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hayley_rose's review
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
stephanimichelle's review
4.0
This book was sent to me via bookbridgr for an honest review.
The Weekend Wives by Christina Hopkinson is about 3 women living in the countryside whilst their husbands work in the city, usually only visiting their families at the weekend.
Emily used to be a patents lawyer, and the breadwinner of her family; burnt out and craving a simpler lifestyle she and her husband Matt switch roles – he will go to work and she will raise the children. Moving back to the idyllic town where Matt grew up, Emily has dreams of cosy nights round the aga, walks with an adorable family dog and blackberry picking with her children. The reality is somewhat different – the non-aga-aga is a new menace to use, the family dog has issues and the children are more interested in their iPads and mobile phones. Emily is also worried about her husband; Matt seems distracted, and even when he’s at home he can’t be separated from his new work phone.
From the outside Sasha seems to have it all figured out; her children are very well behaved, her husband Ned has a successful career making films in LA and Sasha runs her own business sourcing ceramics. However family life isn’t as perfect as it seems; Sasha worries that her 15 year old daughter Bailey is too well behaved, and struggles to connect with her; Ned’s work in the states means that he rarely comes home, and their relationship is mostly conducted through Skype. Sasha is content to ignore these problems until a woman from Ned’s past gets in contact and shares a horrifying secret. Maybe Sasha doesn’t know her husband at all.
Tamsin is a trophy wife. She’s a good decade younger than her indulgent husband John, who delights in buying her expensive clothes, and takes an active role in her daily routines even though he works away in London most of the week. Tamsin was a scatty and somewhat rebellious teenager, and is the envy of her former neighbours when she moves back to the town she grew up in to renovate yet another house.
Desperate to make friends, Emily suggests forming The Weekend Wives club, and soon finds out that not everything in the countryside is what it seems.
This book wasn’t what I expected; it was actually quite thought provoking. I really enjoyed the way Sasha and her daughter’s relationship was handled – the “date night” made me giggle.
Tamsin and John are pretty much Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey without the BDSM and with an actual plot. John is extremely controlling, and Tamsin reacts to it appropriately*.
This is a really good book for reading on the plane, or on holiday and I will be looking for more from this author.
*Have I mentioned that I HATED Fifty Shades of Grey with a fiery passion??
The Weekend Wives by Christina Hopkinson is about 3 women living in the countryside whilst their husbands work in the city, usually only visiting their families at the weekend.
Emily used to be a patents lawyer, and the breadwinner of her family; burnt out and craving a simpler lifestyle she and her husband Matt switch roles – he will go to work and she will raise the children. Moving back to the idyllic town where Matt grew up, Emily has dreams of cosy nights round the aga, walks with an adorable family dog and blackberry picking with her children. The reality is somewhat different – the non-aga-aga is a new menace to use, the family dog has issues and the children are more interested in their iPads and mobile phones. Emily is also worried about her husband; Matt seems distracted, and even when he’s at home he can’t be separated from his new work phone.
From the outside Sasha seems to have it all figured out; her children are very well behaved, her husband Ned has a successful career making films in LA and Sasha runs her own business sourcing ceramics. However family life isn’t as perfect as it seems; Sasha worries that her 15 year old daughter Bailey is too well behaved, and struggles to connect with her; Ned’s work in the states means that he rarely comes home, and their relationship is mostly conducted through Skype. Sasha is content to ignore these problems until a woman from Ned’s past gets in contact and shares a horrifying secret. Maybe Sasha doesn’t know her husband at all.
Tamsin is a trophy wife. She’s a good decade younger than her indulgent husband John, who delights in buying her expensive clothes, and takes an active role in her daily routines even though he works away in London most of the week. Tamsin was a scatty and somewhat rebellious teenager, and is the envy of her former neighbours when she moves back to the town she grew up in to renovate yet another house.
Desperate to make friends, Emily suggests forming The Weekend Wives club, and soon finds out that not everything in the countryside is what it seems.
This book wasn’t what I expected; it was actually quite thought provoking. I really enjoyed the way Sasha and her daughter’s relationship was handled – the “date night” made me giggle.
Tamsin and John are pretty much Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey without the BDSM and with an actual plot. John is extremely controlling, and Tamsin reacts to it appropriately*.
This is a really good book for reading on the plane, or on holiday and I will be looking for more from this author.
*Have I mentioned that I HATED Fifty Shades of Grey with a fiery passion??
sarahs_bookish_life's review
4.0
The Weekend Wives is a lovely story of three very different women.
Emily, Tamsin and Sasha are all married yet have very different life styles. Even though they are all married, they don't seem to be overly happy about it. They seem to just be existing and what ever passion that they may have once had, seems to be lacking in the present.
Each woman seems to be having issues within their own family home and through the women getting together it helps them become clearer about what they want from their lives and their husbands.
I really enjoyed reading about all the women but I did find myself drawn to Emily more. I think it's because there seems to be more humour surrounding Emily. The parts with her and the much loved/hated family pet, Rafa were an absolute joy to read. I could easily imagine the dog through the authors descriptions and I just found him even more endearing the further into the story I got.
The Weekend Wives is a light hearted, yet at times, thought provoking read. It certainly lightened up my weekend reading and would certainly read more books by this author.
Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Emily, Tamsin and Sasha are all married yet have very different life styles. Even though they are all married, they don't seem to be overly happy about it. They seem to just be existing and what ever passion that they may have once had, seems to be lacking in the present.
Each woman seems to be having issues within their own family home and through the women getting together it helps them become clearer about what they want from their lives and their husbands.
I really enjoyed reading about all the women but I did find myself drawn to Emily more. I think it's because there seems to be more humour surrounding Emily. The parts with her and the much loved/hated family pet, Rafa were an absolute joy to read. I could easily imagine the dog through the authors descriptions and I just found him even more endearing the further into the story I got.
The Weekend Wives is a light hearted, yet at times, thought provoking read. It certainly lightened up my weekend reading and would certainly read more books by this author.
Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
snazzybooks's review
4.0
Reviewed on www.snazzybooks.com
I wasn't really sure what to expect from The Weekend Wives by Christina Hopkinson. At the beginning, or at least within the first 50 pages or so, I didn't feel overly impressed. The characters seemed really vapid and annoying and the story wasn't interesting me at all. However, I carried on with it, and was soon hooked!
Christina Hopkinson has managed to craft really likeable, intriguing characters in this novel that you can't help but rarher like. We learn more about not just Emily, Tasmin and Sasha, but about their families and everyday life too, and it makes for a refreshing and entertaining story. There seems to be lots of shrewd observations on relationships and family life- especially as a 'weekend wife'- with all its problems and many challenges, without being too downbeat or negative. I ended up really liking all 3 women, and I felt very sorry for Tasmin whilst really hating her husband John!
The element of mystery that was wound into many of these narratives kept me guessing throughout and meant there was lots of simultaneous storylines going on which I really enjoyed. The novel addressed some serious issues (which I won't go into here to avoid giving too much away) and I felt that the author presented them really well, considering the fact that some of them were tricky subjects. She managed to blend humour with serious subjects both skilfully and sensitively, resulting in a novel that I really enjoyed reading and would have happily read a lot more of!
I raced through this novel at a rate that surprised me; it's not very long- my copy is just over 300 pages long- but I didn't expect to get through it as quickly as I did! I would definitely recommend this novel for readers who fancy something fun, fairly easy to read and surprisingly thought-provoking.
* Many thanks to NewBooks magazine/ nudge-book.com for providing a copy of this novel in return for an honest review *
I wasn't really sure what to expect from The Weekend Wives by Christina Hopkinson. At the beginning, or at least within the first 50 pages or so, I didn't feel overly impressed. The characters seemed really vapid and annoying and the story wasn't interesting me at all. However, I carried on with it, and was soon hooked!
Christina Hopkinson has managed to craft really likeable, intriguing characters in this novel that you can't help but rarher like. We learn more about not just Emily, Tasmin and Sasha, but about their families and everyday life too, and it makes for a refreshing and entertaining story. There seems to be lots of shrewd observations on relationships and family life- especially as a 'weekend wife'- with all its problems and many challenges, without being too downbeat or negative. I ended up really liking all 3 women, and I felt very sorry for Tasmin whilst really hating her husband John!
The element of mystery that was wound into many of these narratives kept me guessing throughout and meant there was lots of simultaneous storylines going on which I really enjoyed. The novel addressed some serious issues (which I won't go into here to avoid giving too much away) and I felt that the author presented them really well, considering the fact that some of them were tricky subjects. She managed to blend humour with serious subjects both skilfully and sensitively, resulting in a novel that I really enjoyed reading and would have happily read a lot more of!
I raced through this novel at a rate that surprised me; it's not very long- my copy is just over 300 pages long- but I didn't expect to get through it as quickly as I did! I would definitely recommend this novel for readers who fancy something fun, fairly easy to read and surprisingly thought-provoking.
* Many thanks to NewBooks magazine/ nudge-book.com for providing a copy of this novel in return for an honest review *
bookishfifi's review
2.0
*banging head against desk* I should never have finished this book, I have got to learn to DNF more often...
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