"everything goes on as it did before. except that behind me, in the kitchen, jim is dead."

I picked this up through Netgalley, with thanks to Alexia Casale and Viking from Penguin Random House for gifting me this e-ARC

the lockdown ladies burial club. a unique group of individuals, with one thing uniting them all. when lockdown hits and their bands snap, they come together to rid each other of their pain and get away with murder.

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

my thoughts: although this is meant to showcase the awful abuse that women go through, and utilise comedy and humour to get us to reflect on the situations. however, i found the beginning of the novel slightly confusing originally, with the changes in narrator not always being clear, but seeing this link together eventually was satisfying.

i found the beginning the most intriguing and engaging, with the middle and a large portion falling flat, until the end where it began to pick up again for me. i did enjoy the fact that this was set during covid-19, however this could also mean that this book could also fall flat later on, especially with how the women involved were concerned about social distancing despite their situations.

i did however love that eventually they all relied on each other, but did find the master plan to be rather overcomplicated and confusing, despite enjoying the diversity and representation within the book.

so, the ending. seeing a "they all lived happily ever after" always p*sses me off when reading, as there are often not happy endings in real life, especially with these situations within the book! i know thats the point of the book, that in real life, women are sadly the victims a lot of the time, and that during the covid-19 lockdowns, there was a surge in domestic violence and murder due to isolation, to try and make the voices heard.

The Best Way to Bury your Husband.
As the title gives away, this is a novel full of dark humour, and it definitely delivers on that front. It really made me chortle on more than one occasion. I love a bit of dry wit.
However, it also deals with the tough subject of domestic abuse and the isolation of lockdown leaving women particularly vulnerable in a sensitive and empathetic way, while still managing to be a real page turner and throroughly entertaining.
I enjoyed the sisterhood and friendships that formed between the characters, and the way Alexia developed them - it could be you, it could be me. I felt a real sense of solidarity with the cast. I raged, I cried, I laughed and I breathed a sigh of relief! Brilliantly done and I highly recommend.

Absolutely brilliant and laugh out loud. I’ve bought this for my mum!!
Cannot recommend highly enough it is a must read.

A brilliant book at times it made me laugh out loud and then you catch yourself and realise the hard truth behind the theme of the story. Despite being such a serious topic it was a brilliant story, really enjoyed reading it.

TW for domestic violence.

This was fun? in a way but also dark in the descriptions of abuse. Set during the covid lockdown wives under the guise of a gardening group start to plot their revenge. Popcorn thriller but some scenes may be triggering for some people.

This is a well written, entertaining and thought provoking book. It is both laugh-out-loud funny and at the same time incredibly sad. Wonderful character development.

Four women accidentally kill their husbands during the lockdown.

There were some tough moments, but equally the story was light hearted in places and I loved the slowly developing friendships between the women.

sally didn't mean to kill her husband but she isn't the only woman in town that's been pushed to her breaking point. when four strangers find themselves in the same situation, can they find the best way to bury their husbands and even maybe get away with it?

dnf'd @ 36%

i've been trying to read this book for a month now and i've decided to cut my losses. i'm so sad about not liking this book as it was one of my anticipated releases for last year as this book sounded like a story that would be absolutely up my alley. i think for me, the humour just fell flat, which made wanting to continue reading this book hard. paired with the fact that although i was rooting for the women who were in awful situations and i was glad for them to be out of them, i didn't particularly like any of them unfortunately. i will say that the subject matter is incredibly important to read about if you are able (please check content warnings beforehand) and i am so glad that there is more literature being published around this topic as it deserves so much more awareness being spread, especially because of how many people are affected by domestic violence which only increased in lockdown, highlighted by this book.

i would still recommend people checking this book out as i know a lot of people have loved it, it just unfortunately didn't work for me, even when i tried the book in a different format. if like me, you decide to dnf after checking it out, please take the time to read the author's note as it is incredibly important and provides some important context for why we need more literature talking about domestic violence, its effects and the impact lockdown had.

thank you to penguin uk and netgalley for the opportunity to read this book early, in exchange for an honest review.

⚠️ cws: domestic violence, murder, emotional and physical abuse, violence, death, toxic relationship, covid-19 pandemic, misogyny, gaslighting, grief, dementia, death of parent, injury detial, sexism, lesbophobia, bullying, confinement, body shaming, homophobia, outing, person with alcohol use disorder, cursing, religious bigotry, rape, sexual assault, suicide, suicidal ideation, vomiting, fire, sexual violence, child abuse, pregnancy ⚠️

I absolutely loved this book.

The characters are brilliantly set out and it feels incredibly real, despite the small matter that all four protagonists have murdered their husbands.

I love the blunt approach Sally takes to the hurdles in her way, and how she makes light of the more bizarre parts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A page-turner from start to finish, with a really great ending to boot.

This is absolutely in keeping with the style on books that are so popular now and focus on women’s rage - but make it comical! Definitely a good one for fans of Katy Brent!

The underlying theme of domestic abuse is a difficult one but these 4 ladies escaped in their own way and this is the funny story of how they dealt with their "issue" thank goodness for Covid!
Enjoyed the twist at the end.

It's difficult to review this book lightly because the subject matter is awful, but the book is so entertaining.

Firstly, you need to be aware that the book is all about domestic violence which is absolutely NOT a laughing matter. The story is set during the initial lockdown of Covid when Sally kills her abusive husband with her grandmother's cast iron skillet. She's been a victim of domestic abuse for most of her life, witnessing her mother being abused by her father throughout her childhood and then becoming a victim herself when she marries the man she thought would rescue her from her own family.

Sally's act of self defence when she accidentally kills her husband results in a split second decision which changes her life in ways she could never imagine.

I don't want to say any more as I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, but I laughed and cried throughout. All the FEMALE characters are brilliantly crafted and brought to life so I was able to feel their pain, their shame, their guilt and their determination.

I will definitely be looking out for more books from Alexia Casale.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I connected with the characters and through the premise (and cover) was great. A solid read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I’m not used to reading humorous, funny books. I usually read darker tones books.
I did actually enjoy the humour elements.

One of my favourite parts of ‘The best way to bury your husband’ was the female friendship that the main characters found through some very hard hitting and serious events that happen.
Especially the friendship that grows between sally and edwina the next door neighbour 😂.

I don’t really like real world events going on in books such as Covid and lockdown but that’s just personal preference for me. It also took me a while to get into the written style of this book.

Can I just mention how much I love the murder your husband book trend? This is an easy read, great pacing and a great book to sink your teeth in

Simply loved this book. All the women brought into the story are fantastic characters, especially Sally. Considering the subject matter involved, abuse and domestic violence, it's handled sympathetically, with great understanding and also with humour which you wouldn't think would work but it does. The friendships and love which all the women discover is heartwarming.

Highly recommend!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy in return for an honest review.

Oh man I loved this book so much, particularly for the women solidarity and helping each other out of situations. I think the novel picked up the pace right from the beginning and kept my interest the whole way through, which is quite hard to do!

This was such a fun but also emotional at times read!

I loved all the women that we follow in this book and your heart just goes out to them with what they're experiencing. I thought the setting of it being during covid was cleverly done too.

Both the writing and the characters truly brings this book to life and would highly recommend to anyone!

I adored this book! It tackled some tough topics such as domestic violence that these women experience and it pushed them to breaking point.

The story starts with Sally who was finally pushed to her breaking point and she kills her husband. Not only would hiding the body be an issue but this was amid covid where nosey neighbours are noticing if you're popping out the house too often or having people round.

Luckily for Sally, and unluckily for their husbands other women are pushed to breaking point and end up banding together to figure out how best to bury their husbands.

I loved the plot of this book and how the women found each other and also them selves as the plot developed. I enjoyed the planning of the story and how it all began to tie together though it did take some time working out the characters from the multiple points of view.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review, this was truly a gem of a book!

The Best Way to Bury Your Husband
Thriller
Alexia Casale
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• ʀᴇꜱɪʟɪᴇɴᴄᴇ • ꜱᴛʀᴇɴɢᴛʜ • ᴀʙ*ꜱᴇ •

As soon as I started reading, I was filled with so much rage. The plot follows multiple women who are the victims of horrific DV, their struggle to survive and how their lives changed once they managed to escape.

This book was inspired by true statistics and the dramatic increase of DV during the pandemic and the lockdowns.

I liked the multiple POVs but I was glad when the women finally met each other because I did start to get confused with who did what and when.

I was really surprised when it was revealed who the "very, very tired mother" was. I didn't see it coming at all. There was one other plot twist that I did predict. It was quite obvious to me but I still enjoyed how it played out and seeing the reactions of the characters was interesting.

I loved the themes of friendship, hope and determination throughout this book.

I loved the characters. They were very well written and relatable. They all had their own flaws but they were loyal to each other. Their nervousness and anxiousness were palpable.