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pause_theframe's review
4.0
This was a really great read. I wasn’t sure what to expect, being nee to this author’s work, but I loved the blurb and just had to read it.
I found the storyline to be excellent . As promised, it has an excellent comedic value, with dark undertones, making it the perfect kind of humour for me. I liked the flow of the story, which was realistic, with the dash of flare thrown in, with the twist about who she had to turn to to save her head.
The characters brought the story to life. They fit so well in the story and really made it a fun read. I liked the way they fit in the neighbourhood abs how that defined the life of the main character.
Overall, a great read and one I would highly recommend, especially for something a little different.
I found the storyline to be excellent . As promised, it has an excellent comedic value, with dark undertones, making it the perfect kind of humour for me. I liked the flow of the story, which was realistic, with the dash of flare thrown in, with the twist about who she had to turn to to save her head.
The characters brought the story to life. They fit so well in the story and really made it a fun read. I liked the way they fit in the neighbourhood abs how that defined the life of the main character.
Overall, a great read and one I would highly recommend, especially for something a little different.
magyklyxdelish's review
2.0
So Beth finds out her husband is cheating on her with her much younger neighbor and 2 weeks later he dies. She becomes the main suspect once it’s discovered it wasn’t a heart attack like everyone thought. So her group of fellow housewife “friends” rally around her to try to figure out who-dunit.
This book sucked me in with the promise of unlikely female friendships and dark humor. What I got was a story involving catty woman who were not likable and I can count on one hand the amount of chapters I laughed in. (The first. Just the first one)
The mystery itself was intriguing enough to keep me reading to find out what happened. That’s one of the few positives I can say. I also did like Beth’s character. Hers was the only one though.
The biggest thing I didn’t like was reading in Gina’s perspective. The “hot young yoga teacher” whom Beth’s husband was having an affair with. She was incredibly annoying. I feel like the author knows she’s a home wrecker and wanted us to like her so she wrote her as the overly innocent and naive woman. It came across as cringey and especially annoying when she express sadness over the fact that no one gives her condolences for losing Howard. It really just felt like we were supposed to think she was evolved because she was willing to put her differences aside and be friends with Beth when Beth wasn’t wanting to do the same, which can you blame her? I might have been able to like this character if she felt more real and natural. However it just felt forced and the “nice, innocent, naive” act didn’t feel believable. I genuinely couldn’t stand being in her head the more the story went on.
Speaking of characters that weren’t likable, the housewife “friends” definitely were not. They came across as those mean girls everyone knows from high school that pretend to be nice to your face but talk shit behind your back. And the kids! Don’t get me started on the kids. They were huge manipulative little assholes. I mean I know teenagers are assholes in real life but when everyone else in the book already isn’t likable it’s just like...cmon do the kids have to suck too?
My next complaint had to do with the romantic interests for Beth. First of all she didn’t need 2 and secondly they both just felt forced and shoehorned. I feel like if the moments with the two guys were taken out and replaced with more scenes with her supposed “friends” maybe I would have walked away feeling like I got the feel good female friendship I was promised.
My final issue is the weird cringey moments. Moments in the book that literally made me scrunch my nose and say what the fuck.
The first moment this happened was when Gina describes her brothers penis and body in admiration. As a woman with a brother I literally almost DNFed the book right there. I get they are twins and close and Gina specifically says it’s not sexual, that was so fucking WEIRD. So weird.
The next was when Gina has an orgasm just by staring. STARING. That was more unbelievable and just made me roll my eyes more than anything else, but it was just like...unnecessary to the plot.
However going over those two instances, the first one was just honestly the weirdest and grossest and I’m honestly surprised I kept reading after that.
I know all of this sounds like a bad review and that I hated it, but I didn’t. I didn’t like it but I didn’t hate it. The mystery was intriguing enough to keep me reading and there’s a nice moment at the end that involves a gift Beth makes for one of the girls that actually felt a little heartwarming. This book had some good moments but in the end it just wasn’t for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me access to this ARC.
This book sucked me in with the promise of unlikely female friendships and dark humor. What I got was a story involving catty woman who were not likable and I can count on one hand the amount of chapters I laughed in. (The first. Just the first one)
The mystery itself was intriguing enough to keep me reading to find out what happened. That’s one of the few positives I can say. I also did like Beth’s character. Hers was the only one though.
The biggest thing I didn’t like was reading in Gina’s perspective. The “hot young yoga teacher” whom Beth’s husband was having an affair with. She was incredibly annoying. I feel like the author knows she’s a home wrecker and wanted us to like her so she wrote her as the overly innocent and naive woman. It came across as cringey and especially annoying when she express sadness over the fact that no one gives her condolences for losing Howard. It really just felt like we were supposed to think she was evolved because she was willing to put her differences aside and be friends with Beth when Beth wasn’t wanting to do the same, which can you blame her? I might have been able to like this character if she felt more real and natural. However it just felt forced and the “nice, innocent, naive” act didn’t feel believable. I genuinely couldn’t stand being in her head the more the story went on.
Speaking of characters that weren’t likable, the housewife “friends” definitely were not. They came across as those mean girls everyone knows from high school that pretend to be nice to your face but talk shit behind your back. And the kids! Don’t get me started on the kids. They were huge manipulative little assholes. I mean I know teenagers are assholes in real life but when everyone else in the book already isn’t likable it’s just like...cmon do the kids have to suck too?
My next complaint had to do with the romantic interests for Beth. First of all she didn’t need 2 and secondly they both just felt forced and shoehorned. I feel like if the moments with the two guys were taken out and replaced with more scenes with her supposed “friends” maybe I would have walked away feeling like I got the feel good female friendship I was promised.
My final issue is the weird cringey moments. Moments in the book that literally made me scrunch my nose and say what the fuck.
The first moment this happened was when Gina describes her brothers penis and body in admiration. As a woman with a brother I literally almost DNFed the book right there. I get they are twins and close and Gina specifically says it’s not sexual, that was so fucking WEIRD. So weird.
The next was when Gina has an orgasm just by staring. STARING. That was more unbelievable and just made me roll my eyes more than anything else, but it was just like...unnecessary to the plot.
However going over those two instances, the first one was just honestly the weirdest and grossest and I’m honestly surprised I kept reading after that.
I know all of this sounds like a bad review and that I hated it, but I didn’t. I didn’t like it but I didn’t hate it. The mystery was intriguing enough to keep me reading and there’s a nice moment at the end that involves a gift Beth makes for one of the girls that actually felt a little heartwarming. This book had some good moments but in the end it just wasn’t for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me access to this ARC.
rozlev's review
4.0
Maybe more like 3.5. This is chick lit. Very easy, quick read. Breezy writing style. No surprises, but enjoyable.
booksaremypeople's review
4.0
Beth, a recently widowed potter, has the unfortunate bad luck of living next to her husband’s mistress, yoga instructor, Gina. But the stakes are raised when Beth is suspected of murdering her estranged husband. Told using alternating point of views between Beth and Gina, Housewife Chronicles looks at the compassion necessary when there’s a seismic shift in family makeup. The prose is fast-paced and blunt at times with plot twists and turns at every corner. Fans of Big Little Lies and Not That I Could Tell will love this book! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced review copy.
meganlee3001's review
5.0
Review time!
The Housewife Chronicles by Jennifer Snow.
*Synopsis*
Finding out her husband was cheating on her two weeks before his death should have been the worst thing to happen to Beth Cartwright that year. But being a widowed, single mom in a community of upper-class housewives is proving to be far more difficult.
Living next door to her husband's mistress-Gina Thompson, a hot yoga instructor, has Beth wanting to pack up her teenage kids and get the hell out of the neighborhood. But when she becomes a suspect in her husband's death, she needs to rely on the other neighborhood housewives and her husband's mistress to prove she is innocent.
*My Thoughts*
For a book about murder this was such a feel good book!
The characters were fantastic, I loved every one of them in there own way and there wasn't one perspective I found boring.
The pacing of the story was spot on. The plot moved seamlessly, not always focused on the murder but still keeping my interest.
Once I picked it up, I found it so hard to put down and when I did, I was always looking forward to picking it up again.
The element of humour throughout this book was fantastic. Dark humour but well done and well timed.
If I had to give one tiny criticism it would be that at times the writing came across slightly juvenile but that was at very brief moments and that's being super picky.
My favourite thing was the development of Beth's character. I enjoyed watching the relationships grow between those around her and with herself.
Five star read!
The Housewife Chronicles by Jennifer Snow.
*Synopsis*
Finding out her husband was cheating on her two weeks before his death should have been the worst thing to happen to Beth Cartwright that year. But being a widowed, single mom in a community of upper-class housewives is proving to be far more difficult.
Living next door to her husband's mistress-Gina Thompson, a hot yoga instructor, has Beth wanting to pack up her teenage kids and get the hell out of the neighborhood. But when she becomes a suspect in her husband's death, she needs to rely on the other neighborhood housewives and her husband's mistress to prove she is innocent.
*My Thoughts*
For a book about murder this was such a feel good book!
The characters were fantastic, I loved every one of them in there own way and there wasn't one perspective I found boring.
The pacing of the story was spot on. The plot moved seamlessly, not always focused on the murder but still keeping my interest.
Once I picked it up, I found it so hard to put down and when I did, I was always looking forward to picking it up again.
The element of humour throughout this book was fantastic. Dark humour but well done and well timed.
If I had to give one tiny criticism it would be that at times the writing came across slightly juvenile but that was at very brief moments and that's being super picky.
My favourite thing was the development of Beth's character. I enjoyed watching the relationships grow between those around her and with herself.
Five star read!
mybooksandkidsbooks's review
4.0
Chronicles by Jennifer Snow
Beth’s husband had an affair, moved in with his mistress and then died 2 weeks later. This leaves her in a bit of a mess. Especially when it turns out he died from poisoning and she seems to be the top suspect. Also his mistress happens to be her next door neighbour, Gina. Not a good time to be Beth.
At first I was worried this would be a little too predictable with the stressed out stay at home mom and a cheating husband story line. But Beth was just so likeable! She was sarcastic, funny and real. Gina was naive but difficult to hate. Their group of girlfriends were entertaining and relatable.
I definitely recommend this one. Thank you to @netgalley for my advanced copy! Housewife Chronicles is out on January 12th.
Beth’s husband had an affair, moved in with his mistress and then died 2 weeks later. This leaves her in a bit of a mess. Especially when it turns out he died from poisoning and she seems to be the top suspect. Also his mistress happens to be her next door neighbour, Gina. Not a good time to be Beth.
At first I was worried this would be a little too predictable with the stressed out stay at home mom and a cheating husband story line. But Beth was just so likeable! She was sarcastic, funny and real. Gina was naive but difficult to hate. Their group of girlfriends were entertaining and relatable.
I definitely recommend this one. Thank you to @netgalley for my advanced copy! Housewife Chronicles is out on January 12th.
meldav4's review
4.0
I read Housewife Chronicles in ONE day, I LOVED it! After reading the summary, I assumed this was going to be a light, fluffy, “chic lit” type of read, but it was not what I expected at all! There was so much more substance to it than that, and though there were certainly some humorous scenes between the housewife friends, there was also some sophisticated mystery, romance, and drama to round it all out. Aside from the author’s talent with her writing prose, the characters are what truly made this a great book. They were so eclectic, unique, and enjoyable and I found myself entertained and intrigued page after page, especially by Beth. I love her! Great book!
smilesgiggle's review
5.0
This is women's fiction at it's best.
Two weeks after Beth learns of her husband's affair with the young, sexy yoga instructor living next door, he's dead. With an erection.
Beth is trying to keep it together- her kids are lying; her creativity is dead. Thank goodness for her coffee club- neighborhood women meeting weekly to gossip.
Gina is utterly devastated. As the other woman, obviously she lacks the community's support- she's adrift. Her twin brother, Gino, stays for a few weeks to lend support and guidance.
Then Howard's death is ruled a homicide.
Told from both Beth and Gina's point of view helped not only define both characters but also add suspense to the mystery of Howard's death. Women uplifting women, providing support and humor.
Great read. Highly recommend.
Two weeks after Beth learns of her husband's affair with the young, sexy yoga instructor living next door, he's dead. With an erection.
Beth is trying to keep it together- her kids are lying; her creativity is dead. Thank goodness for her coffee club- neighborhood women meeting weekly to gossip.
Gina is utterly devastated. As the other woman, obviously she lacks the community's support- she's adrift. Her twin brother, Gino, stays for a few weeks to lend support and guidance.
Then Howard's death is ruled a homicide.
Told from both Beth and Gina's point of view helped not only define both characters but also add suspense to the mystery of Howard's death. Women uplifting women, providing support and humor.
Great read. Highly recommend.
alwaysreadingreview's review
4.0
Beth could have saved herself a lot of pain if she would have done some things differently. Great ending
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes!
Read more from this author? Yes!
Happy Reading!
Melissa
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes!
Read more from this author? Yes!
Happy Reading!
Melissa
kimziemae's review
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0