A review by danilebron
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.75

this book has me a little conflicted. i liked some aspects of it, but it kinda lost its’ bite towards the end. also, i feel like this book needed content warnings on the first page or something (maybe i missed them but i didn’t think so).

i feel like the extra twist at the end with emma was unnecessary, and some of the pieces in vanessa's backstory also felt unnecessary. like i think either the thing with maggie or the thing with daniel should’ve happened, i don’t think it needed both. there came a point where the “twists” just felt like okay whatever. i think the epilogue of the book kinda softens the blow of the ending. 

i liked vanessa’s character at times and i think this is in part due to the style in which the story was told. the first part of the book had me and i read that so fast. i can’t say i saw the twist at the end of the first part of the book which was nice. i liked seeing vanessa in the most sinister/unhinged/chaotic light because it really made her actions towards the end believable. once the twist at the end of part one was revealed we lost that side of her so you kinda just have to believe she would have the guts to act how she did. i wish they would’ve played more with her understanding the truth and how she mentioned there was richard’s truth, her truth and then just the truth. 

i kinda wish this book leaned a little bit more into the different women of the story being manipulative or cunning or something! it felt like those things were thrown in last minute for the other women in the story and that we only gradually got that from vanessa. 

overall not a bad read but i don’t know if id recommend
 
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