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ellecam's review
35 pages in i couldn’t get over how ridiculous and unbelievable the characters and plot already were, and im not a stickler. it just felt like the book was a teenage girls fan fiction. reading the other reviews it didn’t seem like it was going to be worth pushing through.
steph1101's review
4.0
This was my first audio book and i really enjoyed it! the title bothered me because I felt like it totally spoiled a huge plot twist, but regardless i was interested to see how it played out. I loved the modern retelling of Jane Eyre aspect to it as well.
mbenzz's review against another edition
3.0
I don't usually read thrillers, but when I do I am pretty easily surprised. Because I spend so little time in this genre I haven't become familiar with certain plots and various twists that people who love this category have come to spot a mile away. That being said...nothing here was surprising.
I should also mention that I've never read Jane Eyre, so while this book is supposedly a modern retelling of that story, that meant nothing to me as I am not familiar with the original.
The characters are all fairly cardboard and fit perfectly into their assigned character descriptions.
Jane (not her real name) - Rough and tumble young woman who grew up in the system and thinks she's FAR more clever than she actually is but anyone with half a brain can see right through her. Harboring a secret that, once revealed, is a COMPLETE let-down and barely a secret worth hiding.
Eddie - Super hunky and charmingly rich widower who plucks Jane from her mundane life as neighborhood dog-walker and gives her the life she's always dreamed about. Also harboring a secret that kind of doesn't make sense.
Bea (not her real name) - Perfectly perfect cliched (supposedly dead) wife of Eddie who may not have been as perfect as everyone thought she was....and also may not be dead.
Blanche - Another perfectly cliched rich and bored housewife and best friend to Bea. Unhappy with her marriage (though we never know why) and jealous of all Bea's success. Very much dead.
Tripp/Emily/ Various Neighbors - A blend of superficial people who add very little to the story and are pretty much interchangeable.
As for the ending...yeah, I saw it coming, and given how little of this genre I actually read, that's pretty sad. None of it made much sense...I really don't want to give anything away, but the actions and reactions of some of the characters were just so completely unbelievable, and the will at the end made no sense, but whatever.
I'm giving this three stars because, while I didn't find it particularly original or shocking, it is an extremely readable book. You won't love the characters, but you won't dislike them so much that you don't want to continue. Not a horrible way to past the time.
I should also mention that I've never read Jane Eyre, so while this book is supposedly a modern retelling of that story, that meant nothing to me as I am not familiar with the original.
The characters are all fairly cardboard and fit perfectly into their assigned character descriptions.
Jane (not her real name) - Rough and tumble young woman who grew up in the system and thinks she's FAR more clever than she actually is but anyone with half a brain can see right through her. Harboring a secret that, once revealed, is a COMPLETE let-down and barely a secret worth hiding.
Eddie - Super hunky and charmingly rich widower who plucks Jane from her mundane life as neighborhood dog-walker and gives her the life she's always dreamed about. Also harboring a secret that kind of doesn't make sense.
Bea (not her real name) - Perfectly perfect cliched (supposedly dead) wife of Eddie who may not have been as perfect as everyone thought she was....and also may not be dead.
Blanche - Another perfectly cliched rich and bored housewife and best friend to Bea. Unhappy with her marriage (though we never know why) and jealous of all Bea's success. Very much dead.
Tripp/Emily/ Various Neighbors - A blend of superficial people who add very little to the story and are pretty much interchangeable.
As for the ending...yeah, I saw it coming, and given how little of this genre I actually read, that's pretty sad. None of it made much sense...I really don't want to give anything away, but the actions and reactions of some of the characters were just so completely unbelievable, and the will at the end made no sense, but whatever.
I'm giving this three stars because, while I didn't find it particularly original or shocking, it is an extremely readable book. You won't love the characters, but you won't dislike them so much that you don't want to continue. Not a horrible way to past the time.
malhigh's review
4.0
i really enjoyed this. i was expecting it to be like the housmaid, but all the new twists and turns were wild. i wish the ending wasn’t so abrupt tho
lisakerd's review
3.0
Entertaining enough, but no likable characters and no
unpredictable plot twists.
unpredictable plot twists.
emrodav's review
2.0
Yikes. Another one bites the dust. This one was 100% my own fault, because I said I was done reading Rachel Hawkins's thrillers. But I only had this one left and I truly love Jane Eyre, so I felt like I had to give it a try. Not gonna do that again!
The Wife Upstairs, like most Rachel Hawkins's adult books, is marketed as a mystery/thriller, but there isn't a lot of either element going on. Jane obviously has a complicated backstory, but the tension isn't there to make it that mysterious. The question of what happened to Blanche and Bea is more intriguing, though that takes quite a while to develop.
Because the tension isn't very high, there could've been a lot of character development going on. Could've. But there just wasn't. Jane felt pretty flat, her main personality traits being that she's brusque and likes to curse. Eddie has absolutely no personality (and no backstory). Blanche and Bea are slightly more developed, but they're not the main characters, so it's kind of bizarre that they got more history than Jane and Eddie.
As far as the Jane Eyre element goes, I was somewhat relieved that the book took a very loose approach to adapting the story. I love that book SO MUCH that if Hawkins had done more than borrow some names and the general plot idea of a wife hidden in the attic, I probably would've been even more disappointed.
Honestly, I'm just not a big fan of mysteries/thrillers these days. This book may not be as bad as I'm making it sound. Idk. I'm just glad that there aren't any others that I own that I'll feel the compulsion to read even though I know I won't enjoy them.
The Wife Upstairs, like most Rachel Hawkins's adult books, is marketed as a mystery/thriller, but there isn't a lot of either element going on. Jane obviously has a complicated backstory, but the tension isn't there to make it that mysterious. The question of what happened to Blanche and Bea is more intriguing, though that takes quite a while to develop.
Because the tension isn't very high, there could've been a lot of character development going on. Could've. But there just wasn't. Jane felt pretty flat, her main personality traits being that she's brusque and likes to curse. Eddie has absolutely no personality (and no backstory). Blanche and Bea are slightly more developed, but they're not the main characters, so it's kind of bizarre that they got more history than Jane and Eddie.
As far as the Jane Eyre element goes, I was somewhat relieved that the book took a very loose approach to adapting the story. I love that book SO MUCH that if Hawkins had done more than borrow some names and the general plot idea of a wife hidden in the attic, I probably would've been even more disappointed.
Honestly, I'm just not a big fan of mysteries/thrillers these days. This book may not be as bad as I'm making it sound. Idk. I'm just glad that there aren't any others that I own that I'll feel the compulsion to read even though I know I won't enjoy them.
followyourfeetfriday's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
deanashuman's review
2.0
This is one of the dumbest books I’ve read in a long time. So many silly, unbelievable plot twists I couldn’t keep them straight. Two stars because it surely took a lot of effort to come up with such a looney tunes story.
lesleareads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0