Reviews tagging 'Death'

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

41 reviews

paulas_0bsession's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, and Violence

aleesquer's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Dementia, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Alcohol

alexandriasreads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Suicide

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent

hkropp's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, and Infidelity

akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Mysterious and tense. I was white knuckled throughout. Watching the spineless husband try to worm his way out of the situation he’s thrust into is really interesting. Millicent is a fab villain- BUT THE ENDING RUINS IT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Death, Gore, and Confinement

marthadude's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death, Murder, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity and Blood

Minor: Death of parent

jem_andtonic's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gore, Torture, Stalking, Murder, Kidnapping, Infidelity, and Death

kaylafallon's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Toxic relationship, and Torture

shrionih's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is for fans of Dexter, I personally am not. This book was slow and the storyline felt disconnected from the main plot. The characters were somewhat flat. The end was surprising, but it needed to happen sooner and wrap up with more detail. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, and Violence

entanglednovels's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, and Suicide