100% insulted me as a female reader.

⏰ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫: Heather is the younger wife-to-be of a doctor. The doctor’s first wife Pam battles dementia and lives in a nursing home. His 2 daughters, Tully and Rachel, are shocked about their father’s choice in women, but as they get to know Heather, they uncover truths about their family they’ve buried a long time.

💡𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Look, I’m being honest because it’s time for that, so I’ll say it:

STOP. WRITING. STUPID. WOMEN!

One more time for the authors in the back:

STOP WRITING STUPID WOMEN!!!

Women are not magnanimously stupid so please stop writing them all as such. My review will come across as scathing, and that’s not my intent - I truly adored Hepworth’s last novel The Good Sister and know she’s a gifted writer, but somehow, this was a Verity-ish attempt to tackle a topic that I think instead turned into an old boys’ club novel, thus my humble English teacher intent is to point out that this NEEDS to stop. Writers, editors… STOP.

Here’s my chief review point, spoiler be damned: the author shows not 1 but 2 women who suffer physical abuse and convince themselves they aren’t abused, in favor of them being… “drunk” (but remembers everything else) and/or “crazy.”

Yup. I really just read that. In 2022.

This archaic portrayal makes everyone think it’s ok to diminish women as “hysterical” and “crazy” and (not surprisingly) “stupid,” particularly men who started this horrendously inaccurate trope centuries ago which Charlotte Perkins Gilman famously brought to light when she shredded gender roles in “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

I actually feel a bit (a lot) insulted having read that a woman doesn’t KNOW she’s abused physically, talks herself out of it blaming alcohol, and instead second and triple guesses herself SEVERAL times and accepts and convinces herself she’s going crazy instead. Because she enjoyed a few glasses of wine? Oh and this happens several times. Yes, women in this book are viewed as “crazy” for trusting their instincts.

Do women make excuses for their abuser? Yep. Do they feel powerless? Yes. Do they think they are going crazy imagining they are abused instead of actually being abused? NO.

No all day this week and twice on Sunday. NO. They deny it to others but they know their shame.

Top it off with the women in the novel having to see therapists for their grab-bag of issues - one a kleptomaniac, another binge eats, and another might be a budding alcoholic. But the men in the novel? Cool, calm, collected, handsome, reassuring. The women? ALL “crazy.“

Insulting. The ending is merely a “did it happen” Verity-like 4th quarter hail Mary to try to make the women look legit nuts and basically just further irritated me. Please, stop. Women deserve better.

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗠𝗮𝗴𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

📚𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Domestic mystery

😍𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: no one.

🙅‍♀️ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: anyone

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and for making me realize the fight for a better portrayal of women in literature is certainly not over.

Thank you Sally Hepworth, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

Sally Hepworth never disappoints! The Younger Wife, told through the eyes of alternating characters, will keep you guessing. The family drama unfolds like a compelling mystery as we follow the lives of sisters Tully and Rachel, their aging mother with dementia, and their father and his scandalously young bride=to-be.

Differing perspectives, a framework of dementia, and self-doubt create a compelling effect similar to that of an "unreliable narrator." What is real? What is the truth? Can these characters trust the accounts of their own experiences and can we, the reader, trust what we hear?

Like all of Hepworth's books, The Younger Wife will keep you invested from Page 1 to the very end.

5 Stars.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I read Sally Hepworth's The Good Sister last year and loved it, so when I saw The Younger Wife as "read now" many months back, I was ecstatic!

The family dynamic in this book was unconventional and interesting. I loved the suspense and the well-developed characters. Rachel, Tully, Heather, and Fiona were all unreliable narrators. I enjoyed how the book started off with a questionable family event and then switched to the past events leading up to that event. I don't want to say too much to give anything away!
This book was unputdownable and was filled with so many secrets. I was furiously swiping through the pages on my kindle because I had to find out who Stephen Aston really was. By the end of the book, so many things were left unsaid that I was left hanging and had to make my own choice as to who I thought Stephen really was. I had read some mixed reviews on this, but honestly, it made me love the book that much more. It was quite clever of Sally Hepworth!

Another great aspect of this book is that the character, Heather Wisher, is actually a real person who won Sally Hepworth's Instagram competition to have a book character named after yourself. How awesome is that?!

Highly recommend! One of my favorites of 2022!

I will post my review on Instagram @thrillersandcoffee

Sally Hepworth does a family drama well. The Younger Wife had an interesting cast of characters and short chapters to keep you turning the pages until the end.

Content warnings: rape, physical and emotional abuse, kleptomania, anxiety, miscarriage, dementia

I was provided a free ARC copy of this book by @NetGalley and @stmartinspress in exchange for my honest review.
If you have read any books by @sallyhepworth before, you will know, the story usually has multiple layers, and this one was no different.
There is the story you think you're going to read (probably from reading the description on the back), the book you think you're reading (in the middle), and then the book that you read. And sometimes, none of those are the same story! After all, we all have secrets... And sometimes we even keep them from our family, our spouse, sometimes even ourselves!
This is a great story with lots of layers (like a parfait!)! The storyline follows the daughters, the new younger wife, and a "mystery" character as a spectator at the wedding! Through their eyes we piece together some secret truths about this family.
If you like books that hook you from the beginning, with intriguing characters, and only cluing the reader in bit by bit, this one is for you!
Depending on where you are in the world, this may already be available for you. If you're in the US, it will be published 5 April, so keep an eye out!
#NetGalley #TheYoungerWife

I was craving a mystery and this definitely delivered! This was twisty, but also predictable. There were several things I thought would happen that actually didn't, but the ending left me super satisfied. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. If you like this author, you'll like this!

I could not put this book down! I started reading it at 10 pm and would have stayed up all night to finish it if my body hadn’t quit on me. I haven’t read something that has engaged and enraptured me that much in a long time. Every time I have talked to my husband about the book he says I seem very animated and excited while talking about it; again something that hasn’t happened in a long time.
So, thank you to Netgalley for letting me read this book early! I really loved it. This is my first Sally Hepworth book, but it will definitely not be my last.

Doubt was a central theme in this book that I kept coming back. We view this story from the perspectives of multiple women who are all tied to the same man, Stephen. We see the perspectives on his daughters. Rachel and Tully who suffer from mental health issues that put them both in questionable situations. We see the perspective of Heather, the soon to be younger wife of Stephen who suffered past traumas that affect her adult like. We see the perspective of Pam, Stephen’s former wife with dementia and the perspective of Fiona, Stephen’s ex-wife prior to Pam. Throughout this story, each character placed doubt in themselves in the ability to see the bigger picture of what Stephen was capable of. This doubt carried through to the end of this story…and as Sally Hepworth’s books often have this effect on me, I’m still questioning myself at the end.

This was my first from Hepworth and I enjoyed a so many things about this book. The life journey of Rachel was the most impactful to me, making her character my favorite. All the characters had such real issues and difficulties, meaning I didn’t have to suspend belief. A unique aspect when it comes to the thrillers I’ve read over the past few years.

This is jam packed with family drama, heartbreaking revelation, and strained dynamics. But it also holds some very beautiful moments of self preservation, comfort, and overcoming adversities.
Overall, I enjoyed this and look forward to read more from her in the future.

I really enjoyed The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth! I think Hepworth does a fantastic job of writing family dramas. I enjoyed the characters and thought they were very likeable. The narrators of the audiobook did a really good job and I think they helped keep me immersed in the story.
*This book has a scheduled release date of April 5th, 2022.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book started off strong, with a multiple POV set up and family drama/suspense like Hepworth is known for and we've all come to love. However, there really was no twist, and if there was, it was easily guessable. I also think the ending was extremely dangerous to people who have suffered abuse, as it insinuated that maybe it never happened in the first place and they'll never know.

Overall, I expected a lot more.

First off, I would not consider this to be a thriller. If you enjoy family drama with a little bit of mystery - this one is for you! There is a lot of dysfunction going on in this family that will leave you questioning who is reliable. I was anxious to see who the mystery wedding guest was and what exactly happened at the wedding! I will say that I started off disliking the sisters, but once I started learning their secrets I was pulling for them in the end! Still wondering about that ending 🤔

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm usually a fan of this author and was excited to read this one, but it didn't hold my attention like the others and seemed slower paced. I've never considered the idea that someone who commits domestic abuse could convince the victim that they were wrong, so from this point of view, it broadened my understanding of how to support others.

#TheYoungerWife:

What did J. Cole once say? Or, George Bush once say for that matter? 😂 “Fool me one time, shame on you. Fool me twice..”

Here’s the thing. When I go into a Sally Hepworth book, I know I’m getting a family drama with a little spice of mystery/thrill. If you’re going in for a solid thriller, you’ll be disappointed. If you go in for a solid mystery, disappointed. The more you know 💫 But, this was a miss for me this time, and that’s okay.

Overall, the story was intriguing. Are these people really who they say they are? Can family secrets stay secret? I felt like I listened more to hope some folks would get some sense knocked into them. There’s one major part I was literally screaming at my phone because OF COURSE you should believe it, it’s already happened. Like.. that’s why you’re in the situation right this moment? But regardless, I really enjoyed the sisters dynamic and how they got closer to each other throughout the book. There are some heavy topics that were discussed so.. nonchalantly? I guess is the right word, and I just didn’t feel like they were handled properly or added anything to the plot? Still kind of confused why they were added.

I did get to listen on audio and thought the audio was done wonderfully by the cast of folks to portray all the women in the book. They had great banter and really held out the hopelessness of gaslighting in their voice.

Unfortunately, this was a solid miss for me. This had the potential to really be a huge hit, but just fell flat for me on some of the storyline and those triggers that were just kind of the thrown out there. Thank you Minotaur and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy. The Younger Wife is out April 5th!

An enjoyable suspenseful family story. All the characters are messed up in their own way...but it does keep you guessing. The whole premise of the older man whose wife with Alzheimer's is marrying another woman while still married to his wife is unsettling. Then the issue of whether or not the man is hiding secrets compounds the story. It's a quick read and leaves you a little unsettled at the end.

Some readers will love this book, others will hate it. Just an okay book for me. A lot of serious topics with none getting the attention needed. Not the ending that I expected.

I have a new favorite Sally Hepworth book. This book drew me in from the start. With four different points of view, you really got to know and understand each of the main characters. When father, Stephen announces to his two grown daughters, Tully and Rachel, that he is marrying a much younger woman the daughters have thoughts of their own. We learn quickly that this family has some deep dark secrets they want no one to know, and the family drama will draw you in and won't let you go until the very last page.

I felt engaged with the story each time I opened it and read it. Watching the characters deal with their own personal strife while also trying to have a relationship with each other painted a picture of how our own inner demons and trauma affect our relationships with others. Overall, this was a good story.

This started out well. It's the day of Stephen Aston's wedding. The ceremony has just ended and he, his much younger wife Heather, his adult daughters and his ailing ex-wife all go into a side room to sign the register. The next thing you know there's a scream and a thud. Then Heather reappears covered in blood. The rest of the book skips back and forth in time as the reader tries to piece together what happened.

I really enjoyed most of this book. My favorite part was the relationship between the women, which went in a different direction than I'd expected. I was surprised, though, when I realized that I was 85% through it yet nowhere near a conclusion. When I reached the end, it felt like the end of a chapter, not the end of the entire book. I don't mind an ambiguous ending, but this felt unfinished to me.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this book!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I wanted to devour it in one sitting, but I didn't. I took my time over the course of a few days.

I gave it three stars, because of the ending. I loved the book and appreciate the story line, but why did it have to end like that? I'm still a little confused as to the twist and turns of the story only for it to go...there.

The story makes us assume certain things about Stephen, like his daughters and new wife. It goes back and forth so much that it makes the women look delusional. I'm not sure what ending I expected or wanted, but this just wasn't it.

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley although I just now got the chance to read and review it.