Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Husbands

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

31 reviews

infusionofviolets's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.5

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jayla_hh's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

Would you love your husband if the previous day never even had a husband and you could always just get a new one by making him go into the attic? How long are you willing to play husband roulette? Especially when you're the only one that knows you're playing it?

I think I hoped for a different ending but I'm also not disappointed by the one I was given. I'm always so amazed by magical realism and also a little shattered when I don't 100% have it figured out. This was a good time.

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baileyanabella's review

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emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really really enjoyed this when I really didn't expect to! The girls were right, it's a banger. I was immediately so invested in the story. Lauren comes home from a night out drinking with friends to a strange man in her house claiming to be her husband, but she's never met him before and when she left for the outing, she was single and living alone. What would you do??
One of my favorite things about this book was Lauren's authenticity. I felt like her reactions to these crazy magic scenarios were very real, whether it works out for the best or not. She cycles through husband after husband testing the limits of her suddenly magical attic's ability to start her world right over while time continues to pass. She tries on many different lives and versions of herself. It's fascinating and very fun, sometimes stressful to go through those experiences with her, and it's fascinating to watch her figure out what she truly wants. It raises questions like 'How do we learn to be happy with what we have rather than concerned with the things we want to change? How can we be certain those changes would truly make our lives better?'
Good read. Enjoyed the audiobook a lot, the narrator did a fantastic job with the many accents and expressive speech that I think added a lot.

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shelbae_smirth's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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blueskyreview's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

This was an entertaining read, but I'm glad it wrapped up when it did because the main character was starting to get on my nerves. I will say I wasn't able to guess who she ended up with, so props to the author for that 👏

P.S. - Little rant without being spoilery, when our MC Lauren is talking to someone about previous relationships, and they say they haven't had just girlfriends. My first response wouldn't be "Oh have you had a fiancé? A wife?"

No, Lauren - He's queer and he's saying he's been with other genders!

And to then proceed to stumble over using the word partners instead of girlfriends for his past relationships...idk, maybe it's just me, but I felt that with Lauren having a queer sister, who she is close to and is in a sapphic marriage, that Lauren shouldn't have been so awkward about it.

Not that some families aren't like this, but I was annoyed by it lol.

P.P.S The above interaction was irksome but only lasted about a page. It was other questionable decisions that made me ready for the story to be done.

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vaykay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

3.5

Generally enjoyed reading it. I read this in tandem with my partner, which meant we would laugh over the jokes together. Good humor, good insight on diverse versions of men. Lauren is boring, and I felt that the twist at the climax made me realize we don't really know who Lauren is at all. I couldn't make sense of most of her actions, and the ending served as a reminder of her selfishness. This is a perfect example of either too short or too long; this could've been a novella or it must be 400+ pages long. Unfortunately, the last 100 pages felt rushed and as if the author just needed Lauren to do whatever (and very extreme things) just to rush the plot toward the finish line. Disappointing with little payoff. I enjoyed the tone and the characters as well as the concept and setting.

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blissofalife's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A new favorite for sure! Gramazio artfully explores the "what if?" thought exercise to the extreme. I saw so much of myself in Lauren, and couldn't help but wonder if I would go to similar extremes were I in her position. I thought the added details of the apartment changing with each husband and an entire history rewrite were brilliant! I felt her relief, her grief, and her mounting frustration and desperation. Her burnout was nearly palpable.

The ending was satisfying, I think it was the perfect solution and provided a clean wrap-up of events. Part of me hopes that there will be a sequel where we get to explore the final decision and its aftermath, and part of me recognizes how perfect this was as a stand-alone novel. I look forward reading any future works by Holly Gramazio!

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