Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - The Wife Upstairs

This novel prides itself as a loose Jane Eyre retelling. I was too adamant to care about Jane, Edward/Eddie, Bertha/Bea, and Blanche. The storytelling was off-putting because it was so absurd ("Reader, I f*cked him." 🤮). The plot twists were very easy to guess. The reveal was very underwhelming.

No. Definitely not recommending it.

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

First read - DNF: I am not going to like Jane. She is so snarky and sarcastic and caustic and that will not be fun.
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I revisited this one because I was reading other things by the author, and I thought that I should give it another shot. I tend to be much too precious about Jane Eyre retellings haha I thought this was pretty fun in the end. It didn't try to stick too closely to the book, which I appreciated. Not at all bad, in the end.

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lindseybarnett's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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puddleshoes's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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cakearson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? No

4.75

I loved this! So many fun exciting twists

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jessthanthree's review against another edition

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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

1.5

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ameliaflint's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was amazing!! It really gripped me right from the start. I fell in love with the characters and kept turning page after page. I adored this retelling and Jane’s ending. I have no critiques! (except I found one grammatical mistake.) Overall a great thriller that will keep you guessing.

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little_water_droplet's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This went everywhere I didn't think it'd go. The author does seemingly forget and then remember their dog throughout the book. I picked this up without reading the synopsis or anything about it. The title just sounded interesting. The end is satisfying but also the exact opposite if you like all plotlines to be all wrapped up. The main character is unlikeable yet endearing. Every character in this book is like that, though. It's 4 am now, so I would like to sleep.

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