Wow what a read, I was not disappointed, the fact the blurb talked about polygamy drew my attention as it’s still one of those taboo subjects that people find fascinating. I read this in two sittings, but to be fair I could have done it in one but I have a day job hahaha. Two thirds of the way through I thought “ahhh I know where this is going and what will happen” nope I was quite wrong, without giving any spoilers it took some turns i wasn’t expecting, made me like some characters and dislike others, believe some characters and scream”noooo” at others. Also the fact this has psychological factors adding to its allure made it an easy read but kept me wanting to read more and learn what happens to our trio of ladies and Seth the ladies man.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I finished this book 24 hours ago, and I've bumped it up from three to four stars on reflection. I actually really really liked this. It was very well written, cleverly constructed, with twists and turns at every corner. It really draws you in, and I found it hard to put down throughout.

The reason this book has not been given five stars is the ending. I personally was not a fan of it, I felt it was a bit of an "easy way out" ending, which in the space of around 20 pages changed the entire book I had just read. It was just not my thing, however the strong feeling of disappointment I had about this shows just how enjoyable I found the first 95% of this book! I would definitely read more from Fisher in the future.

I read the blurb for this book and instantaneously knew that it would be right up my street. I was so excited to get stuck in. Thank you to HQ Stories and Tarryn Fisher for this advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Description 🔖

If you’ve signed up to share your husband with two other wives, do you waiver the right to jealousy, vulnerability or insecurity? The second wife of Seth knows that her husband has two other wives and has settled for just one night a week with him. She has always accepted this set up and agreed to not get involved with the other wives. But when curiosity gets the better of her, she starts to dig into the lives of her husband’s spouses. When she doesn’t like what she finds, things start to unravel and nothing seems as clear cut as it once did.

General Thoughts 🤔

What a mind screw this book is. From the very beginning my inner self was screaming “oh no, no way on earth!”. We’ve all watched the documentaries about polygamist relationships and I’m sure we’ve all questioned ourselves about whether we could do it. This book made me question myself so many times and I definitely don’t think I could do it.

When everything first starts to go wrong for Thursday, I knew there was something not quite right, but I don’t think I was expecting the book to go where it actually ended up. As the twists started to unfold, there seemed to be another POW moment that put everything back on it’s head. I loved the unpredictability and I loved how the book took a totally dramatic turn.

Characters 👫👭👬

I didn’t like Seth from the start and I didn’t like him at the end. I couldn’t bring myself to see things from his perspective. There are lots of hints throughout the book about a “man’s place” and what a husband expects from his wife and Seth’s character just aggravated me; falling into all of those stereotypes.

The wives are all completely different. Monday is the young, attractive one, Tuesday the successful career woman and Thursday is the one that feeds Seth’s sexual appetite. I personally think that all of the wives had their weaknesses and I didn’t really feel sympathy for any of them other than Thursday. Her weakness was completely out of her control and because of that, I felt a great sadness towards her by the end.

Writing Style ✍🏽

I loved the style of this book. Everything felt dramatic and I think it would translate to the small or big screen really well. Those moments in a book when you think “well, I never” just seemed to be one after the other and I’m sure I was holding my breath through an awful lot of it.

The mental health aspect of this book really struck a chord with me and I really like the way it was threaded into the storyline by the author. It made me realise that not everyone that suffers with poor mental health is destined to suffer because of their genetics or their chemical balance/imbalance. It really could happen to any of us.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

This was my first Tarryn Fisher book and I’m already planning on adding her other work to my TBR list. This is definitely a gasp and be shooketh book and I am all for that. I’ll be sticking this release date in my calendar so I can recommend to others as I know so many people that would love this as much as I did.

You can't deny that Tarryn Fisher can write. For a good portion of this book I was sucked in. Sadly, for me towards the end of the book it tried to be too clever and ended up just feeling a jumbled mess. I was also left with a meh feeling towards the characters - any sympathies I had had for any of them before were gone.

I really loved this book! Thursday is married to Seth, but only sees him once a week as she shares him with his other 2 wives! She has convinced herself that she can handle the situation as she loves him so much. Then one day she finds a paper in his pocket with the name of a woman who she knows must be one of the other two. So she sets out to meet her without letting on who she is. This is the ultimate 'unreliable narrator' story, which takes you on a roller coaster of emotions right to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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This was a book of two halves. For the first half I couldn't put it down, I devoured it, I read it obsessively. The second half couldn't have been more different, it bored me and felt weak. The ending was also poor. Only a 3/5 for me.

Not a fan of this book at all. The premise was interesting but the plot was all over the place. I thought an interesting twist might resolve it but the ending was very disappointing.

I was really excited to read this book as I had heard such good things about it and I was not disappointed. The book had such a good pace that i couldn't put it down and read the last 50% in one sitting.

We follow the story of a woman whose husband has 2 other wives who she has agreed to not contact and doesn't even know their names. This is the first book I have read that includes consensual polygamy and I was very intrigued by the way this was set up. The explanations at the beginning of the book were excellent and seeing how their lives together worked was very interesting.

This would have been a 5 star read for me had we seen a little more from wife number 3's perspective. We got a good insight into wives 1 and 2's motivations and the ending of the book was a great twist that showed the vulnerability, flaws and consequences of the actions of all 4 of the main characters.

I would highly recommend this book.

I’ve not read anything by this author before so was unaccustomed as to her writing style otherwise I might have been more prepared for some of the twists in this story.
At the start of the book I was intrigued, then I began to think that the main character was a bit of a doormat then it all twisted and I was hooked again. I changed my views a couple of times regarding who’s story to believe, as I’m sure the author intended but I did not anticipate the ending.

I really enjoyed reading this book! Full of interesting characters and storyline throughout. Would recommend a read.

Twisty and very turney thriller that will have your brain stalling. Thursday is unhappy, like seriously unhappy; she is in a polygamous marriage but cannot bring herself to tell family and friends. The discovery of a receipt from a doctors office in her husband's jacket puts her on the trail of wife number 3. When does curiosity become stalking and where do you draw the line? Loved it.

This is a most unusual and bizarre concept. Seth wants a family. He is legally married to Thursday but she unfortunately can't have a baby. He had divorced Tuesday because she's a high flying lawyer and doesn't want a family, but he still lives with her on Tuesdays. Monday is pregnant with Seth's baby and Seth believes he has the perfect life – three wives who know almost nothing about each other and sees them in rotation.

The narrator of the story is Thursday. I realised a few chapters in that the reader does't know her name but that doesn't matter, all is revealed later. The 'wives' don't know each others names, and know only very basic things about each other – just how Seth wants it. Unexpectedly, Thursday finds out the name of Monday and can't help but trace her identity on social media. When she meets Monday/Hannah, she sees bruises on her arms and becomes suspicious of Seth.

I found The Wives to be unorthodox and totally gripping. A romantic suspense perfect to read poolside or on the beach.

I almost gave up after the first few chapters of this book. I found Thursday a tedious doormat and very unlikeable. I persevered and the story did get a little more interesting but I couldn't warm to any of the characters so I am afraid this was not for me.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. This book was unreal, the storyline was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant writing from Tarryn as usual, her books never disappoint. Absolutely worth 5 stars and more.

I was totally captivated by the blurb for this book.....imagine that your husband has two other wives, you've never met the others and don't know anything about them. That is until you find something out by chance that sparks a quest for answers and makes you question whether you even know your husband at all. However, it turned out that this just wasn't for me unfortunately.

Choosing this book blind, based totally on the blurb, I didn't know anything about best-selling U.S. author, Tarryn Fisher. This was probably a mistake as had I done some research I probably would've realised that I wasn't going to be fan of @darkmarktarryn (as she calls herself on Twitter). As the name suggests her style and language is quite dark, raw, melancholy and explicit. However, whilst not my preferred style I've read and enjoyed many such books, as a brilliant, compelling a story can conquer all.

Unfortunately, despite promising a brilliant, compelling story and definitely captivating me initially, it quickly became apparent that this wasn't going to pan out like that. It's hard to talk about without giving anything away but the author put forward the idea that the main character was imagining everything. And, then it turned that she was, and in doing so I felt made light and a mockery of mental ill health, particularly as well with the massive and unexpected ending twist. I was hoping for a positive outcome for the deeply conflicted and complex main character but instead got a shocking ending which seemed unnecessarily and deliberately sensationalist. But, again having now read up on the author I realise that this is style - deliberately different, thought-provoking and sad.

You can have toxic, unlikable characters but still empathise with them or love to hate them. But, again this wasn't the case. There were so few characters in the story and I didn't like any of them, which also added to the difficulty of this read and my enjoyment.

So, as I'm sure you can tell this really wasn't for me. However, please don't let that put you off because most readers totally disagree with me and had I known more about the author I probably would've realised that beforehand.

Really enjoyed this book thank you. Vibrant, believable, characters and an absorbing plot. I will ensure I look out for this author in the future!

So Seth has three wives and the real middle wife (our narrator) wants him to herself so she tracks down the competition. But all does not go to plan.

Which one would Seth pick if he was forced to choose? Would it be wife number one, the petite career wife who loves shoes? Or would it be wife number two, the sexy trust fund wife who can whip up a rack of lamb and whip your trousers off while it cooks? Or what about wife number three, the wholesome young blonde who can still shell out a baby or two?

Seth himself doesn’t get that much of a mention.
Good read
for all.

Thursday is one of three wives for husband Seth. She becomes curious about the other two wives and tracks them down, that's when the story gets going. Who is she sharing her husband with, and how is he with the other wives?
I'm still not entirely sure of what to make of this story, I was captivated throughout, and did enjoy it, but still left slightly disappointed with the ending. Still would give 4 stars.

The Wives is not so much a thriller, I’m not sure which genre to even place it in. However, the narrator shares her husband (Seth) with two other women, starts to become curious about Seth’s other wives and tracks them down. Unfortunately the narrator and most of the other character are unlikeable, the twists and turns are unnecessary, unrealistic and largely plays into the misconception that women are so desperate for a man they’ll put up with anything.

Intriguing physiological thriller. It took a few chapters to get into this but stick with it as it's a decent read.