paranoid, and dramatic.

Personally, I felt like it was shoved down our throat and we could have done with LESS of her bullshit.

There are literally no likable main characters in this book. The mom is annoying, sometimes mean, always selfish, exudes fake empathy, and lacks common sense. There were so many obvious solutions to some of the issues at hand that she never considered. Example: Get a damn nanny cam so your husband doesn't think you are crazy!!

The husband is super gullible, hyper focused on work, and blind to the war zone going on in his home. Now in his defense, I will admit that both his wife and daughter are fake af around him. For the most part he only sees what is presented, however there were several times he refused to see what was presented or acknowledged it but brushed it under the rug.

And last is Hanna. As a parent who raised a "special" child and is very familiar with mental illness, I felt a bit conflicted when it came to Hanna. It's clear she is unstable, lacks the ability to feel empathy, and is a danger to others. With that said she is a child. Her parents have dropped the ball when it comes to getting her the help she needs.

One of my theories as to how and why things escaladed the way they have is the family's economic status. IF this were a low-income family, third party organizations such as Help Me Grow and WIC would have been involved from the start. Suzette would have had a better support system to help her explore other nonphysical reasons for her daughter's mutism. However most middle- and upper-class families aren't visited or bothered by third party organizations. They are just given a kid and it's assumed they got this.

There is also the shame. Suzette stressed how perfect she wanted to be for her husband. Like her daughter, she is obsessed with him and wants to please him. She has very little self-worth and the fear of judgement is strong. Her husband does little to reassure her as he himself wants to project a perfect family image.

Now for the ending. It was suggested that this ending was underwhelming. I can see WHY one would feel that way. But my analytical self really pulled it apart and I realized that EVERYTHING out sweet little sociopath feared came true. While she was misguided, irrational, and violent she was right about the mom. Thus, the Gone Girl references by so many reviewers. The mom is NOT what she seems. But Hanna is not a victim, and I was left with some real Norman Bates Psycho vibes. I would love it if a sequel was written.