Review of Love and Stalk

[Danielle Briggs]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Love and Stalk" by Gabrielle Crow.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Love and Stalk by Gabrielle Crow centers around a high school English teacher named Megan. Starting a new school year can be stressful enough for any teacher, but Megan’s life quickly starts to turn chaotic when she begins to suspect she has an unknown stalker. Initially believing they were harmless, Megan tries to continue her life as normal. One night, she agrees to help her lifelong friend, Alex, pull off a surprise marriage proposal, and there she meets his brother, Deon. Deon has just moved back to town with an unwanted, stalker-like girl hot on his heels. Even with the chaos of their lives, the couple sees the possibility of more than friendship between them, if they can get rid of their stalkers, who are becoming bolder by the day.

I loved Megan’s strength and resilience shown throughout the book. Even though she suffers from stress-induced panic attacks and seizures, she does not let her fear consume her and tries to live as normal a life as possible. The book’s action is fast-paced and continuous, making it hard to put down because I wanted to know what would happen next. I also loved how Crow gave Megan’s and Deon’s dogs a large role throughout the book. As an animal lover, it was touching to see the love and bond between owner and dog. Because the chapters switched between Megan and Deon in a first-person narrative, I was able to develop a connection with both characters which was nice.

Even though the fast-paced plot made for a thrilling read, I wish the story would have been slowed down in some parts, so I could learn more about the characters themselves. For example, I felt that due to the constant action, the author was unable to show the growing romantic connection between Megan and Deon, which was disappointing. I also felt that Megan was not fully relatable or believable due to her lack of emotional response to all of the things happening to her. Being strong in the moment makes her character great, but without any emotional acknowledgement of the horrible things after the fact, she becomes more unrealistic. The only weakness she shows is her stress-induced seizures and panic attacks, but she never has any real fear, worry, or anger towards her stalker or the things he causes. One other negative I had was that I wished the stalker’s identity would have stayed a mystery longer. We learn their identity very early on in the book, and knowing the identity seems to take away some of the suspense and drama.

I give this book a 3 out of 4. I loved the inclusion of the dogs and the book’s fast pace, but I wish Megan was a little more relatable and more of the backstory was told. I did find some errors, but they did not hinder my enjoyment or understanding of the book.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy thriller novels with strong female characters. Readers who enjoy romance novels might also enjoy this, even though the romance is very mild and more of a backstory to the plot. There is some violence and some descriptive scenes of violence, so sensitive readers may want to skip this one.

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Love and Stalk
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[Summer Henrietta]

I like the storyline of the book but I hoped the author would have held the suspense for longer.
Great job on the review.

[Kendal Low]

This book sounds incredibly captivating! I commend Megan for deciding not to live her life in fear and go for what she wants, I think we should all be a bit more like her! Really great review