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arthur_ant18's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual content
versmonesprit's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Good Husbands is neither a mystery nor a thriller. The entire gist of the book is literally just the blurb, except the blurb is much better written than the book itself.
The 1st person PoV chapters alternate among Jess, Priyanka, and Stephanie, all of whom are so undeveloped that it’s a testimony as to why most authors should just stick to 3rd person narration.
Jess gives NPC energy all throughout the book; Priyanka has to spell Anais as A-na-ees because she remembers names when they’re spelled phonetically, except Anais is phonetically spelled and A-na-ees absolutely isn’t (which makes you wish the author or at least the editor had bothered to look up what phonetic spelling is); and finally, Stephanie is a Grace Kelly wannabe, minus all the grace. You couldn’t distinguish among their chapters if the chapter titles didn’t say who was speaking and specific family members were not mentioned.
And this isn’t even the worst part of the writing. It’s written like a Wattpad fanfic, with characters thinking to themselves things like “I am originally from the East End, London” or that she has “neon laces in [her] Doc Martens” — things that no one thinks to themselves except when an unskilled writer wants to get very irrelevant information to the reader for who knows why.
Also if you think this is the last time Priyanka mentions her Doc Martens… nope. She never says “my boots”. It’s like Doc Martens paid for product placement or something.
Good Husbands was so criminally boring, pushing myself through it was a source of genuine stress.
DRC provided by NetGalley and September Publishing.
The 1st person PoV chapters alternate among Jess, Priyanka, and Stephanie, all of whom are so undeveloped that it’s a testimony as to why most authors should just stick to 3rd person narration.
Jess gives NPC energy all throughout the book; Priyanka has to spell Anais as A-na-ees because she remembers names when they’re spelled phonetically, except Anais is phonetically spelled and A-na-ees absolutely isn’t (which makes you wish the author or at least the editor had bothered to look up what phonetic spelling is); and finally, Stephanie is a Grace Kelly wannabe, minus all the grace. You couldn’t distinguish among their chapters if the chapter titles didn’t say who was speaking and specific family members were not mentioned.
And this isn’t even the worst part of the writing. It’s written like a Wattpad fanfic, with characters thinking to themselves things like “I am originally from the East End, London” or that she has “neon laces in [her] Doc Martens” — things that no one thinks to themselves except when an unskilled writer wants to get very irrelevant information to the reader for who knows why.
Also if you think this is the last time Priyanka mentions her Doc Martens… nope. She never says “my boots”. It’s like Doc Martens paid for product placement or something.
Good Husbands was so criminally boring, pushing myself through it was a source of genuine stress.
DRC provided by NetGalley and September Publishing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Rape
Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use
chublaikhan's review
challenging
sad
medium-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
3.25
Thanks to NetGalley and Cate Ray for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review:
Content warning: sexual assault
Note: I went into this book under the impression that it was a thriller. It was not. I didn’t mind what it was, but would have preferred to set my expectations accordingly!
Things I liked:
-Pretty great characters. I was hooked pretty much immediately, and thought Ray did such a great job of showing their complexities. I felt both frustrated with and empathetic for all of them.
-And really, showing the complexity of the conversation around sexual assault and consequences. So many questions this book brought up are questions I’ve talked about with friends and questions I still don’t have easy answers to. This book threw it all out there with the situations the three women had to deal with, and never really gave a comfortable resolve in my opinion. It’s a book I’ll continue to think about and that’s always a win for me. I think it would be a great book club book.
Things I didn’t like:
- I said above that the book didn’t really give a comfortable resolve and I thought that was a good choice for this book, but I’m not entirely sure if that was the intent. I honestly feel uneasy about how it all wrapped up, and I’m not sure if it’s because the author wrote it in a way so as to invoke that uneasiness, or she actually tried to wrap it up neatly which felt wrong considering all the nuance. If she intended it than bravo, great writing. If not then I dunno how I feel about it!
-It felt a liiiittle heavy handed at times.
-While I felt a consistent growth in understanding of Jess and Steff throughout the book, I felt Priyanka was the most loosely developed! She started out so strong but I never felt like we really got to understand her core thoughts or motivations.
Rating: I would rate a 3.25. Didn’t love it, but was a very thought provoking and discussable book!
Content warning: sexual assault
Note: I went into this book under the impression that it was a thriller. It was not. I didn’t mind what it was, but would have preferred to set my expectations accordingly!
Things I liked:
-Pretty great characters. I was hooked pretty much immediately, and thought Ray did such a great job of showing their complexities. I felt both frustrated with and empathetic for all of them.
-And really, showing the complexity of the conversation around sexual assault and consequences. So many questions this book brought up are questions I’ve talked about with friends and questions I still don’t have easy answers to. This book threw it all out there with the situations the three women had to deal with, and never really gave a comfortable resolve in my opinion. It’s a book I’ll continue to think about and that’s always a win for me. I think it would be a great book club book.
Things I didn’t like:
- I said above that the book didn’t really give a comfortable resolve and I thought that was a good choice for this book, but I’m not entirely sure if that was the intent. I honestly feel uneasy about how it all wrapped up, and I’m not sure if it’s because the author wrote it in a way so as to invoke that uneasiness, or she actually tried to wrap it up neatly which felt wrong considering all the nuance. If she intended it than bravo, great writing. If not then I dunno how I feel about it!
-It felt a liiiittle heavy handed at times.
-While I felt a consistent growth in understanding of Jess and Steff throughout the book, I felt Priyanka was the most loosely developed! She started out so strong but I never felt like we really got to understand her core thoughts or motivations.
Rating: I would rate a 3.25. Didn’t love it, but was a very thought provoking and discussable book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Addiction and Death
Minor: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Alcohol
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