I'm still not sure about this book. It goes really slowly and then once you think you understand what is going on and that this woman is losing it, it suddenly reveals that she has been right the whole time. I didn't like that about the book. I think it is a very real thing that people can get themselves so worked up about something like bugs, I mean the play BUG is all about that. It just seems like a bit of a cop out at the end to say, yes, there were these self-aware/mind control bugs that were hiding from everyone else but the main character.

If you are going to use magic or supernatural things in a book like this I find it less confusing to gradually lead up to the supernatural piece and intersperse a little supernatural here and there to make it easier to suspend disbelief and get into the supernatural element.

Here, there was a gradual build-up to this woman working herself up into a frenzy about the bugs, even trying to kill her husband, which makes it believable to think that she lost her mind. And then for it all to be true and she isn't crazy -the bugs made her do it-it just didn't work for me.

Such a good read. I expected it to be a bit corny but the story read pretty well. A bit creepy. Good ending!

Wow. No, hang on, let me say it again: Wow. Ben H. Winters is an incredible writer. He grabs the reader by the throat and doesn't ease up on the pressure, not even for one split second. Reading Bedbugs was like a roller coaster: Just when I thought I knew what was going on, my expectations of the rest of the novel were dashed to pieces again and again. I purchased this book thinking, "Oh, okay. A family of three gets eaten by insects. Ho-hum. Nothing I haven't heard before." Boy, was I wrong. Bug phobias are among the most common, and Winters plays on these fears to the point of almost inducing the fear itself. At times, the reader is sure that Susan, who bears the brunt of the bedbugs' torment, is completely batty and wishes only that she is able to receive professional help by the end of the novel... and yet, no more than ten pages later, the reader is rooting for her with vigor, desperately wishing that her husband Alex and her hired exterminator Dana would believe her. This novel left me with chills. Wonderful job!

remember kids... ambien is bad

There's something about this author's writing that I really like, and I'm not sure what it is. Strong focus on excellent female characters? Some mix of nihilism and humanity? Just an overall foundational darkness? I don't know, but I quite liked this book.

Everything is really, really well set up - even before there are bedbugs (or "bedbugs"), even just calling an exterminator is enough to arouse suspicion and distrust from new and old friends (and, while THANKFULLY I've never faced this situation myself, the writing and setting was so reminiscent of that time of bedbug concern that that's what made me look when this book was published, and finding that 13 years later, that and a couple of other things kind of really specifically date the book). The ostracization is well described. Then things really take off, and there's the satisfying explanation that

Spoiler

it's all in her head (which at that moment, I was like "oooooooooh this totally explains why pretty suddenly it seems like she really lost it,") and her husband and doctor kind of creepily in a different feminist horror story know what's best and will medicate this out of her

BUT THEN

Spoiler

it turns out it IS real AND Andrea was the one behind the whole thing except for the supernatural "badbugs" (great name) but she also like summoned them or whatever so she is STILL behind the whole thing!

. Great!!!

Perfect? No. The whole stroller thing, while very creepy to me, never seemed to get resolved. Everything else did, I think, but the "ping" one was a little dissatisfying to me. I couldn't believe what a great character the exterminator Dana Kauffman was and I liked the dog at the end. I can see how some wouldn't like the epilogue/ending, but that's one way to do it.

But like - sleep deprivation, the trillion chores of moving and having a little kid (the parts about knowing preschools were supposed to be toured and neglecting it may have been the most terrifying part of the book to me?!?! *Those places fill up fast!!!*), general life frustrations whether it's from a spouse or a kind of charming, kind of annoying neighbor - that was all excellent. I do love how the author writes about aging, too.

Finally, I read this directly after [b:Nestlings|65212029|Nestlings|Nat Cassidy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1679957936l/65212029._SY75_.jpg|100096868], and they have a LOT of similarities - or echoes? Anyway I quite enjoyed the pairing and would recommend it.

This was such a fantastic book that I picked up at a Dollar General, because I have a problem with constantly buying books. You never know what you might find though and this book was such a horror story with a twist. I mean, come on. It really preyed on paranoia and phobias that can be common with its own delightful twists and turns. I will warn you that it may cause some phantom itching so read at your own discretion!

Un von gâteau aux pommes un peu grossier qui rassasie et fait plaisir. Tous les ingrédients sont présents: le jeune couple, le bébé, l'appartement idéal a Brooklyn, la vieille proprio un peu gaga et la tension qui grimpe au fil des pages. Rien de nouveau sous le soleil pour ce thriller domestique mais comme j'en lis peu j'étais totalement pris dedans. J'ai tourné les pages comme un dératé jusqu'à la dernière page et j'ai pris beaucoup de plaisir.

Antes de leer el libro pensaba qué iba a leer de nuevo la semilla del diablo. Acerté completamente. Como mérito la capacidad de crear un ambiente opresivo, haciéndote dudar de la cordura de la protagonista, que es a la vez el personaje a través del cual conocemos la historia. Como punto negativo lo trillado del argumento que nos hace anticipar el final.

Hosnestly, as someone who formerly had bedbugs...wow this sure is a picture of reality! Of course it goes off the deep end, and it's such a relief when it does...overall? This book made me anxious

painfully slow, to the point i almost stopped reading. i toughed it out and the last 25 pages or so made it worthwhile