The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen // BOOK REVIEW

"I wished I understood better back then; I felt abandoned, but now I know some pain is too fierce to battle. You can only duck for cover and I hope the sandstorm passes."

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Book: The Wife Between Us

Author: Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis: When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.

You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.

You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.

You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.

Assume nothing.

Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

Read between the lies.

               

What I thought about it...

The Storyline / Writing

One helluva confusing book. I think the authors just kept throwing plot after plot just to make it appear intriguing and didn’t care about the substance of the story.

Like... What?

Really?

The book is divided into three parts and alternates between Nellie’s (third person POV) and Vanessa’s (first person POV) stories. The first twist, after Part I, is that Vanessa and Nellie is one and the same person. Nellie’s chapters narrate what happened in the past before her marriage to Richard and Nellie is a nickname given to her by Richard when they first met. On the other hand, Vanessa’s chapters are of the present and the girl she was stalking – she’s referring to that girl as her replacement – is actually Emma, the daughter of Daniel (her former professor that she had an affair with years ago), but they made it appear like it is Nellie she was referring to and I think that the authors also made it appear like Vanessa was crazy or something. It is really confusing that I have to back read after Part I just to make sure I’ve understand everything.

The Characters

Vanessa / Nellie – again, they’re the same person. What I don’t understand here is if Vanessa was really angry at Richard for abusing her during their marriage, why does it seemed like she still loves him, misses him and she appeared hurt when she knew that Richard is already engaged at Part I? I. Don’t. Get. It.

Richard – was the control freak, abusive husband. As soon as I’ve read that he’s having an affair with Emma even when he’s still married to Vanessa, I already know that the problem is him. That’s why no matter how sick or twisted the plot twist is, I was not surprised at all. And it doesn't help that he and my cheating ex-boyfriend have the same name, so yeah, my hate for him doubled (lol, kidding).

Emma – is the daughter of Daniel, Vanessa’s professor that she had an affair with. Vanessa became pregnant with Daniel’s child and she decided to come to his home and confront him, but Emma witnessed everything that happened during that night. Vanessa didn’t know that Daniel already has a family – wife and children. So years later, Emma came to avenge what Vanessa did to her family. She came to Vanessa's husband to get even with her but what she didn't know is that Vanessa set that affair in motion. Also Vanessa didn't know that Emma is Daniel's daughter.

Maureen – is Richard’s sister. I don’t get what’s wrong with her especially with that ending. I don’t know what’s the deal with her. She’s in love with her brother or what?

What went wrong in the end…

Again, the substance of the plot twists are lacking. And I thought that after Part I nothing really remarkable happened. It is sooooo slow. Anyway, I knew from the very beginning that it’s the husband and I actually sympathized with Vanessa. But after knowing that Vanessa and Nellie is the same person, I felt indifferent like I don’t wanna continue reading because I don’t know what to feel. All my sympathy for Vanessa vanished and all that’s left is irritation because she kept getting on Richard’s way – the husband she claimed she was afraid of – I mean, she's gonna get hurt real bad if she continues with her plan. I understand she wanna save Emma – because she used Emma to be free of Richard (gosh, I don’t wanna explain further because it already is confusing so I’ll leave it at that) but when she tried to tell Emma and Emma didn’t believe her, she should’ve run because she already did her part and it’s up to Emma now. And that epilogue, what the fudge, it’s so unnecessary so why put it there.

MY VERDICT

So...

Like...

But... fine.

The story is just okay. I would recommend it to someone just so I can have someone to discuss how confusing this book is.

So my question is, the title The Wife Between Us is for who? The wife between Maureen and Richard? It fits, ‘cause there’s always a wife between the siblings.

MY RATING

★★☆☆☆