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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
It took me a minute to get into this one because the characters were kind of annoying at first (specifically, 40-year-old women calling each other “mama” seems unrealistic and influencer-y to me). However, it absolutely redeemed itself in a fun and witty story with almost no pathetic female lead situations and a unique plot! Bonus points for integrating the LGBTQ storylines in a seamless way; some books today feel like as an afterthought the authors said “shoot, we need to add a queer or non-binary person” and the character ends up having nothing to contribute to the story other than the occasional PC comment - this is not that!
Definitely still a beach read, it’s not complex and I actually finished it in one day because once I was hooked I couldn’t put it down.
Definitely still a beach read, it’s not complex and I actually finished it in one day because once I was hooked I couldn’t put it down.
I'm giving this one 3.5 stars because I love the message and the theme but it's a book that I've read before. I spent most of it with a massive sense of deja vu and it suddenly hit me toward the end that it's almost a replica of First Wives Club, just updated for modern times.
Three divorced friends are tired of how their lives are falling apart despite all their work, so they come together with a project that starts as a bit of a joke and quickly turns into a life-changing opportunity. Lauren is just getting divorced after discovering that her husband is a 'regular' at a brothel, Madeline's life revolves around doing everything for a daughter who wants to get away from her, and Sophie works like crazy to give her kids everything while watching her ex-husband create a perfect family with his new wife. They're all tired of taking on all the mental load of being a wife with no recognition of how much work that is, so they come up with an app that lets users hire 'Wives' to do those tasks for them.
The first half of the book is honestly a little depressing with reminders of how awful things in life can get. There are issues with family, children, work/life balance, money, identity, and just everything that one usually reads books to escape from. But it does get to the bright side of things when each of the women finds their grove and realizes that it's in their hands to take charge of their lives and be happy. It's this half that carries the positive messages and gives the book the lightness I was hoping for when I first started it.
Overall, it's a solid book with great messaging and lots of life lessons, it just happens to be a little too close to one I already consider a classic and somewhat of a downer for most of it.
Happy thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the emotional read!
Three divorced friends are tired of how their lives are falling apart despite all their work, so they come together with a project that starts as a bit of a joke and quickly turns into a life-changing opportunity. Lauren is just getting divorced after discovering that her husband is a 'regular' at a brothel, Madeline's life revolves around doing everything for a daughter who wants to get away from her, and Sophie works like crazy to give her kids everything while watching her ex-husband create a perfect family with his new wife. They're all tired of taking on all the mental load of being a wife with no recognition of how much work that is, so they come up with an app that lets users hire 'Wives' to do those tasks for them.
The first half of the book is honestly a little depressing with reminders of how awful things in life can get. There are issues with family, children, work/life balance, money, identity, and just everything that one usually reads books to escape from. But it does get to the bright side of things when each of the women finds their grove and realizes that it's in their hands to take charge of their lives and be happy. It's this half that carries the positive messages and gives the book the lightness I was hoping for when I first started it.
Overall, it's a solid book with great messaging and lots of life lessons, it just happens to be a little too close to one I already consider a classic and somewhat of a downer for most of it.
Happy thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the emotional read!
I saw this recommended on a blog I read and thought it looked like an interesting concept, which it was, but it was a bit frothy and light for my taste. There were multiple chapters where stuff happened that didn't advance the plot and was never referred to again, but where a new feature of the app was highlighted, which made me occasionally wonder whether the whole book was just a clever marketing strategy for an actual app!
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie are best friends who invent an app that monetizes the invisible drudgery of everyday life that is mostly taken care of by wives and mothers.
I read the synopsis of this and stabbed the read now button immediately because I LOVE the idea of monetizing the mental load. Unfortunately, the story fell apart for me fairly quickly, especially when it came to the characters. Since becoming a parent, I have worked outside of the home full time, then became a stay-at-home parent, and now I work part-time -- and none of these women or their situations felt particularly real or relatable to me. There were also some cringey sex scenes that I didn't love.
I will say, however, that Mackler made some really excellent points about invisible labor and did address the issue of privilege. This was a quick read that I think could be enjoyed by and will be relatable to many women, it just didn't quite work for me.
* thanks to Simon & Schuster for the NetGalley review copy. The Wife App publishes June 27, 2023.
I read the synopsis of this and stabbed the read now button immediately because I LOVE the idea of monetizing the mental load. Unfortunately, the story fell apart for me fairly quickly, especially when it came to the characters. Since becoming a parent, I have worked outside of the home full time, then became a stay-at-home parent, and now I work part-time -- and none of these women or their situations felt particularly real or relatable to me. There were also some cringey sex scenes that I didn't love.
I will say, however, that Mackler made some really excellent points about invisible labor and did address the issue of privilege. This was a quick read that I think could be enjoyed by and will be relatable to many women, it just didn't quite work for me.
* thanks to Simon & Schuster for the NetGalley review copy. The Wife App publishes June 27, 2023.
Overall, I'd say this was an easy read. But the story was unique and fun! Finished in 7 hours and enjoyed it!
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
The premise sounded good, but it was far weaker than I expected it to be.
Although it mentioned the concepts of mental load and emotional labour, it didn't seem to have any depth. Particularly since the characters themselves didn't seem to be about the "female rage" - they just hung out, made semi-snarky comments about their exes, and pitched the app idea.
Speaking about the app, a large section of the book was spent explaining the mechanism of developing an app and getting it approved on the App Store. Then as soon as the app was launched, we're inexplicably a couple weeks in the future where our MCs are already working as "Wives" of the app - with no mention on how they first felt to take on Wife duties.
The characters felt weak throughout the book. Their POVs did not feel like they were different people. Further, the three main leads had no chemistry with each other, and two of them never interacted one-on-one in the entire book. That doesn't strike me as a group of "three best friends".
Overall, this is more of a light-hearted read with no large stakes and no depth to the (many extremely valid) issues it tries to tackle.
Although it mentioned the concepts of mental load and emotional labour, it didn't seem to have any depth. Particularly since the characters themselves didn't seem to be about the "female rage" - they just hung out, made semi-snarky comments about their exes, and pitched the app idea.
Speaking about the app, a large section of the book was spent explaining the mechanism of developing an app and getting it approved on the App Store. Then as soon as the app was launched, we're inexplicably a couple weeks in the future where our MCs are already working as "Wives" of the app - with no mention on how they first felt to take on Wife duties.
The characters felt weak throughout the book. Their POVs did not feel like they were different people. Further, the three main leads had no chemistry with each other, and two of them never interacted one-on-one in the entire book. That doesn't strike me as a group of "three best friends".
Overall, this is more of a light-hearted read with no large stakes and no depth to the (many extremely valid) issues it tries to tackle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity