129 reviews for:

First Wife's Shadow: A Novel

Adele Parks

3.87 AVERAGE

v_dugas's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

First Wife’s Shadow by Adele Parks was an ARC gifted to me by HarperCollins Canada’s Killer Crime Club. First Wife’s Shadow is a story about a successful CEO, Emma, who is a total workaholic. She is married to her job, has great friends and seemingly has the perfect life until she meets handsome widower, Matthew. He’s everything she wants, but she can’t live up the ghost of, Becky, the dead first wife. Her shadow lurks everywhere leaving Emma to start questioning her worth. 

As Emma becomes more entangled in Matthew, she begins to leave her life and friends behind. Weird things start happening to her that she can’t explain. 

Adele Parks does it again. The twists of all twists happens about 65% ish through this book (don’t worry I won’t spoil it for you). Then more twists come along and practically change the story! I loved this book, I would have marked it higher but it was a little bit slow moving for me at the start and I know Ms Parks is a twisty queen so I was just being impatient. If you love a good twist this one is definitely for you. I do think it was a little too far gone in the damsel in distress move but I do love a solid and supportive friend group! Highly recommend First Wife’s Shadow for the thriller lovers out there! 

debs_shelves's review against another edition

dark tense

3.75

Twisty thriller!  A rich self made woman who has it all.  Except for someone to love.  Is there more to the handsome young widower than meets the eye?  Is he too good to be true?  Obviously!

shauna_kearns's review against another edition

mysterious slow-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

3.0

chrissypops's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Thank you Netgalley, Harlequin Audio and Adele Parks for the Audio Arc of First Wife's Shadow.
 Narrated by Kristin Atherton

This is the first book I've read of Adele Parks and she has been recommended to me a few times by other readers. So I was thrilled to have this arc. First Wife's Shadow is packed with intrigue, tension with some nice psychological twists. The different POVs coupled with the pacing, felt even and well thought out with the character building. I loved the 3 main characters and how the narrative unfolded. I did suspect a few things and the general direction/finale but I didn't expect the very end of the book. I will be reading more of Adele Parks books in the future.

The narration of this audiobook was by Kristin Atherton. Another new narrator that I have come across recently who has a great voice for these psychological thrillers. A pleasure to listen to her voice.

4 stars 

erinkcrossreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Complicated
• Loveable characters? Complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

celeste_velocci's review

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Complicated
• Loveable characters? Complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Many thanks to MIRA Books, The Hive, and NetGalley for the gifted copy of First Wife’s Shadow. I really loved this one! It was a twisted and unique thriller. The twists kept on coming in the last 25% of the book and I really did not see a few of them coming which is rare for me. 

Emma an extremely independent hardworking woman gets swept off her feet when she meets the swoon worthy Matthew. Matthew a widower quickly wins Emma over and has her making room in her very structured life for a new love. As time goes on strange things start happening and Matthew reveals more and more about his late wife Becky. Emma begins to compare herself to Matthew’s late wife and feels that she is in competition with a dead woman who was with her husband before her. Can these strangers occurrences have anything to do with Matthew’s late wife? How is that possible when she is dead? Is Emma  losing touch with reality? 

Told from multiple points of views you’ll be tossed into this twisty thriller and questioning everyone. 

smalltownbigreads's review

2.0

☆ARC & ALC REVIEW☆
Publication date: March 18, 2025

I unfortunately found this quite long and boring. The summary of the book sounded super intriguing but it just seemed to drag.

The narrator of the audio did a fairly good job though!

Thank you NetGalley, the author, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Harlequin Audio for advanced copies in exchange for an honest review. 

mixedupelf's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

tracey78's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

joyangel143's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

First book from Adele Parks and I enjoyed it. This is a slow burn thriller which is something I never really read usually they are fast paced. I enjoyed the slowness of the book after I realized where it was going. At first I was wondering where this book was going but half way through I got it and I started to enjoy it. I enjoyed the different perspectives of the book it gave me a different understanding on what is going on. Even though I did enjoy the slow burn of the book the book felt long even it was the average 300 something page book. I found myself against the main female character because of how dumb she was. Even though I didn’t know where this was going I knew the female main character wasn’t  smart. Usually I’m all for the protagonist but this time I got annoyed at her and wanted her friends to do a wake up call to her because dang she wasn’t smart even though she is high up in her career. Overall, it was a good book. It had good parts but it had moments when things felt unnecessary and was dragging. I did however enjoy it and glad I decided to read it. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sending me and allowing me to read this ARC that comes out on March 18, 2025.