Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

3 reviews

torturedreadersdept's review

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, and Alcohol

Minor: Dysphoria, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Infidelity, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, and Stalking

spaghettireads's review

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Blood, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Grief, and Pregnancy

thecriticalreader's review

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Run-Down: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio is an entertaining exploration of a creative hypothetical.

 

Review: 

What if you got to explore parallel universes in which you get married? A single woman named Lauren unexpectedly finds herself in this position when she comes home one day to find a strange man in her house who claims to be her husband. Despite Lauren’s protests to the contrary, everything in her life—her family, her house decorations, her text history in her phone—point to her being married. When the husband goes up into the attic, a new husband appears. Lauren discovers that every time a husband goes up into the attic, a new one will appear and her life shifts to a parallel universe in which she is married to that man. The book wastes no time in kicking off the plot (she meets the first husband on the very first page), and Lauren starts exploring married life with men she doesn’t remember.

 

The Husbands has the sort of premise that could easily turn existential or preachy, but the book keeps things simple: you get what the blurb promises, which is new husbands spawning out of the attic and the shenanigans that follow. Gramazio does an excellent job conveying sufficient realism for suspension of disbelief without getting bogged down in plot complications or metaphysics. For example, the main character responds to her situation with an appropriate level of confusion and alarm, but she also adapts quickly to the attic husbands. In fact, Lauren displays a refreshing wit and levelheadedness in the face of this strange scenario (although she loses it a bit toward the end and makes some deeply questionable choices). The fast-paced plot, original premise, and sprinkling of humor result in a fun, if not particularly memorable, reading experience. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Sexual content, Vomit, and Drug use

Minor: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury