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booksamongstfriends 's review for:
The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey
by Astrid Dahl
Overall: 2/5 Narration: 3.5/5
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for this egalley. I had this book sitting on my TBR for a while, but I really wanted to have the audiobook because the concept sounded like such a fun ride. As someone who loves reality TV, especially the behind-the-scenes of how these shows operate, I was excited to see how the book would play with those ideas. One of my favorite TV shows is UnREAL, which gives a dark and messy look into the making of reality dating shows, so I was hoping this would offer a similar kind of insight and over-the-top drama. But I think my expectations were too high.
This book definitely has secrets, scandals, and mess, but it struggles to commit to a specific tone. It wants to be satire, comedy, mystery, and thriller all at once, but because it never prioritizes one of these elements, everything about it feels uneven. Some readers have compared the experience of reading it to watching reality TV, but for me, it felt more like having an episode of your least favorite show playing in the background—where it’s there, but you’re not really tuned in.
The book starts by introducing us to each of the characters and gives us their personas and "confessionals," but the confessionals feel flat. I wished the confessional sections were better used to provide more character depth. Instead they feel vapid and tell way too much. And honestly, one of the biggest flaws of the book is how much telling there is versus showing. The book tells on itself so early that by the time anything actually happens, it’s not shocking at all. It spends so much time setting up relationships, revealing secrets in a way that isn’t even revealing, and dragging through daily, uneventful scenes that it really takes too long to get to the first big turning point. So you can see why the pacing is another major issue. We don’t even get the big death—something that should be the catalyst for the mystery—until over 50% into the book. In a book like this, that’s way too late for me personally. Especially given that even with time put into explaining the relationships of the characters, we don’t feel connected to them. If this had been structured differently, with the inciting event happening early on and the rest of the book focusing on the fallout, it could have been much stronger.
At the core of the story, we’re following two cousins, Eden and Hope. The book tries to create a mystery around them—two cousins who left behind their pasts and are trying to start fresh. But even their character arcs feel off. Hope, who supposedly wants to keep a low profile because of something in her past, decides to go on reality television of all things. That makes no sense. If she were really trying to stay hidden, a show where she’d be constantly filmed and scrutinized would be the last place she’d go. It would have made more sense if Eden had been the one with the secret past since she works behind the scenes and wouldn’t get screen time. But instead, we have Hope on TV, despite being linked to a literal mafia plot via her new fiancé. The book seems to be a send-up of Real Housewives of New Jersey and Mob Wives, so I get the reference, but the execution never pushes its far enough. Like, commit to bit. Please!
For a book with this concept, I wanted mess. Chaos. Cattiness. And instead, we get a little petty commentary and some catty remarks, but it never really goes there. If you’re someone who follows Real Housewives drama religiously, you might appreciate some of the references, but for me, it just wasn’t messy enough. There’s no over-the-top drama, no iconic fights, no real chaos—it’s just there. This book could’ve been a satirical piece holding mirror to reality as a predatory system and those who fall into that industry. It could’ve been a campy bundle of fun, but it kept missing the mark. The characters felt surface-level—never in a way that feels like intentional satire, but in a way that just made them boring. Whether they were on or off camera, they never had depth.
This is where the book’s lack of commitment really hurts it. It tries to balance humor, mystery, and satire, but because it holds back instead of fully embracing the absurdity of its premise, it ends up feeling tame. It needed to be bigger, messier, and campier. I wanted to see huge fights, ridiculous betrayals, jaw-dropping twists—but instead, everything felt underwhelming.
**Spoilers Below** Stop reading here if you don’t want my spoiler rant lol.
A lot of things were painfully obvious early on. Pierre being the mastermind behind everything? Called it. Even when I briefly doubted it, I thought the maid might be involved because of all the hints about her muttering under her breath and hating her job. When Pierre wasn’t the first to die, it became even clearer that he had to be the culprit.
Hope’s death should have been a major moment, but the way Eden reacted felt completely out of character. She’s written as this cutthroat, “the show must go on” type of person, but suddenly, she cares? Even though she was the one who put Hope at risk by bringing her onto the show in the first place? It didn’t make sense. This applies even more so when you get to the end.
Leo, Hope’s fiancé, was another disappointment. His casual approach to saying, "Oh yeah, I know you’re having an affair with Renee, but whatever, I’m sleeping with someone else too," felt forced. And when it’s revealed that he and Carmela were hooking up, it wasn’t a surprise at all. The book spends so much time telling us that they have weird, tense interactions that it’s obvious what’s happening before we’re supposed to figure it out. The way everything was revealed felt anticlimactic because of how much it was foreshadowed without subtlety.
The poison plotline was also a huge letdown. For a book about a Housewives-style reality show, the deaths could have been so much more creative. They could have leaned into Final Destination-style, set-related accidents or something different, but instead, we get poison. Such a wasted opportunity. Not only that, but once Hope dies, the book tells you outright who’s going to be suspected, so the rest of the mystery unravels exactly how you’d expect. And then Leo kills Carmela, Carmela’s partner kills him, and just when things finally start getting entertaining, it all rushes to a dull, predictable conclusion.
And then there’s Hope’s big secret—her ex-girlfriend killed her parents. That should have been a jaw-dropping moment, but it’s written in such a casual way that it barely registers. When the ex gets arrested, it’s like, "Oh, okay. Let’s move on." Same with Pierre. Once he’s caught trying to flee the country, it’s a shrug moment instead of a climax. The whole book builds up these reveals only to deliver them in the least exciting way possible for the reader.
Even after all that, the book still drags on. A whole year passes, and suddenly Eden is dating Renee—the same woman Hope had an affair with and clearly had feelings for? Make it make sense. It was clear the author was attempting to drag out the story to leave room for a sequel— of which I hope there isn’t one.
Final Thoughts
This book had so much potential, but it played it too safe. The premise was perfect for a juicy, over-the-top mystery, but instead, we got a slow-moving, lukewarm story that never fully commits to any of its ideas. If you want a cozy mystery with a little bit of sass, I could see this book being for you. But if you’re looking for a Real Housewives-style scandal-filled thriller, this could disappoint you.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for this egalley. I had this book sitting on my TBR for a while, but I really wanted to have the audiobook because the concept sounded like such a fun ride. As someone who loves reality TV, especially the behind-the-scenes of how these shows operate, I was excited to see how the book would play with those ideas. One of my favorite TV shows is UnREAL, which gives a dark and messy look into the making of reality dating shows, so I was hoping this would offer a similar kind of insight and over-the-top drama. But I think my expectations were too high.
This book definitely has secrets, scandals, and mess, but it struggles to commit to a specific tone. It wants to be satire, comedy, mystery, and thriller all at once, but because it never prioritizes one of these elements, everything about it feels uneven. Some readers have compared the experience of reading it to watching reality TV, but for me, it felt more like having an episode of your least favorite show playing in the background—where it’s there, but you’re not really tuned in.
The book starts by introducing us to each of the characters and gives us their personas and "confessionals," but the confessionals feel flat. I wished the confessional sections were better used to provide more character depth. Instead they feel vapid and tell way too much. And honestly, one of the biggest flaws of the book is how much telling there is versus showing. The book tells on itself so early that by the time anything actually happens, it’s not shocking at all. It spends so much time setting up relationships, revealing secrets in a way that isn’t even revealing, and dragging through daily, uneventful scenes that it really takes too long to get to the first big turning point. So you can see why the pacing is another major issue. We don’t even get the big death—something that should be the catalyst for the mystery—until over 50% into the book. In a book like this, that’s way too late for me personally. Especially given that even with time put into explaining the relationships of the characters, we don’t feel connected to them. If this had been structured differently, with the inciting event happening early on and the rest of the book focusing on the fallout, it could have been much stronger.
At the core of the story, we’re following two cousins, Eden and Hope. The book tries to create a mystery around them—two cousins who left behind their pasts and are trying to start fresh. But even their character arcs feel off. Hope, who supposedly wants to keep a low profile because of something in her past, decides to go on reality television of all things. That makes no sense. If she were really trying to stay hidden, a show where she’d be constantly filmed and scrutinized would be the last place she’d go. It would have made more sense if Eden had been the one with the secret past since she works behind the scenes and wouldn’t get screen time. But instead, we have Hope on TV, despite being linked to a literal mafia plot via her new fiancé. The book seems to be a send-up of Real Housewives of New Jersey and Mob Wives, so I get the reference, but the execution never pushes its far enough. Like, commit to bit. Please!
For a book with this concept, I wanted mess. Chaos. Cattiness. And instead, we get a little petty commentary and some catty remarks, but it never really goes there. If you’re someone who follows Real Housewives drama religiously, you might appreciate some of the references, but for me, it just wasn’t messy enough. There’s no over-the-top drama, no iconic fights, no real chaos—it’s just there. This book could’ve been a satirical piece holding mirror to reality as a predatory system and those who fall into that industry. It could’ve been a campy bundle of fun, but it kept missing the mark. The characters felt surface-level—never in a way that feels like intentional satire, but in a way that just made them boring. Whether they were on or off camera, they never had depth.
This is where the book’s lack of commitment really hurts it. It tries to balance humor, mystery, and satire, but because it holds back instead of fully embracing the absurdity of its premise, it ends up feeling tame. It needed to be bigger, messier, and campier. I wanted to see huge fights, ridiculous betrayals, jaw-dropping twists—but instead, everything felt underwhelming.
**Spoilers Below** Stop reading here if you don’t want my spoiler rant lol.
A lot of things were painfully obvious early on. Pierre being the mastermind behind everything? Called it. Even when I briefly doubted it, I thought the maid might be involved because of all the hints about her muttering under her breath and hating her job. When Pierre wasn’t the first to die, it became even clearer that he had to be the culprit.
Hope’s death should have been a major moment, but the way Eden reacted felt completely out of character. She’s written as this cutthroat, “the show must go on” type of person, but suddenly, she cares? Even though she was the one who put Hope at risk by bringing her onto the show in the first place? It didn’t make sense. This applies even more so when you get to the end.
Leo, Hope’s fiancé, was another disappointment. His casual approach to saying, "Oh yeah, I know you’re having an affair with Renee, but whatever, I’m sleeping with someone else too," felt forced. And when it’s revealed that he and Carmela were hooking up, it wasn’t a surprise at all. The book spends so much time telling us that they have weird, tense interactions that it’s obvious what’s happening before we’re supposed to figure it out. The way everything was revealed felt anticlimactic because of how much it was foreshadowed without subtlety.
The poison plotline was also a huge letdown. For a book about a Housewives-style reality show, the deaths could have been so much more creative. They could have leaned into Final Destination-style, set-related accidents or something different, but instead, we get poison. Such a wasted opportunity. Not only that, but once Hope dies, the book tells you outright who’s going to be suspected, so the rest of the mystery unravels exactly how you’d expect. And then Leo kills Carmela, Carmela’s partner kills him, and just when things finally start getting entertaining, it all rushes to a dull, predictable conclusion.
And then there’s Hope’s big secret—her ex-girlfriend killed her parents. That should have been a jaw-dropping moment, but it’s written in such a casual way that it barely registers. When the ex gets arrested, it’s like, "Oh, okay. Let’s move on." Same with Pierre. Once he’s caught trying to flee the country, it’s a shrug moment instead of a climax. The whole book builds up these reveals only to deliver them in the least exciting way possible for the reader.
Even after all that, the book still drags on. A whole year passes, and suddenly Eden is dating Renee—the same woman Hope had an affair with and clearly had feelings for? Make it make sense. It was clear the author was attempting to drag out the story to leave room for a sequel— of which I hope there isn’t one.
Final Thoughts
This book had so much potential, but it played it too safe. The premise was perfect for a juicy, over-the-top mystery, but instead, we got a slow-moving, lukewarm story that never fully commits to any of its ideas. If you want a cozy mystery with a little bit of sass, I could see this book being for you. But if you’re looking for a Real Housewives-style scandal-filled thriller, this could disappoint you.