Book Review : The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

The Wife Between Us (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Author : Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Published By : St. Martin’s Press
Year Published : January 9th, 2018
Genre / Tags : Mystery, Contemporary, Thriller, Domestic Thriller
Formats : Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook
# of Pages : 346 pages (Hardcover)

Review

Semi-spoiler-y? I don’t know how to classify this review lol, trying-to-be-vague. Still probably alludes to too much. Therein is the difficulty with reviewing thrillers. Proceed with caution.

I’m starting to question whether it’s a good idea to look forward to a book for months and months before reading it. For whatever reason, I had hyped The Wife Between Us for about 10-12 months prior to reading it and I think the experience of finally having it in my hands was negatively impacted by that self-made hype.

First impressions- I was immediately into the writing style and loving it. Sort of regret not just committing to and finishing it that day. Some books are best finished in a short time rather than spread out and given the opportunity to fizzle.

The author(s) of this novel worked together on every line. This surprised me because the two points of view are distinctly written. Would have otherwise assumed they alternated writing duties between chapters. One POV is of a young woman in a relationship with an older man and her day-to-day life as they inch closer to marriage. The other is of the man’s intense and unstable ex-wife, a woman shrouded in mystery and triggering a sense of danger. Is she going to try to hurt the younger woman? I found the latter perspective to be much more interesting to read about. Just psychologically intriguing and heavier. At least the first 30% of this book was a promising 5/5.

The trouble with reviewing thrillers is how inherently easy it is to give away too much. Even just saying “I liked it less after the 30% mark.” can at this point give away the quality of the narrative and twists or worse.

One thing I do find worth mentioning though for anyone looking forward to this title is that it’s very much a domestic thriller about people and their relationships and in particular, a failed marriage and domestic abuse. There is a tangled web here but it’s not a hectic thriller. You get to know these characters and second-guess your opinions of them, as the book’s back cover description entails.

A major plus side of this story is in the nature of the twist. Unfortunately, I had guessed it, but still appreciated the approach to its reveal nonetheless.

Most movies/tv shows I’ve watched that have a rivalry between female characters vying for one guy result in some battle between good and evil wherein the “good” girl conquers the crazy evil one and lives happily ever after with the guy. This book veers away from some tired tropes and is the better for it, treating its cast with a rare thoughtfulness.

Overall Rating – 8/10

Why You Should Try It – Appealing writing style. Always interesting to see two authors work together on a novel. Distinct voices for the two leads. I do like the reveals in some ways but wasn’t left in a jaw-dropped state. Noteworthy if you like character-driven domestic thrillers.

Why You Might Not Like It – Don’t situate this book among too many other thrillers. (Maybe this is a rule of the thumb for all thrillers though?) There are a couple prominent titles in the genre that have similar themes. I think if you’ve ‘read it all’ as far as some contemporary thrillers go, this book isn’t going to stand out. Probably avoid if you don’t like character-driven domesticity thrillers.

The Wife Between Us (Amazon Affiliate Link)

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Thanks for reading my review of The Wife Between Us! Have you read it or plan to read it in the future? Always curious to hear your thoughts. I plan on reading An Anonymous Girl in the future too, another book by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. Hope it is also a solid thriller. ~ Kitty