Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth

46 reviews

ronnieb's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

2.5

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dementia

This was a 2.5 that I am rounding up to a 3. I do not have much to say that is not a spoiler so brief non-spoiler thoughts: I think this book is fine and is quick enough of a read but there are not many special or shocking moments. 

I had a big issue with this book and it surrounded the character of Rachel. We find out that Rachel was the victim of a sexual assault in her past. The way the book seems to handle her moving past this is she finally sees a hot guy and he “fixes” her. The is slightly more nuisance going on admittedly but it just left such a bad taste in my mouth at the way the whole storyline plays out. 

I also thought the final reveals of the book were just so underwhelming and this was just very baseline. There is nothing wrong with that and I have read many books that end similarly but I think those were just more fun than this. A fix I thought would have been more fun was to have our 3 main leads come together and set up Stephen in some sort of way. While that would be a bit “soapy” and OTT I think it would have led to a much more fun ending than the abrupt one we got. 

I also thought the POV of Tully was useless for the main narrative of this novel. It felt very much like its own B story that never really plays into the main narrative outside of our main characters sharing their trauma or flaws and coming together because of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Dementia and Death of parent

Minor: Rape

maggielane12's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I liked the way that this story spilled out. I appreciated that it didn't dig too deep into

the assault scene

- that was something that I was nervous about. I appreciated a close look into everyday kleptomania, and I thought the discussion about abuse being all in the victim's head was really interesting. I hope it helps friends identify when folks in their lives need help and validation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Medical content

kelly_e's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Title: The Younger Wife
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: April 5, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Psychological • Dynamic • Lacking

📖 S Y N O P S I S

THE HUSBAND
A heart surgeon at the top of his field, Stephen Aston is getting married again. But first he must divorce his current wife, even though she can no longer speak for herself.

THE DAUGHTERS
Tully and Rachel Aston look upon their father’s fiancée, Heather, as nothing but an interloper. Heather is younger than both of them. Clearly, she’s after their father’s money.

THE FORMER WIFE
With their mother in a precarious position, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family’s secrets, the new wife closing in, and who their father really is.

THE YOUNGER WIFE
Heather has secrets of her own. Will getting to the truth unleash the most dangerous impulses in all of them?

💭 T H O U G H T S

I've been slowly making my way through Sally Hepworth's backlist over the past few years, and next up was The Younger Wife. I'll preface my review by saying I was way less interested in this one than some of her other books, and my gut ended up being on point.

What I like:
• the prologue. It created so much tension, intrigue and suspicion. I needed to find out how it would all play out.
• multiple perspectives. I thought this structure suited the storyline perfectly, giving glimpses into each woman's life.
• the heavier topics. This one takes on A LOT and Hepworth does so in a sensitive manner, which I appreciated.

What I didn't like:
• the characters. The fact that the women all come across as unreliable and each of the male characters comes across in a good light didn't work for me at all.
• the ending. Underwhelming and predictable. Also some loose ends.

Despite hooking my interest in the beginning and containing some serious topics, my attention quickly waned as the story progressed. By the end, it just felt like a meh and forgettable read. With that said, I look forward to continuing in exploration of Sally's books.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of family drama
• readers who like books that read like a soap opera

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Perhaps the very worst people still had some good in them. And perhaps the very best had some bad." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Murder

melissa_b_67's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Dementia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Mental illness, and Death of parent

carlytenille's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hgunsch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Miscarriage, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

pookiee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

this is a nicely unique domestic thriller in that it doesn’t hinge entirely on its reveals. each of the 3 women’s personal lives and are interesting to read about as well, as they heal from their traumas. a better, and more serious, Big Little Lies.

brownie points for being set in Australia (I like reading about faraway countries) and mentioning COVID (never stops feeling crazy)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Dementia, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, and Death of parent

Minor: Body shaming, Pedophilia, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic

the eating disorder is binge eating disorder

gellyreads's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Predictable, but satisfying. I love, love, love how Hepworth creates characters!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

bree_mck's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Death of parent