1.41k reviews for:

The Silent Wife

Karin Slaughter

4.17 AVERAGE

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Some of the passages are reminiscent of the worst parts of the LotR series and Hobbit books in that she just went on and on. I’m also sick of the “made her purr like a cat” cringe lines. Yuck. 
dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-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

I want to shout from the rooftops how much I freaking LOVE Karin Slaughter. I read the dedication at the end and noted and agree with her when she says that she has been writing this beautiful romance story between Will and Sara throughout this whole series. It has been raw and ugly and sweet and heartbreaking and beautiful and such an amazing roller coaster. I found Karin from a book of the month type club like 15 years ago and I have been on the band wagon ever since. Her books make me feel so much. They are probably some of the more gruesome books I have ever read, but I appreciate the delicacy and commitment that Will and Sara and their teams give to make sure that the bad guys get what is coming to them. The detail from a police procedural stand point is so fascinating. You can tell that Karin puts a lot of time into her books with how much background she gives us. It is enough to get you hooked and want to keep reading to find out what happens. Add in this budding love that has now fully blossomed and I am a goner. This one is especially angsty because Sara's now deceased hubby was back in the picture from the dead. If you haven't picked her up yet, I can't recommend her enough. 

Will Trent has found himself outside of the dredges of the earth also known as a prison in south Georgia. An inmate has been murdered and now he has found himself in a conference room with a different inmate who has intel he is willing to trade for. He wants his case reopened and he will get them details on what has been happening. Unfortunately the case involved Jeffrey, Sara's ex husband. The same Jeffrey who can do no wrong. The same Jeffrey that Will has unconsciously compared himself to the whole time he has been dating or even contemplating dating Sara. Now he has to tell her that they are going to reopen one of his cases which leads to the discovery that a serial killer has been operating in their state undetected for almost 10 years at this point. Now Will and his partner Faith are trying to get ahead before someone else is found. Sara is pulled in because she was on the team that worked the old case. As secrets are uncovered all signs point to the killer being someone close. But how close? Will Sara and Will make it out of this because situation has not helped their relationship which has already been stressed. 

Sara is so frustrated with Will. They had a convo a month ago about their future and then nothing since then. They have felt adrift but not. And now they are having to deal with the elephant in the room that is her ex husband Jeffrey. There is evidence of a case they thought they had solved being inaccurate. There is evidence that there is a serial killer on the loose that no one has known about. Sara is having to relive the trauma of these cases which has reopened her personal trauma of losing her husband and her rape. She doesn't know how to act but knows she has to help these women find closure. So she does what she does best- she studies the bodies. She does what she can to find this madman, but will she survive when they find out who it is? She knows Will is her forever but which of them will crack first. Tensions are high on all fronts in this one. 

Like with all of Karin's books, this was a slow burn that I could NOT put down. I love all of these characters except Lena of course BUT I understand why she has to stick around. I did find myself wondering if there would ever be a spinoff of Faith's life. There are multiple POVs in this one which I loved. I also enjoyed reading about Sara and Jeffery in this one. We have never gotten a glimpse into this part of their life and it was interesting to see their romance die and then slowly knit back together. I can't wait to start the next one!

a silent wife is really good book that just keeps you guessing!! i would’ve never guessed who it was though, not in a million years. defo recommend reading it, but also be aware that sexual assault/rape is a really heavy theme throughout it. and turns out it’s actually number 10 in the will trent series, but i hadn’t read any of the other books and understood it
challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

slarosa51212's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 41%

200 pages in and we’ve gotten nowhere, and I literally can’t understand the point of the book. DNF’ed at this point

I loved this book. It may be my favorite. And not just because it shook me to my core. For many reasons. Well played. I didn’t even see it coming. Kudos!

This one was a little predictable, and the relationship between Sara and Will was annoying me (just talk to each other, geez!), but I still enjoyed it for the most part. Warning that it is very gory and has a lot of sexual assault.
adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

I really liked this one overall but it is the first book in either of the series where it was like so blindingly obvious who the killer was that I was convinced it must have been a very big red herring because otherwise it was just like a big flashing light from the very beginning, but nope, it was just very very obvious.