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turley's review against another edition
5.0
The second half of this book… whoaa. The big reveal at the end GOT ME!
laurenck818's review against another edition
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.0
bookwormdanii's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
2.0
⭐️ 𝔹𝕆𝕆𝕂 ℝ𝔼𝕍𝕀𝔼𝕎 ⭐️
Unfaithful by Natalie Barelli
My Rating: 2/5⭐️
sᥡᥒ᥆⍴sіs:
When I arrive unannounced at my husband’s studio in need of a shoulder to cry on after hearing that my best student, Alex, has died, I see a pair of wine glasses drying by the sink and my deepest fear is confirmed: my husband is having an affair.
Most women would fall to their knees in tears and throw him out of the house—but I just can’t bring myself to do it.
Instead, I go home and cook a healthy dinner for our children, walk the dog and unload the dishwasher without complaint. I will make him see that I’m still the woman he married; attractive, successful, the glue that holds our perfect family together. I need this marriage to work to protect a terrible secret of my own, something that would destroy everything I’ve already sacrificed so much for.
But when the police arrive at my door asking questions about Alex’s death that I can’t answer, and threatening text messages start appearing on my phone, I know that someone close has been watching me very carefully.
The truth is, there are three people in my marriage, but only one of them is deadly…
mᥡ rᥱ᥎іᥱᥕ:
I really disliked this book but at the same time I couldn’t put it down. Anna was completely chaotic and she stressed me out the entire book. She physically gave me anxiety throughout the story. I felt the timeline was very jumpy and the time hops were not clearly marked. It felt like this book wasn’t even shown to an editor, the grammar was horrendous and the plot was all over the place. With all that said, I didn’t see the twist coming at the end. I think it’s safe to say I’ll stay away from books by this author.
m1972c's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The beginning is slow. and then the end kind of feels like the author throws everything together it feels to much. I love twists but although it was interesting. This was wrapped up way to quickly and didn't feel real enough.
isaacrm's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars to this one (meaning if you are into the genre, you should read this book).
This book caught me by surprise. I saw the reviews, and I decided to give it a shot. I didn't remember at the time that I've read another book from the author. This was a good thing because I didn't like the other book too much.
I'm glad I read it. The premise seemed interesting, but I wasn't expecting the result. The beginning of the book is a bit slow, but it helps building the characters and their relationships. Halfway through the book the story starts speeding up, and it takes you through several unexpected situations and resolutions. I, honestly, couldn't guess the ending, which is really what I love about mystery thrillers.
I highly recommend this book if you are into phycological thrillers.
This book caught me by surprise. I saw the reviews, and I decided to give it a shot. I didn't remember at the time that I've read another book from the author. This was a good thing because I didn't like the other book too much.
I'm glad I read it. The premise seemed interesting, but I wasn't expecting the result. The beginning of the book is a bit slow, but it helps building the characters and their relationships. Halfway through the book the story starts speeding up, and it takes you through several unexpected situations and resolutions. I, honestly, couldn't guess the ending, which is really what I love about mystery thrillers.
I highly recommend this book if you are into phycological thrillers.
captwinghead's review against another edition
3.0
What Natalie Barelli does best is write stories that make me feel like I’m watching a car crash. The unreliable narrators, the endless anxiety and secondhand embarrassment creeps in as you read about these characters trying to pull off these grand performances and they’re terrible actors. You know they’re seconds away from getting caught and their entire web of lies will unravel, but you can’t look away from it. This was no exception.
Anna is a greedy, self centered, jealous and incredibly poor liar. Things go badly for her partially because she just continues trying to put off all of her problems. She deletes emails that will hurt her career. She just ignores supposed threats to her reputation. She delays hearing about her husband’s affair because she just doesn’t want the confirmation. When everything comes to a head, you figure that’s the plot twist (Barelli’s books always seem to have one). However, I was surprised and a little put off by the twist in this one.
Something about the ending felt a little all over the place. The reveal that Luis was actually running around secretly killing people so they’d stay together didn’t make sense to me. Perhaps because of Anna’s view of his interest in her - maybe it was intended to look like he wasn’t in love with her any longer? I don’t know, he just didn’t seem that into her. Certainly not enough to murder Isabelle over her.
The ending with the notebooks was a little too nice and neat for me. I found it strange there was no record of the letter about him removing Anna’s name and that no one found her reluctance to show her work suspicious. The timing of everything should’ve raised red flags with Alex’s family and the police.
Anyway, it was an enjoyable read. Certainly better than the last thriller I read.
Anna is a greedy, self centered, jealous and incredibly poor liar. Things go badly for her partially because she just continues trying to put off all of her problems. She deletes emails that will hurt her career. She just ignores supposed threats to her reputation. She delays hearing about her husband’s affair because she just doesn’t want the confirmation. When everything comes to a head, you figure that’s the plot twist (Barelli’s books always seem to have one). However, I was surprised and a little put off by the twist in this one.
Something about the ending felt a little all over the place. The reveal that Luis was actually running around secretly killing people so they’d stay together didn’t make sense to me. Perhaps because of Anna’s view of his interest in her - maybe it was intended to look like he wasn’t in love with her any longer? I don’t know, he just didn’t seem that into her. Certainly not enough to murder Isabelle over her.
The ending with the notebooks was a little too nice and neat for me. I found it strange there was no record of the letter about him removing Anna’s name and that no one found her reluctance to show her work suspicious. The timing of everything should’ve raised red flags with Alex’s family and the police.
Anyway, it was an enjoyable read. Certainly better than the last thriller I read.
readsomemorekatie's review
3.0
This book gave me so much anxiety in the beginning that I stopped it for a while and listened to other things.
I kept thinking about the book though and couldn't pin point what was giving me the anxiety... the secrets? The lies? The cheating? I didn't think it was any of those things because I usually read REALLY dark books... like where none of the characters are the good guys but you love them anyway.
Finally, I pinpointed what it was that made me anxious. I HATED Anna. She just came off as so needy, sad and stupid. Her reactions were so unlike anything mine would be that it was making me riled up every time she made a decision NOT to do something.
Finally, I came back to this audio book while waiting for my Libby holds to be ready. Eh, the ending was okay. It definitely redeemed some of the book but I still wasn't really a fan of Anna. I felt that the ending of the book was a little rushed but by the time the big twist reveal happened, I was ready for it to all be over so I wasn't too disappointed. Middle of the road suspense with characters I wanted to like but really just didn't.
I kept thinking about the book though and couldn't pin point what was giving me the anxiety... the secrets? The lies? The cheating? I didn't think it was any of those things because I usually read REALLY dark books... like where none of the characters are the good guys but you love them anyway.
Finally, I pinpointed what it was that made me anxious. I HATED Anna. She just came off as so needy, sad and stupid. Her reactions were so unlike anything mine would be that it was making me riled up every time she made a decision NOT to do something.
Finally, I came back to this audio book while waiting for my Libby holds to be ready. Eh, the ending was okay. It definitely redeemed some of the book but I still wasn't really a fan of Anna. I felt that the ending of the book was a little rushed but by the time the big twist reveal happened, I was ready for it to all be over so I wasn't too disappointed. Middle of the road suspense with characters I wanted to like but really just didn't.
turtlesreads's review
4.0
Unfaithful by Natalie Barelli has borderline Verity vibes (with twists, turns, f'd upness, and a twisted ending).
The main character is a hot mess and irritated me at points but still a pretty good book and definitely worth checking out.
The main character is a hot mess and irritated me at points but still a pretty good book and definitely worth checking out.