Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Husbands

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

43 reviews

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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

4.0

A fast, fun read that served as a great palette cleanser for me after a few books where I had to slog through.

I thought the plot here was actually really creative - it certainly hasn't been done before - and it drew me in very quickly. I like magical realism but I actually wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did given some meh reviews I'd read.

Despite really liking it, I don't think this book would work for everyone, and I was about 75-80% of the way through before realizing that I'd been waiting for some major twist that simply wasn't going to come. You shouldn't go into this expecting a major turn of events - it's just a magical attic doing magical things, handing our main character an ever rotating cast of men of all shapes, sizes, races, and personalities - in perpetuity. That was the only part that was a bit of a "let down" for me - I was waiting for a twist or a grand explanation for a book that wasn't set up for that sort of plot.

This book was genuinely funny though and full of raw moments about what it means to be a woman and a wife in modern day society. The pacing kept me on my toes and I was surprised - as some other reviewers/readers have mentioned - that there were parts that made me oddly emotional that I was truly not expecting. I think this book can have a lot of potential takeaways and hidden messages depending on who the reader is and your life experiences. That is to say, I don't think everyone will take the same thing away from it, and I think that's a good thing.

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itshrewsbury's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.5

Tl; dr: enjoyable but wouldn’t read again

Okay, so, the first half of this didn’t particularly have me tearing through the pages to see what was happening next, or because it was so funny, and then I absolutely HATED the MC from about the 60% mark to the like, 95% mark. BUT!! The last 2 chapters were very endearing to me.
Based off of the blurb, I expected this to be a bit “Midnight Library”-ish, ya know? Change your life for a new, “better” one. But this author describes wanting to write a fun comedy book, so I wasn’t really searching for any deeper meaning, and maybe there still isn’t one, but this book became a LOT more enjoyable in the end when I started to view this story as one about addiction. “Midnight Library”‘s story very much deals with themes of mental illness, particularly depression,and it’s obvious. But this book is more subtle with it (though that’s not necessarily “better” hahah), and I’m still not sure if that’s on purpose or not, given the marketing and author personal statements. The book DOES also for a long time feel like it’s not going anywhere. Lauren just switches husband after husband after husband and cycled through the same emotions about them almost as frequently. Also, This is supposed to be a comedy, but it didn’t really come off that way to me most of the time. I could see why it WOULD be funny, but MC Lauren was so annoying of a character to me that it came off more judgmental (which tbf IS a character trait we know Lauren has, I just hate it).

Which isn’t to say the whole book was bad! The writing is well done, and the concept WAS a fun one, but, eh

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nmuels's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

Me reading this book: "Oh, oh this is fun." "Mmhmm, yes, I am having a good time." "Okay...is this...is it just this?" "Oh! Okay! Interrrressstinggg!" "A hot new bombshell has entered the villa" "Oh no!" "Awww, okay, I like this a lot." / end scene

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knkoch's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

This was my choice for a book club discussion, and I think it generally fit what I was looking for pretty well. I found it similar to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Midnight Library. I probably liked it about on the level of those two books, which means it was a little bit of a letdown from what I was hoping. Unfortunately, in being similar to those books and other stories (movies like 'Groundhog Day' and the extraordinary 'Palm Springs'), this felt a bit formulaic and mechanical to me, the sort of thing I've started to see the seams on. The overall arc and some of the experiences within it didn't necessarily surprise me, as I think someone stuck in a situation like this

(a magical revolving door of husbands)

usually has to get out of it or end up in roughly the place you'd expect by the end nine times out of ten. I suppose the humor and desperation of the main character impressed me the most, as well as some of the well-drawn specifics of her life and situation. I liked the way time kept moving, and that the alternate realities were ultimately realistic and somewhat connected. Overall, this isn't the sort of story I'm likely to keep heading towards in the future, but it was a fast and entertaining read.

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elderwoodreads's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective 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

4.0

I enjoyed this one! Reminded me of the Sylvia Plath poem about the fig tree. I enjoyed the thought experiment and the story generally, a bit slow in the middle but not bad.

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alxisrae's review

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emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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? No

2.5

This was an odd one for me. Because this felt like a lot was happening and at the same time nothing at all. It was just a story with an open ended ending. No answers. Just repetition about getting husbands from an attic

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maggies's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense 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

This to be one of the most interesting setups I've read recently. With that title, it's easy to imagine The Husbands is a romance, but it is emphatically not. A little bit parallel universes, a little bit philosophical examination of the power of choice and fate. I never connected with Lauren, or maybe I connected too much, since I can see myself behaving similarly (if my attic ever started producing an endless supply of husbands) and it's not a flattering image. Highly recommended, just the same!

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