Reviews

The Wife Before by Shanora Williams

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geminatiii's review against another edition

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tense medium-paced

3.5

killahkayyy_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I went through a wave of emotions reading this book. Initially I side-eyed the prologue then I was irritated with Samira, then I was side-eyeing again because of another book with some journals by a dead woman! I was over it!

I kept reading though. lol.

Then I got kind of bored because I came to the place where I didn’t care about Melanie and her drama!! What about the present! This man hasn’t done her any harm (as of yet lol) I was getting fed up with Samira!

Turn 80% in, I was wide-eyed and glued to the pages!! I was all in baby!! I had to know the truth! And then when I thought I knew the truth! BOOM! Ms. Williams sat me down for the shock I didn’t see coming but realized there were breadcrumbs along the way.

This was the best thriller I’ve read in a while! I now believe it is a prerequisite in a thriller for me to dislike the characters because they make the most stupid decisions ever! However, there wouldn’t be thrills without them lol

Brilliant read and it won’t be my last by the author!!!

Side-note: The audiobook’s narrator sounded 50 and the character was in her 20s so it wasn’t a good vibe for audio at all. I stuck to reading the ebook mostly when I wasn’t in my car.

camille_caterpillar's review

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

The Wife Before leans heavily on familiar and beloved premises (give me a Rebecca-ish new wife narrative anytime). However, the narrative itself falls short of its potential.

The plot introduces too many elements upfront, leaving little room for organic development. Rather than letting suspense build naturally, the reader is often spoon-fed key details and plot points, making the story feel a bit contrived, and the sense of suspense is significantly lessened.