The Wife’s Mistake by Lorna Dounaeva was an okay listen.

How often do you hear that bad things happen to those that win the lottery?

Well, Natalie wins the lottery, and the next thing you know, trouble trouble trouble.

There was a lot about the book that I enjoyed, and I often changed my mind about who did it. However, at some points, there was just too much going on. I was definitely surprised by several of the revelations, however, it was a little too much.

The narrators voice was fine for the character of Natalie. I did not enjoy her voice with the other characters, especially Hayden.

You will (probably) be surprised!

🌟🌟🌟stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture audio for the advance listen in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this book. A husband and wife who are down on their luck and when they win the lottery, she keeps it a secret to see if he is having an affair before telling him? Sounds so intriguing. Overall, it had so much potential, but it fell short. I found myself confused and wondering how we got where we were in the story. It just felt like there was a lot of unnecessary fluff and cliffhangers that left me feeling like I missed something. The narrator was not engaging and I felt like it really deterred me from want to finish this.

Thank you NetGalley for the ALC. Thoughts are my own.

I thought the first half of the book started off a little slow but the second half I was absolutely gripped, the twists just kept coming & coming and I didn’t guess a single one.
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Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I loved this one! It has a great and easy to follow storyline. Attention grabber for sure! Narrator was pleasant and well spoken.

⭐️ 2.75

This is more of a story about the downside of fame/winning a lottery than a psychological thriller in my opinion. It was relatively easy to get into the story and to follow who the characters were. It was a relatively good time. I did find myself constantly infuriated with the choices of the characters (which was probably the point).

Writing style wise it wasn’t the best thing I’ve read. It was okay, but nothing special and no really unexpected turns for me personally. It was fine, but just fell a bit flat for me unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this ARC in return for an honest review ✨

thank you to netgalley & bookouture for providing me with the arc for this book

the beginning & middle of the book really dragged on. the whole thriller / mystery aspect didn’t pick up or get interesting until around 80%-ish.

none of the characters had any development from start to finish. i found them all extremely bland and unlikable. the book spanned over a few months which would have left so much time for development but i closed the book with the same feelings i had for them since i started it.

there are quite a bit of plot holes that weren’t resolved in the end which left me dissatisfied, especially with the plot twist. honestly, i didn’t see it coming but the execution of it was pretty bad. it’s like when you’re watching a movie and the antagonist explains to the protagonist why they did what they did. it was so lame, i wanted more from this book because the description makes it sound so good.

The Wife’s Mistake
Audiobook
3⭐️

I struggled with the narrator, but my rating is strictly related to the storyline. Daisy’s voice 😬😳😳 At times it sounded like the narrator forgot which character she was reading for making some voices inconsistent for a short, but noticeable, time.

This felt like a collection of short stories with only the common thread of winning the lottery to string it together. The first third of the book focused on a very short period of time and dragged on about Natalie’s suspicions of her husband and hesitation to claim her winnings. Then that resolved and bam they cashed in the lotto ticket and jump weeks ahead in time which felt like an entirely different story.

While there was some mystery in the sense that the reader wasn’t given all the information immediately, I wouldn’t really label this a mystery or thriller. It was more of a domestic suspense. The suspense was created by non-communication and paranoia of the characters.

When there started to be more thrills they seemed choppy. Cliffhangers at the end of chapters sometimes just fizzled and it could be several chapters before returning to the cliff hanger topic-as casual as can be.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lorna Dounaeva, and Bookouture Audio for providing this audio ARC. This review is being shared on NetGalley and Goodreads.

Pub Date 19 Feb 2024

Loved this audiobook! Kept me hooked from the beginning. I was not expecting the twists that this book had, but it delivered.

In "The Wife's Mistake" by Lorna Dounaeva, we meet Natalie, a barista dissatisfied with her current job and dreaming of opening her own coffee shop. Her life and that of her husband Hayden could be transformed by a winning lottery ticket. However, after spotting a suspicious text from a female coworker on Hayden's phone, Natalie chooses to conceal the lottery win, opting instead to delve into her husband's fidelity. Natalie harbors a secret of her own, leaving us to wonder when her past missteps will catch up with her.

The narrative starts off on a sluggish note, mired in confusion, and progresses at a snail's pace, lacking clear direction. Conversely, the conclusion feels hasty, as if the story's resolution is suddenly and conveniently tied up, leaving much to be desired in terms of pacing and development. I did not enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I had to stop and restart this audiobook multiple times. I just could not get into it and it was far from a psychological thriller in my opinion.
Not for me.

Natalie and Hayden have won the lottery but at first, whilst she starts spending and making plans he doesn’t know. She suspects he’s having an affair with someone at work, to the point she dresses up in maternity clothes and follows him to a hoteliers conference. Yeah, maternity clothes. I bet MI5 use that kind of disguise all the time. She checks for the ticket (which she’s hidden in a bean can - another handy spy tip) daily and when it’s gone it turns out it was in a teapot and her husband found it. When she put it in the teapot I have no idea, there’s a lot of random stuff like that in this book. Anyway now her husband knows and he goes on a spending spree. He buys two Ferraris - no idea why and gets his wife an Audi. No disparity there then. He then suspects her of an affair. There’s an ex girlfriend a crazy cat lady sister and a group of friends who no longer invite them to parties/gatherings etc., there’s a greedy cousin and some people who won’t accept their money. Oh and then there’s another relative (won’t give that away) who the husband does actually have sex with. Then there’s a blackmailer and a weird dark web storyline. The characters are two dimensional at best and there’s barely a storyline. Basically it’s the story of the demise of a lottery winning couple with a load of random events thrown in. It’s as though the writer started writing but hadn’t planned where the story was going and the characters flailed around. I listened to this advanced copy on audio and I’m afraid I found the narration irritating at best.
Finally this book was described as ideal for fans of Lisa Jewell and Frieda McFadden. To compare it to the work of these two amazing authors was, to put it politely, ambitious.

Natalie was unhappy and miserable at her job as a barista and had big aspirations of owning her own coffee shop someday. A winning lottery ticket could change everything for her and her husband Hayden. When sees a text come across Hayden’s phone from a female coworker she decides to keep the lotto ticket a secret for now to investigate her husband on suspicion of cheating.

Natalie has a secret, but how long will it take for her past to come back to bite her?

I honestly don’t know where to start with my review. The Wife’s Mistake is described as a “twisty, gripping, psychological thriller”, but I honestly couldn’t disagree more. The beginning was lagging and confusing, it seemed to be going no where very slowly. While the ending was rushed and wrapped up very quickly.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for free. All thoughts and reviews are my own.

Does money change you or just give you the freedom to be who you already are? This novel was a wild ride. So many twists and turns! I could not stop listening. Would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a good twisty book! Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!

As far as psychological thrillers go, the major twist was good…it just took so long to get there. There are multiple characters to follow, with their relationships to each other revolving around a winning lottery ticket. The concept of how money can definitely change relationships and way of life is also present in this novel. I listened to an audio version of this book and it definitely helped with keeping the characters organized in my mind.
A classic thriller cover that gives an ominous but non-specific glimpse of the plot and setting.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoulture Audio for my advanced copy to review.

Many thanks to the author and Netgalley for the audiobook for this one..

I have just finished it - I am unsure how to rate the book.. whilst i enjoyed the narration and the way it was written I really didnt care about the characters, I didnt really care about the story line and it took so long for the death to take place I found myself just listening and not really taking anything in until the death happened, it was the only thing that I was gripped for and then it happened and the book was just back to being ok again.

I didnt dislike it but it wasnt a fave thriller either

3 stars

Firstly the author did a brilliant job of narrating this book! I have mixed feelings about this as I did find it to be a very slow burn then picked up in the last 25 percent of the book. I enjoyed the plot and the multiple pov's and found it intriguing as who would not want to win the lotto! I'm not sure if I would have stuck with the physical book but as I said the narrator drew me in completely. I would like to check out more of the authors work in the future. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for sending me this audio arc.

This is my first NetGalley ARC and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I Listened to the audiobook and the British narrator was nice to listen too! (I listened at 1.25x)

The Wife’s Mistake was twisty! But when I tell you, I was STRESSED OUT listening to Natalie and Hayden’s POV, I mean it😅. About 1/4 of the way through the book, not much had happened yet and I was starting to get frustrated because it seemed like it was dragging on. There were points in the story where I was talking out loud, almost pleading with them to tell the other one the truth! I don’t read too many miscommunication tropes but I’d say this book has it!!

At no point did I know what was going to happen next and I was suspicious of EVERYONE! Absolutely everyone! I actually rewound the ending just to hear the final words again because it caught me off guard!

This is my first book by Lorna Dounaeva and I’m excited to read more by her! Thank you again for the ARC on NetGalley! I can wait for others to read this book as well!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookkouture for an advanced copy of this book.

Natalie wins the lottery and decides to keep it secret until she finds out whether or not her husband is being faithful. But that plan backfires when Hayden finds her hiding spot and they cash it in. They plan to keep it private, but decide after some pressure to go public. They buy a beautiful house and that's when the trouble begins. Someone is after them and there are secrets from the past that are slowly creeping in.

I loved this book all the way up until the end. It kept me interested and guessing. I enjoyed the characters and guessing who was torturing the main characters. But when it was wrapped up, it became too much. After the second twist it became unbelievable and less enjoyable. I feel like it could have ended in a better way.
I gave this book 2.5 Stars rounded up.

Twisty psychological thriller and domestic drama.

Hayden and Natalie are doing OK but things take a crazy turn when they win the lottery. Will their newfound millions change their lives? Of course, but definitely not in the way they dreamed.

Told in alternating points of view between Hayden and Natalie, things start to go awry even before they claim their money. Secrets from the past come back to haunt Natalie and Hayden gets in way over his head as he adjusts to driving his new cars and moving them to their beautiful new house. It’s true that money can’t buy happiness, but every person they know seems to want a part of their winnings.

This was entertaining but the characters were all so unlikeable and each made the most stupid decision possible in every single situation they confronted. I wanted to shake each and every one of them to help them come to their senses. It became obvious quickly that there was not going to be a happy ending here for Natalie and Hayden. No spoilers.

I was given an advanced copy of the audiobook by the publisher. I know that this narrator is popular, but I cannot stand her voice. Her attempts to change her style and tone to match different characters borders on the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to me. It’s not just the accent or the way certain words are pronounced, it’s that she can’t do male voices at all and the female voices are grating or strident or shrill. But, I am sure, again, that is my personal opinion and obviously she does a lot of these audiobooks.

Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and Bookouture Audio for the gifted audiobook! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read this book if you like: Multiple POV, chaotic families, lottery winners

It had potential. It was too repetitive and slow. I struggled with liking the characters. It felt like they made really stupid decisions. I will say it definitely kept me guessing. It's hard to predict. I received the audiobook and didn't love the narrator. There is a lot of overacting. You may love it.