Reviews with content warning for Stalking - The Husbands

Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

15 reviews

itshrewsbury's review against another edition

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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jennaviolet's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

Meandering, parts of the book have gas and really get going and then suddenly it stalls out. And the methods with which the husbands swap out get increasingly bizarre. There are times when it feels like Lauren has developed as a person and times where it feels like we’re back at the beginning again. There are some husbands mentioned offhandedly that sound like they would have been more interesting to explore than the ones she stays with longest. If you listen to the audiobook prepare yourself for odd pronunciations of people’s names.

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kathleenivy's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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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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raekit's review

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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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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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

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mandi_lea's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

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clichemarker's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Kind of boring
You'd think

Lauren breaking into a house, stalking a man, drugging her husband, and almost killing her neighbor

would have made it more exciting, but it just annoyed me and made me not like her as a character.
It started with her trying to justify staying with her shitty rich husband, and escalated from there
It wasn't all bad, but you know.

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kermittuesday's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved it. It has a similar premise to The Midnight Library but I liked it much better than ML. I really wasn’t sure how it would wrap up and I think it was the perfect ending. I loved that even though there was mention of Lauren’s “type”, by and large she didn’t have one, physically or personality wise. I think that’s a good message. I also liked how it started small and then… escalated. Would read again, may even purchase though I’m generally a library lady.

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