Unhinged. The plot reveal is left until the epilogue.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for the gifted ARC of TILL DEATH DO US PART by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn in exchange for my review. This novel will be released on Aug. 13th. 

I was immersed in the story from the beginning and I really liked the writing. This is being marketed as a thriller, but I felt that women's fiction was a more appropriate category. I mention this so that you go in with the right expectations. If you go in expecting a thriller, I think you'll be disappointed. I liked that this is dual POV and even though the relationship between the two MCs isn't explained right away, the reader learns pretty quickly who the second MC is and how they're relevant to the story. I liked that there was bisexual representation. I thought I had the big reveal figured out, but I hadn't.

Since I'm not a wine drinker, I wasn't totally sold on the premise and I didn't love all the wine references. Each part in the book has a definition of wine terminology, which I skimmed over until the last sentence where it had a line that applied to the plot and the story. There are three different storylines told across three different years, which were a bit difficult to keep track of. There were also some aspects of the plot that were farfetched and I do think you'll have to suspend your belief a bit to fully enjoy this book. Also, nothing is confirmed until the epilogue, so keep that in mind if you want to read this but you aren't an epilogue reader.

The premise of this book was solid. What would you do if you saw your dead husband staring at you in the park? Plus we get wine country and wine tastings, which I love.

We get two stories here: current-day June who is looking for answers about her dead husband and Bev, the dead husband's mom, in the past. I struggled to understand why a lot of the characters made most of the choices they made.

Overall, the very slow burn didn't work for me. The flashing back and forward didn't add anything because we got so few additional details in the flashbacks that it almost felt like its own novel. Further, the mystery resolution largely relied on a lot of coincidences, assumptions that people are apparently clueless and completely unobservant, and a big reveal in the epilogue that wasn't set up in any way throughout the book. 


 

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.