Considering I'm not one to drool after hyped books or chase new releases (especially the lighter sort) in general, it's relatively surprising The Woman in the Window grabbed my attention. But, as I've said before, I'm always on the lookout for harmless mysteries/thrillers with interesting premises to consume as little snacks, and the similarities with one of my favorite Hitchcock movies was what drew me in this time.

Turns out, The Woman in the Window isn't particularly clever or subtle in its retro-minded references. The intertextuality consists mostly of lists of old movies and actors, and some plot aspects have been drawn from movies such as Vertigo (1958), Gaslight (1944), Body Double (1984), and (the most obvious one of them all, of course) Rear Window (1954).

The characterization is fairly good, particularly regarding the way the reader's emotions toward the protagonist may swerve from hate to pity according to what is revealed about her. At first, when the first revelation came, I started to dislike Anna, but then I thought she's suffered enough and most likely learned her lesson. She's not your perfect damsel in distress who quickly figures everything out to make her life all fine and dandy again, and that just makes her more believable and real.

So... Was it worth the hype? I'd say yes and no. The Woman in the Window is a traditional page-turner (yet also strangely overdrawn with occasionally sluggish pace) with twists and turns that will satisfy most people, and that's about all one can expect, since it's not supposed to be a thought-provoking serious literary novel. I enjoyed it for what it is, a light suspense novel pretty decent in its own genre, but I fully expect to forget about it after some time has passed. Some of the effect has clearly worn down, since I changed my rating from 4 stars (3.5 in reality) to solid 2.5 stars. Still, it passed the time and started the year modestly but with promise.