Review: The Wife Between Us


The Wife Between Us

Read between the lies.

One of the best things about joining Bookstagram last year was getting new book recommendations. I discovered that I love suspense novels, and I’ve read more of them than ever before. When Book of the Month club offered The Wife Between Us as a choice for December, I added it to my box so fast. In addition, it’s the January pick for the Salt Water Reads book club! The Wife Between Us is suspenseful, twisty, and a definite page-turner, but I was a bit disappointed in parts of it.

So this is where I would usually put a description of the plot. But truly, any description of plot for this book would ruin it! It’s that twisty! So I will just say this. There is a wife. There is an ex-wife. There is a husband. And none of them are what they seem.

I’m so sorry to do that to you! But if you read this book, you’ll understand. The book felt suspenseful by the end of chapter 1, which is always a good sign. One of the premises is that the ex-wife might be a bit crazy, and I kept wondering if she was actually crazy or if her ex-husband was gaslighting her. (If you haven’t seen the 1944 film Gaslight, you should watch it immediately. It would be a great companion watch with this book.)

The first twist (there are many) is interesting, but it made me a little concerned about where it would go from there. The second big twist in the novel was . . . something I didn’t see coming, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I think if the authors had somehow tied it into the first half of the novel a bit more I would have been ok with it, but I ended up feeling a bit played, and a bit weird about wanting to keep reading. (But I did, because I needed to know what happened.) And just to be clear for those who have read it or who do read it: it’s not the subject matter I have a problem with in that big twist, it’s the way it was presented. Just a personal preference issue!

I realize this review is a bit vague, but I really don’t want to spoil the book for anyone. I’ll leave it at this: If you like suspense novels with major twists that you may or may not see coming, absolutely read The Wife Between Us. I really loved the first half, and was disappointed with the second half, but I’m glad that I read it. And honestly, all of this just gives me more to talk about when we discuss it over at Salt Water Reads!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Comments are closed.