The Wide Window discussion

I finished The Wide Window over 8 months ago. And I initially gave it 3 stars. But over the past few months, the more and more I thought about this book, the more and more I want to actually lower my rating. Probably to 2.75 or maybe even 2.25. Because this book does not hold up in the slightest. The treatment of the androgenous villain is frankly just heinous. They're bigger and you can't tell if they're a man or a woman, therefore, they're a "creature" and "it" not human. I tried my very hardest to be forgiving by giving it 3 to 3.5 stars because it was of course written during a different time. But even then, the dehumanization is just plain awful. On top of that, Aunt Josephine is possibly one of the worst characters to ever be written. Her grammar police schtick is obnoxious as hell and she just has zero redeeming factors as she is willing to sacrifice the orphans to save herself.

The puzzle with the last will was kind of interesting at least, but the payoff was low since Aunt Josephine set it all up herself out of fear rather than being clever. This is honestly one of the first moments that I'm realizing the Netflix series is better than the books and it improved upon them.