The Wife Between Us in 52 weeks, 52 books

Aug 04, 2018 Heidi rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018-goal

Good summer read but not nearly as suspenseful as billed. Twists and turns are plentiful but delivered in such a heavy handed manner that they actually lose some of the thrill.

Oddly, I enjoyed the first third much more than the rest. Like other reviewers have commented, it just didn’t live up to its great start.

One bonus thought— someone discussed this book’s use of an unreliable narrator, which has quickly become its own genre these days— unfortunately, I’m discovering my dislike for this tre ...more

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Sep 18, 2017 Melissa rated it it was amazing

I've been a fan of Sarah Pekkanen's writing ever since I read The Opposite of Me in 2010. She has recently started adding a darker side to her stories, but with The Wife Between Us, she has crossed over to the psychological thriller side. And she did a great job with it. She paired up with new author, Greer Hendricks, who has been an editor for over two decades. Like with Liz and Lisa's novels, you can't tell where one author begins and the other ends. The writing is seamless and flows throughou ...more

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Oct 08, 2017 Christa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ebook-arc

I have to say that I don't normally care for psychological thrillers, and this one may be the first one I've ever truly enjoyed all the way through. I typically rate them based on the writing style and cleverness instead of if I really liked them, because I know they are not my type of book. Even with this, I continue to read the ones with lots of hype and am continually disappointed.

I am so happy to say that I have finally found one that I really loved! I don't want to go into any detail on the ...more

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Jan 28, 2018 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: arc, netgalley, winter-reading-2018, read-in-2018

About two-hundred pages into The Wife Between Us the unreliable narrator notes that there are three sides to a marriage -- his side, her side, and the reality of the situation.

This thought occurred to me long before Vanessa pointed it out to her readers. I also found myself wishing that the cover blurb and marketing materials hadn't teased that there were twists contained within the pages of the story and that we'd question everything being related by the narrator. It would have made the surpri About two-hundred pages into The Wife Between Us the unreliable narrator notes that there are three sides to a marriage -- his side, her side, and the reality of the situation.

This thought occurred to me long before Vanessa pointed it out to her readers. I also found myself wishing that the cover blurb and marketing materials hadn't teased that there were twists contained within the pages of the story and that we'd question everything being related by the narrator. It would have made the surprises much more unexpected when Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen begin pulling the rug out from under us and playing with our assumptions.

After her husband divorces her, Vanessa is left trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. She is apparently obsessed with the woman who will soon be marrying her husband and will do anything in her power to warn his next wife of the secrets she hid before, during, and after her marriage. Vanessa teases tidbits to come that led to the demise of her relationship as well as the truth of what was really happening in her life and her marriage.

But unlike Gone Girl, which gave us views of the events from both sides of the marriage, The Wife Between Us only gives us Vanessa's view of things. The authors do toy a bit with time and how certain details are related, leading to one of the bigger (though not unexpected) twists at the end of the first section of the novel. What exactly Vanessa tried and is trying to do is intriguing enough to keep you reading, though the novel suffers from a twist or two too many in the final chapters.

I've seen this book heralded as the next big thing along the lines of Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train. I don't think this one is quite as clever as either of those thrillers. Or it could be that I'm starting to grow weary of the suspense thriller told to us by an unreliable narrator and promising "shocking twists." What set Gone Girl apart from the crowd was that it was one of the first novels to pull off the twists and turns. And it feels like a lot of books out there are trying to catch-up or emulate that in order to rocket up the best-seller list instead of heeding the lesson that part of what made it clever was it was the first one to pull the trick. (It's similar to how in the wake of Twilight you couldn't throw a rock without hitting a paranormal romance on the shelves).

It's not that I didn't enjoy The Wife Between Us. It's a confident, suspenseful novel that has some intriguing surprises along the way. It's a novel that the less you know going in, the odds are better you'll enjoy it more. I guess part of my frustration is seeing the raves about the books and left feeling like I missed something. ...more

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May 05, 2017 Rebecca rated it liked it

Shelves: arc, page-to-screen

Woman (Vanessa) is jealous of her ex-husband (Richard's) new fiance (Emma) ... or is there more to this story than meets the eye?!?

This book received a lot of hype and a lot of really cool marketing (including two specially mailed postcards similar to the campaigns for Behind Closed Doors and He Said/She Said), which is difficult to live up to.

I might end up in the minority on this one, but in my opinion, this book was just ok. The writing was good, but the plot itself was lacking. It felt like ...more

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Oct 10, 2017 Regina rated it really liked it

Warning, spoilers ahead...

3.5 star read rounded up to 4 because it was a quick, enjoyable page turner. There were many twists, some which worked better than others. The Vanessa/Nellie twist and the way Vanessa wove herself out of Richard's web was clever. I also thought the way Vanessa fell into Richard's trap and the kind of abuser he was rang true and was much more realistic than, say, the husband in Behind Closed Doors.

Parts didn't work quite as well for me - the Emma reveal and the therapis ...more

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Mar 05, 2018 AWBookGirl rated it really liked it

I like a good mystery. When I was making Book of the Month selections, The Wife Between Us caught my eye. One thing that intrigued me is seeing there are two authors. That’s fairly common in non-fiction reads, but not one you see a lot of in fiction reads.

The cover enticed me, then I read this synopsis, and I was hooked:

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.

You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.

You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement, a beautiful, ...more

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Nov 21, 2017 Renata rated it it was ok

This one just didn't do it for me. Just a big mish-mush of story lines that didn't in the end work together. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 13, 2018 alisonwonderland (Alison) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 52-weeks-52-books, mystery-suspense-thriller, 2018-publication-date

I had a hard time putting this one down! I thought it was clever, with a lot of twists, making for a great ride!

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Jan 21, 2018 Lorna DH rated it really liked it

Shelves: new-york, first-reads, hyped, netgalley, more-please, kindle, books-with-balls, night-reads, read-in-2018

Clever and honestly twisted, with lots of layers that keep you guessing while your brain catches up with the story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this one.

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