Member Reviews

Loved!! Another one of Sally's back catalogue and only one left to go til I've read them all. I am just obsessed with her writing.

Her books keep you guessing the whole way through and are so relatable, I think everyone knows someone who has been through the same or similar in each of Sally's books.

This book had me gripped from page 1 and I couldnt wait to pick it up again each day.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Was this review helpful?

If you enjoy family dramas with a touch of mystery, this book is definitely worth adding to your reading list.

Was this review helpful?

I had issues with compatibility on my kindle with this book - I would get about a quarter of the way through and it would crash, however i loved the start so much I ended up buying the book to finish it!

Was this review helpful?

A gripping domestic thriller full of intrigue, flawed characters and a great plot.
The opening scenes are amazing and kept me turning the pages. The story is told from multiple POVs. The writing is brilliant.

Was this review helpful?

As always Ms Hepworth delivers. All her books are brilliant. I mean she’s quoted as genius by Jo (Caroline Keynes) in the latest You book which says it all!
Another book where the characters are believable and you’ll invest in them. Look forward to her next one.

Was this review helpful?

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is wonderfully written with humour and compassion and details the dynamics of a dysfunctional family in a completely believable and heartbreaking way.
Stephen and Pam have been married for decades and have two grown up daughters, Rachel and Tully. When Pam is diagnosed with dementia, Stephen moves on and begins a relationship with a much younger woman called Heather. Rachel and Tully struggle to deal with this along with their own personal issues. The story moves between the wedding day of Stephen and Heather where a terrible event occurs, and the past including Rachel as a teenager and the blossoming relationship between Stephen and Heather.
Fans of Liane Moriarty would love this novel with its fascinating characters, studies of their relationships and storylines that blend together beautifully. I absolutely loved it.

Was this review helpful?

I absolutely loved this book! The premise immediately hooked my interest and it was filled with twisty characters and such intense plot!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this arc in exchange for my ho est review

This dysfunctional family drama revolves around Stephen, who is about to marry his much younger fiancée, Heather, while his adult daughters Tully and Rachel are not too thrilled about the prospect of a stepmother their own age. As the family struggles to navigate their various secrets and issues, the tension builds towards the wedding day and the events that will transpire.

The novel features unique and compelling characters, each with their own secrets and personalities that draw the reader in from the very beginning. While the twists and reveals in the story may not be as intense as those found in a traditional mystery/thriller, they keep the reader engaged and interested in the story. Additionally, the short chapters and teasers about what really happened at the wedding keep the pages turning.

Despite the lack of traditional twists, the book's ending is a fitting one for the story and offers a satisfying conclusion. It's possible that the final version was adjusted based on early reader feedback, and if so, it's a testament to the power of reader input. Overall, the novel offers an enjoyable and engaging read that will keep fans of dysfunctional family dramas hooked.

Was this review helpful?

This is an absolute gem!!! I’ve been so excited about this book and it hasn’t disappointed.absolutely will be recommending this book to anyone who will listen to me.

Was this review helpful?

I found this book interesting, as someone who isn’t sure about domestic drama as a genre. Really enjoyed the dark characters

Was this review helpful?

Loved loved loved this book! Family drama that kept me gripped! Amazing characters and so well written!!

Was this review helpful?

Another great family drama mystery by Sally Hepworth! Definitely recommend to give it a try! I had several assumptions up until the very end!
Can't wait to read more novels by Sally Hepworth!

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Great book, it was a real page turner for me, nice and light-hearted, which was just what I needed.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I don't think this is a thriller or a mystery. Even though everyone in the story have their own secrets, it's quite obvious from the start what's happening. This is a good novel about gaslighting, with interesting characters and true-life situations. I liked Rachel in particular.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an Advance Reading Copy.

Was this review helpful?

Enjoyable and tense with some really sharp observations. If easy domestic contemporary is your genre, you'll enjoy this one.

Was this review helpful?

Sally Hepworth is one of my favourite authors and her books never disappoint. The Younger Wife is an intriguing page turner that I couldn’t put down. 5 stars from me and I thoroughly recommend!

Was this review helpful?

With 3 points of view, it's a little cluttered and hard to remember who's speaking and what moment they're at. Quite a lot of the plot fell flat for me and I didn't really feel I enjoyed this book as much as I'd hoped to.

Was this review helpful?

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Sally Hepworth but I find this story quite underwhelming? The story was off to a great start but it kinda died down for me towards the middle and end.

This story follows the perspectives of two sisters, Tully and Rachel, and their soon-to-be stepmother, Heather. The catch? Heather is a few years younger than the sisters! Another catch? Their father, Stephen, divorced their mother who is in assisted living due to dementia. To say the sisters are against the wedding is an understatement but for the sake of their father, they tried to welcome heather into the family. The story started with the wedding when a scream rings out! What happened? Who died? In order to find out more, the reader had to follow the story where it backtracks to how it all fell apart.

All the characters have dark secrets. You would think they make for compelling characters but I wasn’t convinced. I didn’t really care much for them. Heather was painted as an unlikeable character in the beginning but her backstory would have cleared that up instantly. There was potential for her story flesh out more but it didn’t. That ending really killed it for me. Despite all the little twists that helped build up the plot, the ending could have been better.

Unfortunately, this was a no for me but I’m happy to give Hepworth’s books another go as I quite enjoy her writing style. Do recommend me her other book titles you have enjoyed.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the arc.

Was this review helpful?

Sally Hepworth is one of my VERY favourite authors. I’ve read all of her books and I have loved all of them. The Secrets of Midwives is the one book that I constantly recommend to friends when they ask me for a well-written, interesting and happy book.
The Younger Wife is a story that I finished in under 24 hours. Very smart, an original story that is so well-written that you can't stop reading. I enjoy immensely how Hepworth takes some heavy subjects and crafts some wonderful stories around them. A real page turner!

Was this review helpful?

After reading 'The Good Sister' by Sally Hepworth, I was incredibly excited to read 'The Younger Wife'. Once again, Hepworth has woven a complex and thrilling narrative, cleverly written from multiple perspectives. At the opening, we are introduced to Stephen Ashton who is marrying Heather, a woman younger than his two daughters Tully and Rachael. At the wedding ceremony, we view events from the point of view of an unknown guest who also reveals that Stephen's ex-wife, who suffers from dementia, is in attendance. When the party move through to the back to sign the register, we witness screaming and a lot of blood, but are not shown who the victim is and what has happened. Throughout the novel, we flashback to before the wedding following the viewpoints of Heather, Rachael and Tully, occasionally going back to the events of the wedding, leading up to the victim reveal... Is the new younger wife vicious and calculating enough to commit a murder??

Hepworth is very good at taking the reader's likely assumptions and flipping them, twisting the narrative to unexpected places. Every single one of these characters is flawed (this book acts as a fantastic advert for the power of therapy!) and so we remain on edge and suspicious of them all. I continuously changed my mind on the identity of the likely victim and perpetrator, finding the twists and turns along the way thrilling, surprising and nuanced. This was a great psychological, domestic thriller and I look forward to reading Hepworth's next novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?