Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - The Husbands

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.

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

biglibraryenergy's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

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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