I received an ARC of The Starter Wife by Nina Laurin in exchange for an honest review.

This was a roller coaster ride. I found it hard to put down once I started because I wanted to see what would happen next. The author manages to lead you down a path only to knock you right off it. It keeps you guessing until the very end.

This book started out slow and took a while to get into it. There were a lot of twists and turns. I did not care for any of the characters which made the book just okay.
The ending was not what I expected following the storyline. It could be the story was not for me.
It was not the writing which was fresh that I did not really care for. I think is was story itself.
Someone who loves this type of book will enjoy it. Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this book

I really liked this book! I have read so many psychological thriller/suspense type books over the last few years that I have become pretty jaded to the twists, but this one had me interested all the way through. I am taking off one star because the characters are all 1000% unlikable. I will definitely read other books from this author. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC.

I had read the tantalizing excerpt and was thrilled to find the entire book to review.

Claire is Byron's second wife - Colleen his first (an applauded artist). It is difficult to know if Byron fell out of love with his first wife who (according to the authorities) died of a suicidal drowning. Things with Claire and Byron seem not to be as perfect as they were when Claire and Byron had first married. Clare is trying hard to have a baby to fix this. (Where did she ever get that idea?) Although she thinks Byron may be cheating on her with his college students (he is close to 50 - Claire is 27), she needs this baby. Claire has also written a novel that no one wants to publish. So, all day Claire goes online to dig up information, and who knows WHAT else, and drink wine.

On a weekend holiday, Claire nearly drowns, herself. Byron insists she is drinking too much.

A dark force of sorts is writing about Claire within the story. She (the dark force) is out to get Byron for herself - at any cost. We need to find out who this is and why Claire is so erratic - throwing things, breaking into places and meddling with Byron's friends.

A great read!

Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for a nice, twisty story!

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did, it was a good read, if slightly disturbing.

Claire is married to Byron, but the ghost of his wife, Colleen is a spectre that won't go away and is putting strain not only on their marriage but on Claire's ability to make good choices.

None of the characters in this book were particularly likeable, it wasn't the type of book where you were rooting for someone, it was more about finding out what really happened to Colleen and how far Claire will go....

Thanks for to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

This story surprised me with a twist I didn't predict. I love twists but it did confuse me a bit about things that happened earlier. I also love thrillers but parts of this story were a bit too dark for me. I would probably read another book by this author. #NetGalley #TheStarterWife #NinaLaurin

Another great psychothriller in 2019!
I was unsure whether to give it 4 or 5 stars. It's really that good!

The story is told by Claire, married to Byron. Clairs spends her days at home "writing" a novel and Byron teaches literature at a college. Claire is madly in love with Byron, but somethings seems off in their relationship. Is he losing interest or...?

In between these chapters about Claire there are chapters written by a female who seems obsessed with Byron and out to get his wife. We do not find out who writes these chapters until the end.

All through the book I had the feeling several of the characters in this book are rather unstable and that I did not really trust them, but was there really a reason not to trust them? Was one of them crazy, who... or were they all crazy...? Definitely a fast paced book with not a dull moment in it.

Highly recommendable to anyone that enjoys a good pyschothriller.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing, Netgalley, and Nina Laurin for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest review. This book leads you in one direction just to find out you were totally guessing wrong from the start. Full of sudden turns you don't see coming. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 star rating from me!

The Starter Wife by Nina Laurin is one of those crazy women sociopath reads that I devour consistently. The crazier the better!

This one was admittedly a bit confusing for a bit but I was able to figure it out fairly quickly & was pretty close in my theory of what was happening.

If you like twisty - kinda predictable, but still entertaining dark reads with unreliable narrators & (in my opinion) no characters that
you really can root for- then you will enjoy this book!

Overall I did enjoy it and will be reading this author again. A solid, quick & entertaining read.

There were some however, things that although were not really important to the storyline - were never really explained fully. Just left me scratching my head a bit! 🤷‍♀️

Still basically a good read for me!
All opinions are just that, my opinions. Enjoy!

This is a quick read. It held my attention and I liked the twist ending. However, once I finished the book I felt confused by some of the events in the story, like I need to go back and re-read to truly understand everything. The problem is I didn’t enjoy the book enough to go back and do that. I felt like there were parts of the book that were drawn out or just unnecessary to the story. Overall, it kept me entertained and I did enjoy the authors writing style so I would be interested in trying another one of her novels, this just wasn’t the one for me.

When I started this book, I was intrigued - I'm always up for a good thriller. However, somewhere along the way I got a little lost and wasn't sure what I was reading. There were times when I had questions and I didn't feel like they got answered. It also seemed like I had read something along these lines recently. I liked the authors writing and would definitely check out another one of her books!
Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an arc of this book.

3.5 Stars to The Starter Wife!

Claire is Byron's second wife, he's about 20 years her senior and there's a bunch of indicators that he may not be over his first wife, Colleen, who died 10 years earlier, but who's body was never found. When Claire gets a phone call that seems that it might be from Colleen, it's the thread that begins to make the whole quilt unravel.

This book started out with extreme promise but as it moved forward it started to lose me a bit. The concept of the unreliable wife is becoming frustrating for me - the woman who is so desperate to keep her man (who she thinks is probably cheating anyway) is quite disheartening and the finale of the book was a bit over the top. I'm still giving 3.5 stars because this book held my attention and I did strongly enjoy the first 2/3 and the writing was very well done. I'll also be the first to say that I've read an abundance of domestic thrillers so maybe the plots are becoming too similar - so someone who has not become over-saturated in this genre may enjoy this title more than I did!

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Byron’s beloved first wife committed suicide but her body was never found. He’s now remarried to Claire, a young girl trying to live under the first wife’s shadow. Claire starts to get strange emails and calls from a mysterious woman. Is this the first wife? Did she commit suicide or did Byron do something? Is the first wife dead or alive? Is Claire in danger?⁣
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This is a dark, twisted, and addicting read. You will suspect everyone and be shocked at the final conclusion. What starts as a domestic suspense quickly moves into psychological thriller status. And yes- this is another thriller with an unreliable female narrator. While this has been done ad nauseam, The Starter Wife is well written and engaging. It does contain a couple sexual instances that were unnecessary to the story and I feel were just there for the shock value, which I wasn’t a fan of. This was a quick read that kept me guessing until the end with a satisfying conclusion that tied up the loose ends. For me, The Starter Wife was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars (rounded up from 3.5). Thank you @grandcentralpub for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

I was confused for the first half of this book. It was hard to keep track of who was responsible for which dialogue. Finally, the author provides clarity about three-fourths of the way through the novel that makes all the pieces fall into place. The main character is completely obsessed with her husband and does diabolical things.
The suspense in this novel was good, but all the main characters are detestable.

This book had me from the beginning! I had so many questions and was trying to put the pieces together but I did not expect that ending! It was a perfect pace for this avid reader. This was a great book- well written and intriguing. I didn't want to put it down

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC.

I am a fan of Nina Laurin regardless of what she writes. Her writing is always crisp. While I envisioned this twist coming, it was still a wild ride. It always amazes - and humbles me - the depths women fall to when struggling to obtain perfection. This book perfectly summed that curse. I loved it. Definitely recommend it.

Wow - what a surprise in the middle of the book! Totally didn’t expect it - the best kind! Creepy - creepy good!!!!

A fantastic thriller with resists and turns all over the place!

Claire is Professor Byron Westcott’s second wife, living in the shadow of his successful and famous first wife Colleen who died eight years earlier. Not only does Claire live in the house Colleen decorated and sleep in the same bed she once did, Claire has to cope with their home filled with Colleen’s artwork that Byron just can’t bring himself to part with. Soon Claire becomes sick of feeling like she’s a guest in this relationship and starts to dig into the death of his first wife: a supposed suicide. But Colleen’s body was never found...

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys dark thrillers. It starts out like any generic domestic thriller but it’ll soon have you on the edge of your seat, wondering if what you are reading is the truth or not. A great unreliable narrator and a believable plot. I loved this book!

The Starter Wife by Nina Laurin 🖤
Thanks @netgalley @nina.laurin and @grandcentralpub for my ARC
Publication date 11th June 2019
‘He promised till death us part. Then she disappeared’.
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A really intoxicating and fast paced thriller. Perfect for fans of psychological and mystery thrillers. Thoroughly enjoyed this and would love to read more form this author.

First, the good: Nina Laurin has an engaging writing style. The characters were believable. The premise of this one had promise - it could have played out in a really interesting way. I'd try out another one of her books.

And to explain the two-star rating: This one just didn't work for me. It's tough to explain why a thriller missed the mark for me without giving it away, The plot felt like it was all over the place without actually going anywhere. There's a rape scene that was really unnecessary, and I wish hadn't been included. I hate giving ratings beneath 3 stars - I know authors work so, so hard - but by the 80% mark I was just speeding along, waiting for this one to be over. And the payout - the ending - didn't satisfy me in any way. Maybe I missed something that others will love here, but this just wasn't a mystery for me.