Thank you to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I love The Husbands, it’s fun, contemplative, hilarious and really gets you thinking about what matters to the MC. I don’t know what I’d do if I suddenly had lots of husbands generated from my attic, but I certainly can’t wait to see what Holly Gramazio writes next. Five stars from me.

I loved this book and read it in one sitting. Brilliant writing, and a refreshing angle.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A third of the way into this proof I knew it was something special and pleaded with the book gods to let the rest of it live up to my expectations. By the end I was thankfully not disappointed - in fact I clapped out loud and cried which may be a first when it comes to a book.

Holly has created a fantasy world in adult fiction that reminds me of the magic of discovering early Cecilia Ahern books. It is so multi-layered seamlessly providing commentary on many aspects of modern life; singleness, dating/swipe culture, control, vulnerability, selfishness and selflessness. It’s not an exaggeration to say that I feel personally challenged in many areas of my own life after reading this.

Husbands is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time and I’ll be the first to watch when the inevitable and highly necessary film comes out!

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

Weird! Had to keep reading to find out how this would end. Bit silly and flippant but I think Lauren found out what was important in the end.

This is a wonderful example of women's contemporary fiction. The device of the husbands, which could have become somewhat repetitive and wearisome, is used really cleverly as a device to explore relationships and the nature of attraction. Although the novel begins lightheartedly, it becomes more serious as it goes along, as the protagonist realises that she's on a treadmill that she can only get off by choosing to keep a husband. The additional benefit of the attic - to reset time and wipe out past actions and mistakes - is also two-edged - mined for comedy, but also introducing the protagonist to a genuine dilemma: how unethically can you behave when you know you won't take any responsibility for your actions?

I am not currently teaching a module specifically on contemporary women's writing, but this would be a good candidate for the reading list. It's accessible and inventive, but uses humour as an entry point into wider and darker issues. It's very cleverly done, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

It’s sad that people have to wait a few months to read this novel because it is something else - and I think we can learn a lot from its pages.

To begin with, I absolutely loved the premise of the book and I was eager to discover more about the husbands and the differnet lives and situations Lauren encounters along the way. There were very funny scenes and a great variety of different husbands, including one who pretends to play music on her toes (no, thanks), one who is incredibly hot (so she thinks there must be a catch), the one who seems oh so lovely but is incredibly boring, and the rich one who owns a masion in the English countryside.

Lauren doesn’t seem to be able make a choice, though. There’s always something wrong with them so she sends them back. Plus, there’s always the possibility that someone better is around the corner, right? Right?

In all honesty, this book includes the perfect dose of humour and seriousness and it raises important points. Who hasn’t been on Tinder or Bumble swipping left and right without a second thought? And don’t these apps make money allowing you to ‘go back’ to that profile you almost missed? If there is an unlimited number of profiles and people out there, there’s no wonder why we can’t make a decision. Because what if you make a decision and it’s the wrong one? And if I can find the perfect partner, someone who ticks all the boxes, why settle for a good-enough one?

I am glad Lauren was the one trying to find the answer to these questions because I’d be in so much trouble - I am such an indecisive person. Although I think I’ve learnt something from Lauren’s story. And I like that so… it’s 4 shiny stars from me.

Some online reviewers say the book could’ve been a bit shorter (true, sometimes I felt a bit desperate when Lauren kept sending the husbands back!) but in my humble opinion, it has the perfect ending.

Very funny and engaging read by Holly Gramazio. I was hooked from early on and every twist and turn had me hook, line and sinker.

Loved the premise of the revolving door (attic!) of husbands that come into Lauren’s life and how she appraised and tried to deal with each of the new arrivals, as well as changes in her life. The novel nicely addressed that not every scenario was going to be a blissful one and dealt with even uncomfortable ones in a swift but effective way.

Really enjoyed Lauren as a character at the centre of all these scenarios. Her plotting, scheming and choices in attempts to return to her regular life or find one she enjoys were a joy to read. I was kept guessing throughout and worried that the ending couldn’t match the quality of the story but was pleasantly surprised and came away satisfied at the conclusion.

Would certainly recommended this book and look forward to more from this author in the future.

This is a novel concept for a book in which Lauren, the MC, somehow ends up with an attic that keeps generating new husbands for her.
Lauren is an unmarried young woman coming home from an innocent night out with her friends when she stumbles up the stairs to her flat and finds a random stranger already in her home.
After a bit of confusion, she discovers that she is in an alternate universe where she is married, but she can't remember how or when she met her husband, their wedding, or anything else.
Then she finds out that the attic is doing a 'thing', where if the husband disappears up there, he disappears, sending her another in his place.
It's not like Groundhog Day, where you relive the same 24 hours again and again. Instead, life continues, and her life changes with every husband's change.
I was intrigued by the whole idea of this. She could search and search for perfection, sending the faulty hubby back to the attic for another, but let's be honest. It's not a sustainable life? Is it?
I loved reading and just had to get to the end to find out what Lauren chooses to do because I'm not sure I could live an infinite loop of husbands...
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for an ARC.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an arc of this book in return for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up.

Lauren returns home from a hen party to discover she has a husband who she has never met before. She soon realises that if a husband goes up into the attic her whole life resets (although time is still passing) and she has a new husband. She soon realises they are all people she could have met if her life had gone just a little differently. Join her as she tries to find the perfect husband, and which version of herself she can live with.

This is SUCH a fun premise and makes for a really interesting read. I found myself flying through it at times and not wanting to stop reading. The character development that Lauren goes through is SO real and I just love that even with an endless supply of husbands finding the right one is such a struggle.

I really loved the lives not taken and there is one husband that I really am glad we got to meet. Although quite a few of the themes covered in this could be quite heavy, it’s lighthearted and an enjoyable read. It’s a really easy read, and very compelling.

I both loved and didn’t enjoy the ending - I wanted a bit more - but in a lot of ways that wouldn’t have worked for this novel so maybe a sequel would answer the questions I have. But at the same time that would also ruin the ending so who knows. I’ll certainly be looking out for more of Gramazio’s books.

The premise of The Husbands is so fresh and original. Lauren comes home after a hen party to discover a mysterious husband has appeared out of the attic and then if she sends a husband back up to the attic, a new one appears…It is up to her how long she keeps a husband for. With each new husband, she sees how differently her life may have been - different job, friends, relationship with her siblings and financial situation. Gramazio explores this all really well as Lauren navigates what is most important to her. I predict The Husbands will be a big success!

I was excited to start this one, the premise of the book sounded like fun. I thought the book started off with a bang throwing us right into Lauren’s life, and the confusion she felt when she returned home from her friends hen do.
However for me, this strange new phenomenon was accepted far too easily for me. She did try to tell a friend about what was happening but it seemed all down played to me.
I enjoyed getting to know some of the husbands and the introduction of Bohair who really ‘understood’ her was a nice twist. He seemed selfish though and I wasn’t gunning for them. Disappointingly I wasn’t really gunning for her to meet anyone special which is a shame because she was likeable.
I enjoyed the general gist of the plot although I was left a little short at the end.
I’m not sure what I was expecting but maybe some explanation of the weird electricity and what was actually happening would have been good.

Highly entertaining story, that kicks off immediately with the arrival of husband no. 1.
We follow Lauren, who's attic keeps delivering her different men 'husbands'. As soon as one disappears into the attic, another comes out.
This was such a laugh-out-loud story, with plenty depth to make it work. Read in one evening, and highly recommend.

The Husbands was my first book via NetGallery and it was such an enjoyable read!
Unique storyline which drops Lauren into married life roulette! I've read reviews which felt the ending was abrupt, but I thought it was fitting & full of hope.
Definitely one I'd recommend to friends, if only to see who their favourite husband was.....

Oh this book is funny! I don't remember the last time I laughed out loud at a story so much, and I had to keep sending snips to my daughter to laugh at too.

Lauren is wife to the husbands... the husbands who suddenly start descending her attic ladder, when she didn't even know she was married. She has to work out who they are, how they met, whether she likes them enough to let them stick around - or invent a job in the attic whereby she'll get a new husband to try.

There's a great twist partway through that perhaps I should have anticipated, but didn't. All in all, this is a really fun, light hearted read that will get you imagining just what might happen...

The Husbands - Holly Gramazio

Lauren comes home from work and finds a strange man in the flat who apparently she is married too. The problem is Lauren has no recollection of him or any wedding, despite all her family and friends knowing about him and her phone having all the evidence that she is in a relationship with him.

Whilst trying to fathom this all out he goes into the attic and when he comes down it is a different husband and the immediate environment around Lauren has changed to fit in with this husband. All the evidence is there that shows she has married him and everyone knows about him. This keeps happening with Lauren deciding if she does or does not like the husband. If she likes them they stay a short while if she does not like them she shoos them straight back up the attic ladder and awaits the next.

What does she ultimately do does she fall in love with any of them, does she keep on with the revolving husbands. You will need to read this one to know.

I thought this was a really good and highly imaginative novel and showed that endless choice was not necessarily a good thing. It made me laugh in places and had me rooting for the occasional husband to be the one to stick around. Heh ho that was not to be.

I did get a little fed up toward the end as there were too many husbands and not enough sticking around to see if they might or might not have worked. I think it would have worked even more with less choice and a bit more detail on some husbands. But overall worth a read for such an innovative concept.

Thanks to Net galley for an advanced copy pre publication.

A sliding door book. Down from the loft comes a new husband. Checking her phone history Lauren finds the relationship history along with her friend's and job.
From a few hours to a few months she test drives each new husband. Collecting opinions from her family, friends and neighbours.
It will make you smile and realise that there is not just one for each of us but lots of possibilities as we make choices in life.
Enjoy I did

Lauren comes home from a night out to find a husband waiting for her. A husband she didn't know she had, and who has suddenly appeared from her attic. When he goes back in to the attic, another husband arrives. Then another. Every time she has to work out what's changed, when they got married, how good their relationship is and then how to get rid of them. Or how to stop them going into the attic again.

It's a clever concept, and I really enjoyed this! I liked all the side characters, like Tony and Maryam, Lauren's sister Nat, and Elena, with their slightly different characteristics depending on which reality Lauren's in this time. I also really liked Bohai - the one husband who knows what's happening, because she's not his first wife either. How the plot worked out was well done, I was getting close to the end and wondering how on earth this was going to finish, but it managed to be satisfying and consistent with the rest of the plot.

I look forward to reading more by Holly Gramazio!

When Lauren comes home after a night out, her husband comes to the door to greet her. The only problem is, she doesn’t have a husband. It takes some time for her to figure that she is in some sort of spiral, when the husband goes up to the roof space, not only is he replaced with a new one, but with each change, her décor has changed too. Oh, and her family and friends accept each new husband as if each has always been the only one.
This sounds like an intriguing concept and the opening section is excellent. This reader settled comfortably into Lauren’s bizarre predicament along with her. But as Lauren took full advantage of the ability to dispense with an unsatisfactory partner for increasingly trivial reasons (as you would), just by asking him to go up the loft ladder for something she needed (go on up yourself would be the answer in mine), and the list grew longer and longer, interest dimmed.
The Husbands is a light entertaining read, just a little too long, and by the nature of the story a tricky one to finish off. It just sort of petered out.

Best way to describe this book is a whirlwind.
Unexpected start with a touch of hilarity - I mean can you imagine husbands just appearing out of your attic? - that surprisingly doesn't get boring or repetitive despite the fast moving carousel of characters.
Lauren, the protagonist, finds herself baffled (and us with her) by the different men that pop into her life and how said life has changed as a consequence of these various relationships. Is it possible to find the perfect life within this sea of possibilities?
The final chapters slowly swirl into what I can best describe as mania and madness, which had me doubting whether a happy ending was guaranteed at all.
Beautifully written and a gorgeous set of characters to populate this unlikely world.