A review by minimicropup
My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

dark emotional 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

1.0

I listened to the audiobook and the first bit was great - I was expecting it to continue where…
this couple starts off at super toxic codependent relationship vibes where you hate them but can’t look away as the husband scouts out vulnerable women and the wife kills them out of a mish-mashed motive of personality disordered revenge/rage/past trauma and they get away with it by copycat murdering
. Instead it was one of the most child-centric parenting struggle motif books I’ve ever read. Like a weird slowly evolving custody battle…It’s kind of impressive, that someone could write a serial killer duo turned spousal revenge story into a drama about the struggle of parents who probably don’t even want kids but have them now so they over-compensate and resent. That’s my take on it at least. Somehow this story was so boring, I kept waiting for the good parts to morph into something but it didn’t and there was a bit of villain monologue at the end. Mid book felt like a lot of Rory being into video games, bribing his dad, and sucking at school, and Jenna being too dense to read the room that no one cares about her sports points. Oh and the parents are so focused on hiding their serial killer lifestyle from their children that the kids are written as if they’re their landlord/boss/religious deity in a way. Sorry, it just wasn’t for me but I thought the premise was unique
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