Reviews with content warning for Suicide - My Lovely Wife

I loved this book! The first-person POV was too perfect, and I love that we never know the narrator's true name. I get that some of the details are a bit of a stretch, but I was able to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the ride. I'm super excited to read more from this author.

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brittneyw9's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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aleesquer's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-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

3.75

Man: I love my wife so much she's so cool and sexy and I would murder people to see her smile
Anyone: so you would be honest to her about like. Basic things then?
Man: no ❤

Pros:

the characters actually have to deal with being parents, rather than just having kids be in the background
the relationship between Unnamed Man and Millicent is unexpected and really interesting
less gore than I expected (this could also be a con, I guess, it depends on the reader)

Cons:

miscommunication is way too common for it not to be annoying
Bro, you and your wife kill people together. Would it hurt you to be honest about your credit card payments??
I didn't actually like the ending? Yes, M is a bad person, obviously, but she clearly wanted the whole "2.5 kids picket fence" thing. Why would she mess that up on purpose? I get her throwing Unnamed Man under the bus to save her skin, but poisoning her kid?
Unnamed Man cheating seems stupid when 1- it is almost certain she would find out, which he knows, and 2- he's head over heels in love with his wife (which is actually one of the things I enjoyed most about the book)
Not enough info on Holly, imo

All in all, an enjoyable read! The dynamic between the two main characters was really interesting, and I'm excited to see what Samantha Downing writes in the future.

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alexandriasreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I haven’t binge read a book this long in quite a while. It was so hard to put down! Every time I thought I knew what was coming next, it took a different turn.
I do wish the resolution was a bit better, or maybe just longer, it seemed the set up took precedence. I did enjoy that last line, truly came full circle! Overall, pretty fun read!

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roxiw's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

2.0

The book started out alright, but became dull towards the end. The last several chapters seemed to be very formulaic, like plot-realization-twist over and over. The writing itself was dull, too, very repetitive in its rhythm, and I found no reason to care about the main character.

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entanglednovels's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

| FUCK what a wild ride that was. I cannot believe this shit. That epilogue???? What the fuck!! Overall I am impressed and was enthralled with this story. So many twists and turns I didn't expect.

The concept of this book is pretty abhorred. A married couple that murders together because they find it sexy? Truly horrific. But Downing's writing is engaging and while I started off both horrified and oddly fascinated by these characters, I found myself rooting for the husband - who we don't even know the real name of. I didn't even realize that until I saw other reviewers mention it, and it never occurred to me that we aren't given this vital piece of information because of how into the story I was.

My main negative is that the ending was too rushed and everything tied up a little too neatly. I do wish Downing had spent more time on it. But overall, I am thoroughly impressed.

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