Welcome to another book-review for the Twisted Book Club! You can read the previously discussed book Hold Still by Lisa Regan. This time I will review I Am Watching You written by Teresa Driscoll. In short, I Am Watching You is about a woman on a train that overhears a conversation between two young girls and two ex-cons. She struggles whether or not to contact the girls’ parents, decides against it and moves on. A few days later, one of the girls is missing! Does this make you curious? If so, read on!
I Am Watching You
I Am Watching You is about two 16-year old girls Anna and Sarah that go on a trip to London together. On the train, they meet two young men who have just gotten out of prison. One was in prison for assault and the other one for theft. So, there is this bored woman in the same coupe, like a few seats away. She overhears almost everything and at one point she assumes the girls are in danger. This woman is actually contemplating whether or not to call their parents. Eventually she does not and the world keeps going. However, a few days later, it appears that Anna is missing. Of course, there is so much more to the story and many more possibilities are layed out there for us.
perspectives
I Am Watching You is written from many different perspectives. However the most prominent ones are The Friend, The Father and The Witness. Another one is The Private Investigator. I thought that this way of alternating perspectives was unique. I liked reading The Father and The Friend best, due to the fact that they were directly related to the missing of Anna. There was a balance of building and breaking suspense at the same time. When reading as The Witness and The Private Investigator, you are further away of the story of what might have happened to Anna. Each chapter tells you from whether you’re reading from the perspective of The Witness, The Friend etc. Very easy to follow.
White savior disorder
One thing I really had a problem with while getting into I Am Watching You was the white savior disorder. I know I suffer from chronic and stage 4 mind ya damn business, but hang on for a second. Imagine being on a train two white girls talk to two ex cons and while listening in on them, all you want to do is warn their parents. Seriously! Now I understand where people like #PermitPatty comes from. These cons were not even black, so imagine if they were. Just because white girls are the mascottes for innocence and fragility, it does not mean they are. Y’all need to mind ya damn business.
recommendation
I definitely recommend reading I Am Watching You. I loved the intensity and the suspense. You definitely want to know what the hell happened to Anna. Through the different narratives you only see biased parts of a larger story. I think it is very important to realize that all these narratives still don’t tell the whole story. Which is also true in real life. And the reason why I was so annoyed with this so called witness. She did not know these girls and still assumed they were innocent and that the guys were not. All in all, there was so much suspense and so many cliffhangers!! The book was so easy to follow and before you know it, you’re done.
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Have you read I Am Watching You? If you haven’t, what are you waiting for??! Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and experiences on biases and the way we judge strangers. Would you have called Sarah and Anna’s parents? Why or why not? Share with me in the comments or you can send me an email. Remember: White Savior Disorder (WSD) is not fatal. A daily dose of Mind Ya Damn Business will cure you :). Practice makes perfect guys!
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