This was a great read. Awesome character development and a smooth transition (you'll know what I mean later). This will have you picking your brain trying to figure it all out. I really enjoyed this read and I have already recommended it to others.

Wow. This one is a page turner and I finished in two days!

The story flips back and forth between the wife, who is living on an island with her family trying to make ends meet while tourists are away - and the widow whose husband has gone missing and may have taken a hiatus to the island where they own a summer home.

Though a few of the twists were a bit hard to follow, it all came together by the end.

Definitely recommend!

Kate is a typical housewife, married to John a local physician at a hospice clinic with a ten year old daughter Mia. When John doesn’t return from a work trip Katie begins to see the lies her husband has been hiding.

Abby is a resident of the beloved island Belport that is loaded with tourists during the busy season. She is married to Ray a local handyman and they have two teenage sons.

Kate head to her and Johns vacation home on Belport island on her search to find her husband. While Kate is searching for clues to find John, Abbys husband begins to act strange and a body washes up on shore. Unbeknownst to these two women their lives are about to enter twine in a way no one saw coming.

Oh my goodness the ending of this book y’all!! 4.5⭐️

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur books for my ARC of this outstanding book!

Fabulous second novel by Christian White. The Wife and the Widow is just as enjoyable as The Nowhere Child.

I enjoyed the setting. I like learning more about Australia. The semi-deserted Island was perfect.

The book is all about twists. The twists are what made it a great read. I had a hard time putting it down!

Highly recommend.

I don't know how to review this without spoiling the plot. While I didn't enjoy it as much as The Nowhere Child, it was still a pretty solid piece of issue-driven suspense. I didn't see the big twist coming in a million years, and it was quite clever. On one hand, that made the book that much more entertaining. On the other hand, it meant that the aforementioned issues weren't revealed until so late in the book that the reader doesn't have much time to mull them over. Still, it's a good book and I'm probably being a bit harsh. In any case, White has definitely solidified his place on my must-read list.

This book is so good!! I love the altering chapters of the Wife and then the Widow. I could not wait to pick this book up every time I had to put it down. Great twists, great pacing and such a strong conclusion. 5 stars!!!

This was a very enjoyable mystery-thriller and I loved how Kate, the widow's story and Abby's the wife's story intertwined in unexpected ways. It kept me guessing to the very end. Must read more by Christian White.

Caution: Cursing (F word and sadly, the use of God’s name in vain), sex, including sexual acts between male children

While the twists and turns in the story were intriguing, and the character development was good, there were a lot of things about this book that I didn’t care for: I didn’t particularly like that the story went back forth between the past and present with no indication that was happening, it made the story confusing. I also didn’t personally care for the bad language and sex, if I wanted that, I would read erotica. Last but not least, the detailed information about taxidermy was creepy and so was the lady who did it.

Looking at the reviews, I see that others loved this book. I did not.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This psychological thriller is like no other! Fasten your seat belts because you are on the ride of your life. "The Wife and The Widow takes you to a cliff edge and asks the question: how well do we really know the people we love?" Enjoy! 📚

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending an eBook copy of The Wife and the Widow by Christian White to me to read and review.
“If we don’t talk about the monsters in this world, we won’t be ready for them when they jump out from under the bed.” This is a quote from the book I believe really says a lot about the plot. After reading this line, I could tie it to countless events throughout the story.
Told in a dual timeline format, one being that of a wife and the other, a widow. The author wrote from the point of view of these two strong women seamlessly. He brought their intuition and emotion into their actions and thoughts, as well as, show how women want to stand in front of their families and guard them from danger. No matter who poses the threat.
The characters were well developed and led lives that could be relatable (outside their conflict, anyway). The setting was vividly written, making me feel like I was reading about a real town and real people. The pacing was spot on, full of twists and turns, peaks and valleys, keeping my curiosity turned all the way up. Every time I felt like maybe I know who did what, something would happen that made me question everything I know.
This kind of storytelling creates lifelong readers. I could not turn the pages fast enough; I believe this is one of the first must-reads of the year and a predicted top favorite for 2020!

Told from alternating perspectives of -- you guessed it -- the wife and the widow. Newly-minted widow Kate not only must come to terms with her husband's death, but also with the fact that he led a secret life. Kate heads to their holiday house on Belport Island in hopes of learning more about her husband.

Abby, the wife, lives on Belport Island with her husband and two children. Abby meets Kate on the Island, and join forces to uncover the missing pieces of their husbands' secret lives.

I must say that the location of this book was phenomenal. Christian White does such an excellent job of the eerie, small island -- it really sets the tone for the book. Sprinkled in with a few plot twists, and I could not put this down!

Set in the winter on Belport Island, a summer spot for the wealthy, the story follows Kate (The Widow) and Abby (The Wife). Kate's husband John has disappeared and Kate is on a journey to find out why, so she visits her summer home to see if John is there. Abby lives on Belport Island year round and her husband, Ray, is a property caretaker. Ray is acting strange and Abby is trying to figure out the reason.

A twist about halfway through the novel made me gasp with surprise and it changed the trajectory of the story and made me question what I thought I knew. This makes the novel an interesting read. However, all of the detailed description of Abby's taxidermy hobby was very off-putting. If you can stomach that, this is worth the read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

4.25 out of 5 stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and St.Martins Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

"The Wife and the Widow" is told from two very different points of view. Kate and her daughter arrive at the airport to greet her husband who had been away at a conference in London. When he doesn't get off the plane she begins to worry. She calls his boss and finds out that he had quit his job a while ago. She has no idea where he could be at first but when she gets a call from the alarm company informing her that an alarm at their holiday house located on Belport Island. Kate and her Father in law decide to head out to find out if John is there.

Abby lives on Belport Island with her husband Ray and her two teenage children. She works at the local grocery store, takes care of her children and husband, hangs out with her best friend Bobbi and spends a decent amount of time practicing her favorite hobby taxidermy.

Two very different women heading on a collision course. Abby the wife and Kate the widow, each trying their best to find out the secrets that their husbands have been hiding.

This is a dark,, tightly wound thriller with a really, really good twist. I think that this is nearly a perfect mystery. I would have happily given this a five star rating except I did figure out the mystery. Luckily the twist was so darn good that I couldn't help but walk away from the book satisfied. Want interesting characters and a well written mystery? Then pick this up!!!

The Wife and the Widow is a thriller that kept me reading - I finished it with 1 break!

When John doesn't come home, his wife Kate starts her search to find out what happened to him. On a nearby island, local Abby is going day by day, but noticing some changes. As the days go by, you learn more about each of the women and their relationships - and it leads to an end I didn't see coming. If you enjoy thrillers, add this to your to-be-read list!

I was provided an ARC through Netgalley - all opinions are my own.

Oh man I'm so bummed I didn't like this book more! I've seen other people loving it but there were a few elements that made it so this book just didn't work for me. First is the "wife" in this story Abby is very crass. There is a quote in the beginning about her bowels being like a buckets of eels that just really turned me off. There is also a decent amount of foul language and the taxidermy side story was also just so strange. I did like the twist at the end and it was a SUPER fast read but the above reasons made it not a win for me.

“How well can you really ever know anyone?”

This pretty much sums up a whole sub-genre of thrillers that plays on this quintessential question of that you can never really fully know someone just because they are ‘family’ because everyone has their own secrets and some like those secrets to remain hidden

At any rate, I approached this book absolutely no expectations, which seem more of a good thing come to think of it. For what it’s worth, the past couple of years didn’t really have a memorable mystery/thriller, not for me. It was all a jumble of unreliable narrators, mediocre red herrings and I’ve-seen-this-before plots; all glued together by unrealistic twists.

Plot! Plot! Plot! Plot! Plot! Plot! Plot! Plot! Plot!

I don’t seem to understand what the point of writing a mystery/thriller is if your #1 priority isn’t the plot. If I could see through the mystery, then there is no thrill and the story simply starts sagging and falling apart. No one really likes a mystery because of its flowery writing.

Not here. This one’s plot gripped me in its talons and just refused to let go of me till the very end. It was skilful, to say the least. It was like at every turn of a page (tap of kindle in my case), it sneered at me.
Damn right!

Usually, small community mysteries feature a hotshot somebody back to make peace with his/her past, solve an old riddle with a criss-cross timeline, rekindle old flame... you know the dig. But here a small, peaceful island comes to life with the discovery of a man’s corpse. Who is he? What was he doing there? And how this man is tied to the small island history? All are questions the dead man’s Melbourne widow asks, to which a local wife might know the answers. The urgency of the narrative compelled me to read on until the moment I realised that twist, almost towards the end. I was like ...

Nothing was farfetched. It was very realistic. It made absolute sense.

And that doesn’t mean that because the plot was good I didn’t pay attention to the writing. Not at all. I loved the writing and highlighted some very memorable quotes. To whet your appetite, here’s a favourite of mine.

“Guilt, fear, grief, they’re all like moss, Ab. If you slow down long enough it’ll start to grow, and it won’t stop until you’re covered.“

It was so well written that it brought every aspect of the plot to life. The whole story was immaculately thought through from all angles. Highest commendations for the writer on his choice. I think it’s time I check his other book.

Many thanks for NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the ARC.

The Wife and the Widow by Christian White tells the story of Kate, a grieving widow who discovers her late-husband's awful secrets, and Abby, a young wife who much confront her husband's guilt. Set on an eerie island where nothing is at it seems, these two women come together to discover the missing pieces regarding their husbands' secret lives.

This story is a masterpiece! The characters are fascinated and well developed, the pacing is excellent, the surprises are endless, and the finale is so smartly written. I loved the structure of this book, and I can imagine this was incredible difficult to write. It's told in dual POVs, which can either be masterful or it can completely destroy a story. I'm happy to say White performed the former. This is one of the best thrillers I've read in a long time! I highly recommend it.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest, unbiased opinion.

AMAZING! So happy to have had the opportunity to read and review this great book.

Intriguing story told from the viewpoints of the wife and the widow. Incredible to see how the stories intertwine.

This thriller absolutely blew my mind. I read it in one day and couldn’t put it down. The story was so interesting, and completely drew me in. We meet Abby, a wife and mother of two teenagers obsessed with true crime novels. She’s a novice taxidermist and cannot believe when a murder happens right in her small island town. Soon she’s involved in a way she could never imagine.

Katie has just learned her husband has been lying to her about his whereabouts when he fails to come home after a work trip. Her investigation leads her to their summer home on a small island and we soon learn her husband’s secrets.

This was a solid thriller full of twists and turns that I had an inkling off but never fully grasped until the reveal. The writing was accessible and exciting, and it tied up nicely at the end. Many times I’m left with nagging questions with a twisty thriller but this one covered all its bases which I thoroughly enjoyed!

I’ve made no secret of my struggle with thrillers as of late, but every once in awhile I read a book that reminds me why it’s always been my go to genre and The Wife and the Widow was that kind of book for me!

Friends, this one will be tricky to review because it was so incredibly clever that you should go in as blind as possible. How about this, if you like books that are super fast paced and the type you have to read in just a couple of sittings, grab this. Or if you like books that have two narrators that switch back and forth flawlessly read this. If you like smart twists that actually make perfect sense and don’t require you to suspend disbelief, read this! I basically devoured this one and loved every minute of it, highly recommended by me for something that feels original and exciting