A review by ashylibrarian
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I have been putting off this review for a long time and I think it is because I am not quite sure what to say about this book. It was good. Interesting. But it didn't blow me out of the water. I have not read Jane Eyre, so I cannot speak on the connections to that story, but I was drawn in by Rachel Hawkins's twist on the story. 

I found the characters to be intriguing but not likable. Quite honestly, I was annoyed by Jane's incessant want to be in the riches crowd. It was annoying and made her character come off as manipulative, fake, and vindictive. And Eddie's character, I just couldn't trust. I wanted to like him, but then something would happen and I would become super suspicious of him and his motives again. 

As for Bea, I thought her character brought shape to the story along with some shocking events, but the transitions between her narration in the present and the past felt really choppy and muddy to me. This could be because I listened to the audio version, but I definitely think better transitions could have been used. 

I did enjoy the story, and I am interested in reading this book in physical formate to see if that makes a difference in my opinions, but I think I would like to pick up Jane Eyre first.
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