I loved this book! The suspense, the three very distinct women, and the twists. I was taken on a ride with Imogen and I loved it.

Imogen was the main narrator, with other main players (the other exes and Phillip) getting their own bits of screen time. Jakeman feeds readers perfect bits of each of them. I really came to like Imogen. Ruby may have been smart and Naomi may have been hot, but despite how Phillip liked to put Imogen down, she was really the heart of the revenge plan. She was special in the fact that she gained courage and became willing to face Phillip when no one else would and despite the fact that she knew what he was capable of. There was enough of a peek through the other's POVs to solidify characterization and for another, spoilery reason. The choice was rather crafty on Jakeman's part.

Oh, and Phillip - who was so, so terrible that I couldn't help but hate him, but was crafted so well that he never came across as an exaggerated caricature, pulled everything together. There were so many reveals with him that he made the mind boggle.

Overall, a great novel about a woman finding her own strength, forming new friendships under fire, and terrible, terrible Phillip finally getting what he deserved. I highly recommend.

An easy read about a man who finally gets what he has coming from his exes. It was actually a fun read, and you were cheering all the exes on!

If 5 Stars and 5 Thumbs-Up aren’t enough to tell you how much I loved this book, I’ll add 5 hearts and an A+! It’s that good! I loved it, and I’ll admit that I was skeptical. Three women with a beef against the same man? Really? I think I’ve seen the movie...or movies. But they were comedies, and this one...is...not. I’ll also admit that the first two or three chapters was a little slow, and I thought Imogen was just another spineless woman with a grievance. However, I always cut a little more slack for a debut novelist than I would for an established author, so I kept going. What a treat!

Honest to Pete, even when I first thought the story was a little slow...it didn’t last long...I was already captured by Ms. Jakeman’s beautiful, flawless style. There are some flashbacks from the main characters, and they were perfectly placed to enhance, instead of interrupting, the flow of the story. Very well done.

If I have one beef with the book, it’s that it was touted as a mystery/thriller. I disagree. There are elements of that, but I would have called it women’s fiction with psychological mind games. And the mind games are plentiful!

Imogen is the heroine of this story. A shy and introverted woman, Immy put up with years of emotional and physical abuse from her husband, Phillip. She knew he was having affairs, he lied, hid things and made every bad thing in his life Immy’s fault. He made her feel useless and unlovable, a fairly common method abusive men use to control women, and he hurt her.

Strangely, the new girlfriend, Naomi, has Immy’s sympathy. Naomi has only just begun to realize the trouble she may have walked into and Immy tries to warn her that things will get worse. And they do. Both women are confused and concerned about the close bond that still exists between Phillip and his first wife, Ruby.

Things spiral out of control when Phillip shows up at Immy’s house, wanting to see their son, Alastair, and demanding that Immy move out of her home and sign the divorce papers within a month. When Immy refuses, Phillip is furious. He hits Immy, and being fed up, Immy pushes back....resulting in Phillip falling down the cellar steps where Immy locks him up!! You go girl! That’s very early in the book, so not too spoilerish. When Naomi and then Ruby show up at Immy’s looking for Phillip the secrets and lies begin to unfold. And that, my friends, is when the story really begins.

However much praise this book receives, it’s not enough. Pick up your copy as soon as possible, and...

Enjoy!

Tense thriller that examines the effects of domestic violence on the victims. Three women - divorced wife, current wife, and girlfriend - realize the antagonist's behavior is escalating and none are safe. Finding and unlikely friendship and bond with each other, they plot to escape the mental, emotional, and physical abuse that has been perpetrated on all of them. Fairly predictable, but the message that escaping the clutches of an abuser are more difficult than it seems is loud and clear.

Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege of reading this prior to release. Great first book from this author. I was really hooked on this one right from the start. I enjoyed the way it was written, leading up to the end but at the same time giving us background on each of the characters. And boy are they some doozies. A cop who thinks he’s above the law, an adoring ex-wife, a soon to be ex-wife and her son and a girlfriend. An unlikely alliance of three women that comes out of fear of and the need for revenge against one man. I will definitely be looking for more from Jo Jakeman.

Batman needs to shut his judgey mouth. But yes, I probably have been. This book totally would rock the movie of the week though.

Imogene is about to be the ex-wife. If her wanker husband Phillip will ever agree to just sign the papers. He has himself a brand new home and new woman friend that Imogene has to get along with for the sake of her child.


But one day when she is over at their house she notices something that makes her realize that she is not alone in the way that her ex-husband treated her.

Now before you even start..this book is NOT a mystery. The very first chapter of the book gives away what is going to happen. But it still was totally potato chip reading. (You know the kind...where you veg out on the coach and eat a whole bag of Doritos and wake up with crumbs in your parts that didn't need crumbs in them...but it's all good)

Ex Phillip is a real winner. He ends up in a tricky situation with all his women.



Oh wait...that part was in my head. sorry

Is this book groundbreaking? No
Is it even believable at times? No
I still read the dang thing and didn't completely hate it. If nothing else there is a ton of day drinking and venting.


Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

I received this book "The Exe's Revenge" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. This book was a hard book to read. I wanted to quit reading it. The words seemed to drag on. I didn't connect to the characters. I did finish it because I hate DNF - just not for me I guess.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

What a rollercoaster! Three very different women with very different experiences are brought together by one awful man. This is pure drama. Although sometimes a little unbelievable (but hey, in their situation, you just never know!), you can't help but feel empathy for these women and the manipulation and violence they are faced with.

Similar to the movie The Other Woman, but WAY darker. Fast paced and at some times chilling, I highly recommend!

Maybe it's just me, but I have movies I seem to always watch after I've been drinking. Along with Pitch Perfect 2 and a slew of musicals, I always find myself watching The Other Woman starring Cameron Diaz, the epitome of a house wife, boobs, and Jamie Lannister. It's about how 3 women, one being the wife, find out the guy has been cheating on them all and the girls become besties and enact their revenge.

This book is a little like this movie, but for once in a blue moon, the movie was better than the book. We have the ex wife Imogen who is glad to be moving on, the soon to be new wife Naomi who has no clue what she's gotten herself into, and the ex ex wife Ruby who...likes dogs? They band together to get revenge on the worst guy possible...Joffrey...Ramsay...I mean Phillip.

I tried so hard to like this book, because it had its perks, but it seemed to drag on and on. It also seemed so damn unbelievable. I will admit I was grinding my teeth with Phillip(douchey McDoucherton to the max), but everything seemed so predictable. The ending...called it. It's going to drive me NUTS because I feel like I just read another book that ended a bad guy the same way. I am not sure if this a debut or not, the author's other book is the same thing, with a different title. I feel bad rating this so low, but when you are skimming through the end trying not to fall asleep, not good. 2.5 rounded up because I finished it.

This is a book of revenge and how nasty divorces can be. This is the first divorce that Phillip has had as his wife finds out. She teams up with his other exes and then the revenge starts. I found the book to be interesting and funny at the same time. I kept on saying to myself "oh no she didn't".

I really thought this was going to be a psychological thriller, but it was more of the three stooges take on an abusive a-hole. Unfortunately there wasn't much I enjoyed about the story except for Imogen's best friend Rachel. The story could have used a bit more of her.

Three women, the ex, the estranged current spouse and the next, are all intricately joined to the same man. Each is convinced her relationship was damaged by the others. Phillip, the man in their lives, is controlling and manipulative and has managed for many years to keep each of them under his thumb. Finally things reach a boiling point and Phillip dies. The novel consists of flashbacks to what happened in the days prior to his death. It is well written and will captivate most readers. It is dark (he is held prisoner in one’s basement) and the reader will be convinced many things would/should happen and anticipates them. Kudos to the author for creating that. Thanks to Net Galley and Berkeley for an ARC for an honest review.

Totally unrealistic story of 3 exes who need to take revenge on their husband. It was, however, absolutely enjoyable and kept you interested to the last page. You got a real feel for the characters and their problems.
Very fast paced.

The Exes' Revenge is a refreshing new take on an all too familiar story of spousal abuse and the long-lingering effects it has on those who have been abused. The titular exes are Imogen, current wife of Phillip and in the process of divorce, Ruby, the first wife, and Naomi, Phillip's current girlfriend and potential third wife. When the story begins, all three exes are in attendance at the funeral of Phillip.

We don't know much about Phillip at first except that he is on the police force and is heartless. The backstory begins 22 days before Phillip's funeral, with each chapter giving us one more day of insight, culminating in Phillip's death. Phillip has informed Imogen, mother of his only child, that she and her son must vacate their family home within the month. This is quite a blow to a single mother who is just barely eking out a living. Imogen pleads with Phillip, but as is obvious by the title, he has no mercy. Ultimately, she teams with Ruby and Naomi to try to help her make Phillip be reasonable.

What I really enjoyed about this book was how real the three main female characters were portrayed. This is not a slick thriller where three devious women plot out an intricate scheme of revenge. Rather, it is a realistic story of three women who haplessly seek justice. These are not three masterminds! They do not set out for revenge; they aren't after scads of money; they just want to live in peace.

All of the characters are really well defined, and the writing and story development are terrific. I wish I could better articulate how new and exciting a take this book is on the oft-told tale of abuse and revenge. I hope you'll just take a leap of faith and try it for yourself. The Exes' Revenge is a really excellent novel.

I really enjoyed this book and trying to figure out how they ended up at the funeral. I do not scare easily but was freaked out at one point when they thought they were alone in the house but things did not seem as they were. I could see this as a movie.

Let me tell you what this book is not. It is not a murder mystery or a romance novel, it isn't three wrongly used women getting together for drinks to think up devious revenge plots. Instead, it is a journey of self discovery and sanity when all hell breaks lose. It is about three dramatically different women all tied to the same man. Phillip is a charming and abuse man who has the backing of the Police Department behind him. Ruby is his ex wife who doesn't seem to want to let go. Imogen is his current wife and mother of his only child. Naomi is his new girlfriend and does not seem to realize how destructive Phillip can be. This novel is much more than how to survive abuse...it is the about what lengths these women will go to to enact their revenge and the discoveries they make along the way. It is well written, with a plot that pulls the reader into the lives of these women from the beginning.



I like how the author examines whether doing the right thing actually gets anyone anywhere, and how karma is interwoven within the flashbacks the women have. Sometimes it feels like the bad guys always win, and it makes me wonder what will happen to the ladies once the jerk is gone. I felt that the women reacted realistically to the abuse - they don't just instantly overcome years of behavioral patterns once they are no longer with Phillip. It helps put the patterns of why women go back to their abusive spouse again and again. The fear, the patterns, they felt real...as if author Jo Jakeman had slipped into the mind of the abused woman and grown in the novel with her.


Trigger Warnings: Emotional and Physical abuse.

Thank you to NetGallery and Berkley Publishing Group for this advanced reader copy for me to review. My opinions, as always, are my own.

The Exes' Revenge by Jo Jakeman is exactly what it says and yet...not at all what I was expecting.

Imogen is in the midst of a divorce, and Phillip, her controlling and abusive husband, has given her an ultimatum: leave the house in two weeks or he will make sure he gets custody of their son. Phillip is a policeman and would be able to bring up Imogen's depression following a miscarriage. Currently, Phillip is living in another property he owns with his current, much younger girlfriend.

Although Imogen's personality is non-confrontational, Phillip's latest demands require her to stand up in order to be able to provide a decent life for their son.

In a visit to try and persuade Phillip to be reasonable, Imogen realizes that Phillip has been abusing his girlfriend as well.

When an irate Phillip learns of her visit, he storms into the house full of threats and ego, then goes into the basement to retrieve some belongings. Pushed beyond rational thought, Imogen does something drastic and completely unexpected. Now what?

Moving back and forth in time, Phillip's relationships with Imogen, his current girlfriend, and his ex-wife emerge. Unlikely allies and perhaps with different agendas, the three women learn more about themselves, each other, and the man with whom they have all been involved.

Expecting a typical revenge mystery, I was delighted to find a more complex and engrossing experience with a brisk pace and some dark humor.

Recommended.

Read in June. Review scheduled for Aug. 29.

NetGalley/Berkely Publishing
Mystery. Sept. 11, 2018. Print length: 352 pages.

We begin at the funeral of Phillip Rochester. This is a story of domestic abuse and revenge. Three women have been victimized by Phillip. Two were married to him and the other woman is his girlfriend. Phillip has exploited their vulnerabilities and has manipulated them throughout their relationships. He threatens Imogen (his second wife) who retaliates and locks him in her cellar. The other two women join her in trying to find a way to end his reign of terror. The author goes back in time to document events leading up to the funeral. We see how the effects of the physical and emotional abuse have allowed Phillip to continue to manipulate the three women and the strength they need to find within themselves in order to fight back. The book keeps your interest until the very end, but the subject matter may be unpleasant and difficult for some readers.

4.5 stars for Jo Jakeman's The Exes' Revenge! Nothing like a woman (or in this case women) scorned in this well written & developed fabulous psychological thriller. I was eh about the fact that Phillip was abusing his power as a police officer and using his fellow officers who were snowed to his abusive, controlling behavior I just think the profession has enough obstacles currently but hey it makes for a great story right so. That fact aside this is a page-turner that sucks in you from the funeral on page one Kudos to Ms. Jakeman and I look forward to diving into her other works.

A compelling story of the physical and mental abuse of three women (two wifes, 1 girlfriend) by the same man. You have to read the book to understand how it happened and to gain insight on how they finally came together to seek their revenge. The finale is not their revenge but it is a sweet justice. While this is a fictional book I am sure that the abuse mirrors life more than we can imagine.

I have given this book a four star rating.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for my unbiased review.