Reviews with content warning for Torture - My Lovely Wife

So I saw 99.9% of the big twists coming a mile away. Which isn't what I like in a thriller tbh. I like to figure it out slowly.

Literally one line was all I didn't predict.

That said I enjoyed watching it slowly dawn on the extremely ridiculous main character that he had made big mistakes and was in serious danger. It felt like every chapter past a certain point was just another nail in the coffin. Fun to unravel.

He was really unlikable and not in a fun way so I didn't exactly feel bad for him, even if I couldn't root for this particular woman's wrongs.

His wife wasn't even really a person. She was a weird obvious murderer. Such a minimal personality beyond control freak. And I like control freaks!

That said he felt unbelievably dense.

Overall was hooked in and didn't want to stop reading but also just felt really disappointed in the end.

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britah's review

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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anniey's review

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dark 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? No

3.5

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amberlfaris's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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ldruckreier's review

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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

4.0

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nickoliver's review against another edition

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tense 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

2.75

I expected more from this. It was a bit boring, and not much happened, and I could see the plot twist from honestly pretty much the beginning. (And honestly,

the fact that the book was called "My Lovely Wife" didn't really help, either. It was a dead giveaway that Millicent was more sinister than the main character assumed

.) There were a few twists and turns that were intriguing, but Downing kind of concentrated on the wrong things all the time, and a lot of things didn't really make sense. For example, the reason why they started killing in the first place. (Also. Almost everything could've been prevented if the main character had actually communicated with his wife sometimes.)

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moonwaterotter's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

3.75

I predicted the twists which took some of the fun out of it, but that’s my own fault for trying to solve the book as I read it. This is the second of Downing’s that I’ve read, and she writes from the perspective of the worst men i s2g.
All said, I did mostly enjoy it. I had an actually wtf moment halfway through the book and it was the biggest highlight for me.
And now here’s a list of my thoughts that is FULL of spoilers.

I almost DNF’d right off the bat when he first pretends to be “deaf Tobias” and ultimately realized that judging the moral compass of a serial killer is a stupid place to draw a line. But I still didn’t like that as an angle.
I immediately knew that Millicent was the “evil sister” growing up and waiting for the main character to realize that was absolutely agonizing.
I literally said “what the f-uck” out loud whenever they announced that Trista killed herself. Like at this point, I thought maybe she had helped Owen in the past (and maybe she did honestly who knows) but that’s not what I was expecting.
I also figured out Millicent was poisoning Jenna almost immediately. I thought the book was going to climax with Millicent saying she had kidnapped and killed all of the women because she was an Owen fan-girl and that she and Owen were going to murder Jenna together or something.
I thought Kekona was going to be the third victim and the cops were going to catch him at her house or something. I also thought the descriptions of Kekona were a bit strange and didn’t really sit right with me. (As well as the description of Trista’s sister at the funeral.)
I think it’s pretty fucked that the main character never tells Andy that he KNOWS WHY his wife killed herself.
The ending is cheeky but I wish they both died, not just Millicent.

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oliverreeds's review

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challenging dark mysterious 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

4.75

Millicent is a badass and she terrifies me. Wildin. I really enjoyed this book

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