Twisty, deceiving, wonderful ride of a book
Started off with a bang and so many twists to make it unbelievable that good.
You wont know what hit you. Great book.

Thanks to the Author,the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

I was hooked from the get go. The Newlyweds is a Gillian Flynn style rollercoaster and the ending does NOT disappoint! A must read for thriller fans.

Okay so I have a LOT of books on my list that I’m dying to read but as soon as I was approved for this I knew it had to come first. I mean...read that synopsis! Expectations were certainly high going into this...

Oh and those expectations were met! What a fantastic thriller. I knew something crazy was coming, tensions were rising and I was still blown away. Holy shit! The twists keep coming as well....they just keep coming and coming! This is a piece of art! The Newlyweds is crazy good and you need to read it.

I read this in one sitting. It’s dark and shocking and deliciously deceptive. My husband asked why I was sat “looking in wonder and swearing at your tablet” haha!
5/5

To say The Newlyweds was not what I expected it putting it lightly. While reading the book I kept asking - out loud most of the time - What the actual heck is happening???!!
Initially, I felt sad for Vivien, felt for her despite not liking her at all. I had a funny feeling about her, nothing she sad or did seemed right. And Asthon? Phew...just too perfect and then...well. It’s not easy to talk about him or Viven without spoilers.

I could tell something was very wrong with this whole setup from the start becuase Vivien keeps telling so. She tells the whole story herself and she is one unreliable narrator. As her story unfolds my feeling for her went from pity to sorrow to anger and hate at least twice during every chapter. I can understand why she does what she does...but her methods...

I like these domestic kind of thrillers because they always make my blood boil and I’m always thankful that my life compared to these people is just plain boring.

The ending...not sure how I feel a out it. It was satisfying in a sense, both Viven and Ashton got what they deserved with Ashton getting the upper hand. That was the part I didn’t like. At all.

All in all I’m giving 4 stars because the story surprised me more than once and kept me guessing and asking what will happen next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

I requested this because it sounded interesting. I was confused by the way Vivien was acting when she brought Cady to the house and then the reveal of the storyline made it a bit clearer. Then the story got muddled and some of the things that happened were a bit unclear and the last minute reappearance of Lily made no sense, The ending was left as a cliffhanger but in this case, I liked it.

The Newlyweds, Vivien and Ashton. Of course, in any good domestic thriller, readers are always trying to anticipate the main protagonist’s next move, the author doing an excellent job sowing the seed of doubt. Without beating around the bush, she created an ambience of deceit, escalating to such a level that I began to worry about one of the players. But what was going on behind closed doors didn’t quite add up. So far, so good! I was intrigued.

Everything was perfect until it wasn’t and as the story progressed, my dislike for one of the spouses heightened while I found myself rooting for the other. Not mentioning who because I’d hate to spoil this read for you, I realised I’d backed the wrong horse.

The tension piqued a little too early for my liking, but as time goes by, new complications arise, taking unexpected turns. Although previous happenings reflect in the second half of the book, there were moments in it that I wondered whether I was reading the same story. However, my questions were answered and satisfactorily at that.

Figuring out how one of them ticked, and understanding why they were so dead set on getting revenge made for some pretty intense reading. Not only does the clever smokescreen throw the reader off-balance but the twist or better-said, twists coming were something else! Not all the secondary characters are; however, likeable. Richmond’s descriptive writing and hostile or welcoming settings are as always, very well-done.

Release Date: Expected 19th January 2021
Genre: Psychological Thriller


TW: Mentions of Abuse / Suicide / Death / Mental Illness

Viviennes life isn't what she wanted - after tragically losing her parents, feeling an odds with her own body and never quite achieving the status she craved - she meets Dr Ashton Buchanan. He is everything a woman could want - stunningly gorgeous, rich, successful and now, all hers.

She becomes perfect for him - the perfect soulmate, the perfect wife. She needs to have him. After the wedding that every six-year old girl has dreams about, they have the perfect marriage. But in hindsight ... maybe not. It starts off with unexplained bruises, a mysterious note, and some ghosts of the past, but eventually it all starts to unravel around the happy couple - and neither of them want that to happen.

The Newlyweds keeps the reader at a cold, detatched arms length - which at times made it very difficult to find something to relate to in the characters but it worked. The whole way through you feel like you're missing something, and a chilly tension grows with every page of this slow-burning nightmare.

I thought I'd figured out exactly where this was going within the first half of the story - and I was right. But all that did was lull me into a false sense of security so Richmonde could throw curveball after curveball my way.

Now, this book does depict some serious mental illness in a very extreme sense so this may not be suitable for anybody sensitive to this as it could be quite upsetting or possible offensive to those readers - but keep in mind any depictions are done in the a very extreme, fictional way. There are so many twists are turns in this tale but it was so easy to keep up with, although towards the end of the story there may have been just a few too many events that felt like purely shock-factor.

Overall, this book was full of deliciously dark twists that took my breath away - every single time I thought we've reached the end of the depravity and horror people could inflict, someone proves me wrong.

It's a slow, dark and devilishley tense tale ... right down to the very last line.



RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐



Thank you to Netgalley and Arianne Richmonde for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Cunning, deceiving, twisty, surprising, mind spinning and entertaining!
Newly weds Ashton and Vivien are perfect happy couple, a beautiful postcard image of Christmas Hallmark movies. They’re adorable !

Vivien works at community center to help troubled families, abandoned or problematic children. Especially one of the cases of a 16 years old young woman who is left behind, making her ends meet by e-commerce sales gets her full attention and her successful surgeon Ashton knows how to please her in the bed, buying her precious gifts, cooking dinners.

It sounds like too good to be true! Because the people who are close to her start to be doubtful that something is going really wrong about their perfectlicious marriage!

There are bruises on her arms as if somebody has pinched her ! But she keeps making excuses, protecting her husband , telling them their marriage is perfect till her husband’s ex Belle appears in the picture and they start arguing.

When you read unreliable heroine’s POV and start to resonate with her throughout the domestic violence she endured, you still become suspicious because we only read events via her telling other people, we don’t see them actually happening! And our heroine Vivian never drew a lovely, sweetheart heroine portrait!

After the revelation, I think the storyline moved uncontrollably and directionless. I start to lose my interest and some big revelations were too “no freaking way” kind of far fetched! ( of course you cannot see them coming because they were a little extreme)

I wish big revelation may appear at the end of the book! Especially Lily’s big mystery was like misplaced piece of the puzzle! It didn’t quite fit with the domestic thriller. I loved to concentrate on Ashton and Vivien’s dysfunctional relationship!
But the big twist at the epilogue was kind of likable and it satisfied the batshit craziness hid inside of me.

Because of the well played ending I’m rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 ! This could be easily a five starred read for me if that big shocking twist would come at the end! I felt like the second half of the book was a little aimless.

But it was still riveting, exciting, interesting read which I finished in record time!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Bookoture for sharing this heart throbbing advanced copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

So many emotions. Mostly disgusted by the fictional personas in this book. I both really liked and disliked this book. It’s cleverly written, and well-plotted. There are many twists and turns. Just when you really can’t stand a person, you start disliking someone else even more.

I utterly dislike every single person in this book. In a way it’s like an episode from Days of Our Lives. Trust no one, no one is what they seem to be. Everyone is hiding something. In the end they all deserve each other. I didn’t really know where the book was going to take me in the beginning. To be honest, the build up could have been a bit shorter, but it was good, because I didn’t know what was going on.

I kept on waiting for the psychological thriller part, and once it got there it seemed like everyone went totally psycho in their own way. It’s hard to review this book without giving away the plot, so I’ll keep it short. If you like reading about twisty, weird people, who are more interested in revenge and keeping up appearances than anything else, you should read this book!

The Newlyweds by Arianne Richmonde is the second novel that I have read from this author, and I am left feeling a tad conflicted. While I was immediately drawn into the story and engrossed for the first half, the latter part of the narrative seemed to stray a bit too far into the realm of the ridiculous. If you can easily suspend your disbelief, you will be more than satisfied by a cracking tale of smoke and mirrors. Unfortunately, for me, it all went a bit too far.

Vivien is married to Ashton, a successful doctor, and to all outward appearances the two have an enviable life together. When friends begin to notice the bruises on Vivien, she is quick to explain it all away as mere accidental. Is Vivien really willing to accept abuse at the hands of her husband for the privilege of being his wife? But there is more to this marriage than meets the eye, of course, and it goes far beyond what those who are looking in from the outside think they know.

This is an intriguing premise, and I unreservedly dove right in. The twists will keep you off balance, but I found that I became less engaged as the narrative advanced. That being said, I remain a fan of Ms Richmonde's writing, and eagerly anticipate her next offering. 3.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

Well what can I say. This was so different even though it was a physiological thriller.. The first few pages I thought what am I getting into, then wow it really started getting interesting. The reveal about half way through was a surprise.

I normally leave reality a bit behind when reading these books so I skipped over a few things like learning scuba diving and where did all the money come from etc, being a single mother, and just went with the flow.

I could have done without Lily as thought that was either not needed or even better if it was more developed then it would have made this a 5 star plus book.

I now need to find new books by this author as if they are anything like this one - cracking read.

I was given an advance copy by Net galley in exchange for a fair and honest review which I have done so.

#TheNewlyWeds #NetGalley
Claustrophobic and Tense.
Vivien meets Ashton, she knows she will be his wife and absolutely nothing will stop her.
Powerful, rich and from a good family, Ashton is everything Vivien is not. So, she molds herself into Ashton’s perfect soulmate.
Pouring his favorite vintage wine, whispering ‘I love you’ over dinner in front of friends and biting her tongue when she disagrees with him are simple sacrifices for the perfect marriage she has always craved.
What happened next?
Read this book to know more.
Characters are attention seeking, narration is mind blowing.
I'm doing more promotion on publication of this book among my fellow Authors Bloggers Family Friends and followers.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an advanced copy of this psychological thriller.

I have conflicting feelings. The first half of this book was really good - I love domestic thrillers, especially with a female protagonist, and Vivien was cunning and calculating and although I guessed her plan beforehand, it was still fun to see it unravel. I really wished that that part of the book had been longer and more explored because that was what I found super interesting. I loved the marriage dynamic between Ashton and Vivien and the whole atmosphere was just exactly how I want it in a domestic thriller. The reveal which took place about halfway into the book was good, but it should have been much later. Or at least, that original plan of hers should have been continued.
After the halfway mark, the book lost me. There were too many random events added for shock value, too many things happening which you couldn't have seen coming and which therefore seemed random. The whole Lily storyline didn't fit into the book, since the bit with Cady was already pretty far-fetched.
The last chapter before the epilogue was still pretty good, however, I didn't like the epilogue. It seemed like such a crazy and unrealistic thing to happen and it didn't fit into the book or the plot at all. The bit after the epilogue hardly made anything better and I just really wish it hadn't been included because otherwise, I would have really liked this book.

A great psychological thriller about a newlywed couple. I love a psychological thriller in this wind kept me on the edge of my seat to the last page. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a thriller