Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth

14 reviews

annes_reading_journey's review

1.0

This book was good, however it ended up being a 1 star. As it dealt with a lot of domestic violence and that the guy doing it would re-vert what happened so it didn't look like his fault

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Dementia

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Mental illness

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I liked the way that this story spilled out. I appreciated that it didn't dig too deep into

the assault scene

- that was something that I was nervous about. I appreciated a close look into everyday kleptomania, and I thought the discussion about abuse being all in the victim's head was really interesting. I hope it helps friends identify when folks in their lives need help and validation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Colonisation, Dementia, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Medical content

kelly_e's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Title: The Younger Wife
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: April 5, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Psychological • Dynamic • Lacking

📖 S Y N O P S I S

THE HUSBAND
A heart surgeon at the top of his field, Stephen Aston is getting married again. But first he must divorce his current wife, even though she can no longer speak for herself.

THE DAUGHTERS
Tully and Rachel Aston look upon their father’s fiancée, Heather, as nothing but an interloper. Heather is younger than both of them. Clearly, she’s after their father’s money.

THE FORMER WIFE
With their mother in a precarious position, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family’s secrets, the new wife closing in, and who their father really is.

THE YOUNGER WIFE
Heather has secrets of her own. Will getting to the truth unleash the most dangerous impulses in all of them?

💭 T H O U G H T S

I've been slowly making my way through Sally Hepworth's backlist over the past few years, and next up was The Younger Wife. I'll preface my review by saying I was way less interested in this one than some of her other books, and my gut ended up being on point.

What I like:
• the prologue. It created so much tension, intrigue and suspicion. I needed to find out how it would all play out.
• multiple perspectives. I thought this structure suited the storyline perfectly, giving glimpses into each woman's life.
• the heavier topics. This one takes on A LOT and Hepworth does so in a sensitive manner, which I appreciated.

What I didn't like:
• the characters. The fact that the women all come across as unreliable and each of the male characters comes across in a good light didn't work for me at all.
• the ending. Underwhelming and predictable. Also some loose ends.

Despite hooking my interest in the beginning and containing some serious topics, my attention quickly waned as the story progressed. By the end, it just felt like a meh and forgettable read. With that said, I look forward to continuing in exploration of Sally's books.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of family drama
• readers who like books that read like a soap opera

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Perhaps the very worst people still had some good in them. And perhaps the very best had some bad." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Addiction, Infertility, Pregnancy, Rape, Miscarriage, Violence, and Abortion

Minor: Murder

carlytenille's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Death, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Rape, Alcohol, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

hgunsch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Death, Dementia, Sexual violence, and Alcoholism

Minor: Pregnancy, Murder, Death of parent, and Miscarriage

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

My actual rating for this book is 3.5, but I rounded it to 4.  I enjoyed the characters and the story, but there were a ridiculous number of issues in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Vomit, Murder, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Blood, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Rape

madluck's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Blood, Abortion, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Rape

iaranda0101's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Rape, and Eating disorder

quietcoastline's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, Death, Medical trauma, and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, and Excrement

rita_paige's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, and Rape