THE WIFE UPSTAIRS BY RAHCEL HAWKINS

1/6/2021

The Wife Upstairs is a highly enjoyable domestic suspense! I got this one in my book of the month box and am really glad to have a found a new to me author in the thriller and suspense genre!

Rating: ★★★★
Release Date: January 5, 2021
Genre: Domestic Suspense.
Series: None. Complete standalone.
Pages: 277 pages
Format: Hardcover. Source: Book of the Month Box

A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, Rachel Hawkins's The Wife Upstairs pairs Southern charm with atmospheric domestic suspense, perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Megan Miranda.

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in

Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.

Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?

With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?

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READ MY BOOK REVIEW

My Rating: 4 Stars
Genre Domestic Thriller and Suspense

THE WIFE UPSTAIRS is a complex and twisted thriller, one that will stay imprinted on your mind for days to come! I love when authors take a chance and write books with devious characters and Rachel Hawkins did this brilliantly! This has got to be one of the most unique thrillers that I’ve read in a long time and I attribute this to the complexities of the characters and their motivations. This one my friends, is insanely good. If you’re looking for a book that you’ll devour for hours without looking up this is THAT book for you! I enjoyed it immensely.

𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞

THE WIFE UPSTAIRS is a domestic thriller and suspense novel about a dog walker who finally finds the “out” she deserves in life. Having lived basically poor, this woman (Jane) is looking for find some way to settle down without all the crap she’s been dealt in her past. So, when she nearly gets run down by a man living in the estates she covets, she knows she’s finally found what she’s always wanted: a man with money who can take care of her. Unfortunately, being with him comes with a price. Because she’s not only dealing with a dead wife, but also the mystery surrounding her murder…

What unravels in insanely wicked, utterly unique, and downright JAW DROPPING. This book is told in dual POV’s; Jane’s and Bea’s and readers will slowly learn through their eyes what evil has surrounded them.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞

▶ This is a wicked tale filled with lies, deceit, and twists! Readers will think they know what’s happening only to slowly realize things aren’t as they seem. The author HOOKED me with these things, and I was devouring it page by page!

▶ I loved the dual point of views in this novel. Seeing both Jane’s and Bea’s side of the story (and even a few from the husband, Eddie) really added to the complex nature of the plot! I also loved how the narrators were almost unreliable because we as readers can’t be certain as to what’s a lie and what’s the truth.

▶ This book is a griping page turner. If an author can have me invested in their story and surprise me along the way, then you know it’s a good book; just like this one!

▶ Even though the characters weren’t really likeable, their stories were fascinating. This is what kept me coming back for more!

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞

▶ I felt like the ending happened too quickly. Sometimes I wish authors would take their climaxes a little further and not let them sizzle out quickly like this one did.

▶ Readers are left wondering in the end what really happened, and we never get any answers, not even in the epilogue. I like KNOWING specifically what happens in books and this just didn’t happen.

▶ The ending (what happened with Jane) was almost too easy and perfect for a book that was so complex.

𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗧 𝗨𝗣

The Wife Upstairs is a total winner for the thriller genre, and I know many readers are going to go crazy for this unique thriller! There may be a few things people won’t like about the book (it’s not exactly perfect in every way) but thinking about it as a whole makes it feel like its near perfection! I look forward to reading many more of the authors novels in the near future.

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐