Book Review: THE SUBLET

Title: The Sublet: A Short Story

Author: Greer Hendricks

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories

Pages: 61

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐

 

Aspiring novelist Anne, overworked and harried mother of 9-year-old twins Ben and Beatrice and devoted wife of Paul, has a gig ghostwriting The Well, the book of celebrity self-help guru Melody Wells. For all her ease manifesting abundance, Melody can’t seem to manifest her book.

When Melody points Anne and her husband in the direction of an apartment that would be perfect for their growing family, Anne is thrilled. But very soon, she learns that Melody’s intentions may not be as honest as she thought.

 

The tone of the story was mostly calm and unhurried. When Anne drives herself off to a particular location, we get a hint that the pace might be about to pick up, but that doesn't happen.

The author doesn’t mention a surname for Anne and Paul. The lack of a surname may be irrelevant to other readers, but it is a pet peeve of mine.

None of the characters were well developed. There was nothing nuanced about Anne or Melody.

Melody never exuded any kind of menace. Nor did the house for that matter, though it seemed that the author was trying to project it as some kind of haunted house. There was nothing creepy about it.

The new house projected no aura of danger. The kids didn’t feel a thing. They could all have lived there without sensing any danger.

I couldn’t see the point of the story. The blurb says weird things start to happen but that is not really true. All in all, their life seemed rather pleasant.

It was odd that the couple went looking for a new home, leaving their kids behind alone. No babysitter. Just two nine-year-olds by themselves for an extended period of time.

The only thing the book managed to do was to present the fakeness of the celebrity wellness culture.

What was the point of the mysterious locked closet? It was a Chekhov’s gun that wasn’t fired.

Anne bemoans that she is a chauffeur, nurse, teacher, cook and a plethora of roles rolled into one. Her tone indicated that she was one-of-a-kind, but ask any mother, those are the roles we all do.

There are far too many pop culture references. Modern Family, Matthew Perry, Anne Hathaway, Nicole Kidman, Mont Blanc, Squid Games, to name a few. Beyond a point, it seemed like a lot of name-dropping.

There is nothing scary about the big reveal.

 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)