The Intern by Michelle Campbell

 This one I read because I am an intern this year, so I thought it was relevant.  The intern in this case is a law student who works for a seemingly corrupt federal judge.  Turns out the judge was manipulated into doing sketchy things by her "uncle" who basically paid for her college.  The money was coming from some not so nice and controlling people.  The intern soon finds out and has some family legal issues of her own she needs help working out.  By working together they intern and judge end up getting out of their debacles.  It seemed too clean cut and fairy tale of an ending for me.  I mean, when did the author mention the intern's competitive swimming background??

Psychological Elements

I think of the idea of transference or hero worshipping when it comes to how the intern perceived the judge.  She definitely idolized her, which helped her be able to manipulate her into agreeing to help in ways she may not have agreed to if not for the judge's status.  The judge being a victim in the end also had a psychological component to it.  She lacked a good steady home life, so she clung to her "uncle's" approval when he was taking advantage of her.

7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

 This book had an interesting concept.  Something I've never considered or read before.  I picked this one up at B&N while I was away in Florida with my parents and read it over a matter of a week.  It was a lengthy book though!

A lot going on.  The two main characters are reliving a day in the life of many people, sort of like Groundhog Day (the 1990s movie with Bill Murray).  However, the main character wakes up in the body of a different person each day.  The other one (female) wakes up in the same one, some maid (I think).  The object of this weird game was to find the murderer of Evelyn Hardcastle.  Her murder was still a cold case after many years.

I commend the author for keeping track of all the plot holes and intricacies.  He had to make sure he effectively indicated and presented characters as they crossed paths throughout the day without getting confused on any given day or time.  The characters intertwined at various parts of the day, some waking up earlier or later, or going to bed at different times.  Somehow, he managed to write such a narrative that nothing was out of place in regards to the time loop.  How insane is that!

Psychological Elements

Well there are many different characters to speak of.  When the main character embodied each "host" (as it is called in the story, like the main character is a parasite infecting the body of the host), the main character had the memories and thoughts of the host as well.  There were narcissists, criminals, liars, and many other sorts.  It is too much to analyze, but definitely worth the read.

 

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin

 What did I just read???

It was all over the place, but I eventually knew where it was going (even though I don't know how I got there).

I believe the author's aim was to have us believe the house was haunted but in a very obscure, realistic, sort of believable way.

This wasn't really a book I liked, so my review is a bit negative.  Would love to hear from others that have read it and liked it, though.  There were elements that would probably be better off left out.  For example, the newspaper or online clippings.  I think the story was good if left linearly and told chronologically.  I didn't feel she needed to add the cliffhanging newspaper articles leaving us in suspense about who was left dead in the house.  I liked the rest otherwise.

I think she should have had the missing girl, who was almost killed by her father, come back somehow, too.  Would have been a great element to the story, in my opinion.

Psychological Elements

The main character is definitely suffering from an identity crisis.  She takes over other people's identities, essentially after she kills them.  This could be related to a dissociative identity disorder.  What's weird is how it starts as a somatic symptom of physical discontinuity - she had to bite her arms because she thought they were not there or disappearing.  She didn't feel whole again until she became someone else.  

The house was creepy, but was it really haunted?  Everyone who lived in it became insane one way or another.  However, Sarah/Lizzy Slade seems to have been insane prior to living there.  

I also have to question Joe/Liam's reasoning behind going along with this.  Was he scared?  Did he feel guilty or responsible for the death of the real Sarah Slade, so he went along with it so Lizzy wouldn't implicate him?  It was just weird.  

Anway - what you do think?