Reviews

This was fine. It's a major pet peeve of mine for a book to keep referencing something over and over and not reveal it for hundreds of pages. Like WE GET IT. YOU ARE NOT TELLING US THE IDENTITY OF YOUR HUSBAND. And then I was really not into the weird transphobic-seeming way that the MC was trying to "detect" that the woman running the boarding house was possibly trans. And then I thought it was lazy writing for the Bad Guy to misgender her. Like, think of another way for him to be shitty. Also, the narration of the Latina character that the book said had a really heavy accent was just not at ALL the correct accent. If the author is going to throw in a Latina character, it feels natural to then ensure that your narrator can do the accent that you wrote? Everyone kind of sucked in this book. Probably won't read this author again.

Content Warnings

abriscoe203's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

rosiek1288's review against another edition

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dark inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

sunny_momster's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

herlihys's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

bookrantreviews's review against another edition

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4.0

Three well-developed characters. Two unreliable narrators. A story brimming with suspense. Hot damn, Kimberly Bell has done it again with “Dear Wife”.

To be fair, I picked up “Dear Wife” simply because I read “The Marriage Lie” a few years back — and loved it. I knew nothing about “Dear Wife” going into it. I didn’t even read the blurb. The only thing I knew was Belle was the author. That was enough. I already convinced myself it would be good. At the same time, I also feared I’d set my expectations for Belle too high, and “Dear Wife” would be a let down. I’m glad it wasn’t.

What I love most about “Dear Wife” is the same thing I loved about “The Marriage Lie”. The characters she creates aren’t cardboard cutouts that are there simply to drive the plot forward. Beth, Jeffrey, and Marcus are so well fleshed out that they could easily be the people who live next door. You might want to sell your house and move if that were the case, but still…

The story starts off seeming somewhat straight forward. A woman goes missing. While she’s on the run, she divulges the horrific details of her marriage. Meanwhile, her abusive husband is the main suspect with an alibi and perhaps a knack for the downplay. But neither are a match for the detective on the case who seems to quickly get everybody’s number.

Yet, nothing in a psychological thriller is ever straight forward. The small, well placed twists continually make you doubt the characters, as well as their versions of events. Kimberly Belle is an ace. She drops clues like Easter eggs, but they are well disguised.

Will Beth’s husband find her?

Will Marcus reveal the truth about what happened to Sabine?

“Dear Wife” is a butt clenching, page turner with a conclusion that’ll turn you on your ear.

You’ll want to read it…

…with the lights on.

chels4956's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

danimoro's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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