Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sally Hepworth for the review copy of The Younger Wife in exchange for my honest review.

Stephen Aston is planning to get re-married to Heather, who happens to be the same age as his daughter, Rachel, and even younger than his other daughter, Tully. The only problem? Stephen is still technically married to his first wife, though she is currently living in a memory care facility due to her dementia. Rachel and Tully are immediately suspicious of Heather's intentions, and have particular objections to her being so close to their age. They become determined to uncover the truth about Heather's motives for marrying their father, while also trying to unearth their family's secrets.

Comin at ya with another unpopular opinion, as this one is quite well-loved among early reviewers. I think this book suffered from two problems: 1. A synopsis indicating there will be much more drama and contentiousness than there actually is, and 2. Being mismarketed as a thriller. This, in my opinion, is a family drama with a hint of mystery.

Although I did not ultimately read the book I thought I was getting into, it was still well-written with interesting characters and I was curious to get to the heart of the mystery. I found myself sympathetic to characters in the end that I definitely felt no love for in the beginning.

Likely due to my aggressively Type A personality, I very much like my book endings to be resolved and wrapped up in a nice little bow, and I did not get that with this book. There was far too much ambiguity for my liking, and it felt like it took a lot away from the first 98% of the book.

Sally Hepworth is ultimately a great author and I am certain I will be beyond excited when her next book is announced.

The Younger Wife is out in the United States on April 5, 2022!

Thank you for this ARC!
I do enjoy a book with multiple POVs, which you get with The Younger Wife. All three narrators are interesting, complex and relatable. This book does deal with difficult subject matter, but it did so with love and care. Overall, this was a solid thriller and if that's what you like to read, you will enjoy this book!

This was my first Sally Hepworth & I regret so much I didn’t read her books sooner! I read this book in about a day & it was enjoyable every step of the way. I like how the reader is posited to automatically dislike “the younger wife” but she ended up being one of my favorite characters. The chapters were superrr short & there was a very good balance of intrigue, humor, & character development to keep the plot moving too

I can say for certain that I’m definitely a Sally Hepworth fan now. She reminds me of Laine Moriarty, but shorter. Sometimes I feel Moriarty’s books can be longer than they need to be (ahem Apple Never Falls) so for me Hepworth is like a more concise Moriarty. So if you’re a fan of Liane Moriarty than this book will not disappoint.

I have read 2 previous books by this author and loved them both. This one, not so much. It was an OK read though. I really liked Rachel’s story, that was the best one. Tully’s and Heather’s were a bit farfetched. There was a little mystery that came out in the most opportune times, and I loved the wedding scene. Pam also brought in a different angle.
The love and growth between the two sisters was done well. I just didn’t feel this story had been given the depth that The Mother-in-Law and The Good Sister did. I will continue to read this author; she is worth it.
I personally thank the publisher for the privilege to be offered this ARC from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my unbiased review – This one comes in with 4 stars.

I love this author! The stories she tells, the characters she creates and the writing style all work really well for me.

This story was also awesome, until it wasn’t. The sad thing is that I enjoyed, really enjoyed 95%, but then that ending. Ugh!

There’s a lot going on in this tale that is narrated by three very interesting women. Unlike other stories I’ve read, these voices were so well crafted and completely different.

I won’t go into more of the story or conclusion details because there’s more than enough out there already but I will say, as a woman, I hated it. I see the fact that it’s a clever twist and it turned the story on its head but it just didn’t sit well with me.

I still would recommend this, with a bit of hesitation, but also urge you to check out prior work by this author. I still will look forward to the next story. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and St. Martin’s Press for a copy in exchange for a review.

Compulsively readable but, like the last Hepworth release, this novel falls flat in its conclusion. The characters are interesting (to a point), the novel well-paced, but the ending is a let-down. I love the atmosphere/world that Hepworth's characters inhabit, and her work is beginning to seem in the same vein as Liane Moriarty, but with less punch. Lots of personal drama, but to what end? What would have been a four-star read is dropped to a 3 because of an unsatisfying conclusion.

I enjoyed this story. The family dynamics were relatable. The writing and the pacing were excellent. The changing points of view for each chapter kept me on the edge of my seat.

This was a quick paced read for me. I enjoyed the suspense and family drama. I liked the relationship of the three women in the story was not what was expected based on the title. I was not a big fan of the ending. I couldn't help but feel like it glossed over some very serious issues women experience and cast doubt on survivor's stories.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc. All opinions are my own.

I was hooked pretty quickly with The Younger Wife. As a big Sally Hepworth fan, I was so excited to read her latest (and possibly greatest) book. This book had lots of twists and truly original storylines - which is hard to pull off in the psychology thriller genre. Plus The Younger Wife was far from predictable! Five stars!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Aston daughters, Tully and Rachel have a lot to deal with. Their mother has dementia and is becoming less coherent every day. Their father Stephen is introducing them to his girlfriend, scratch that, new fiancée Heather who is the same age as Rachel. Plus they are dealing with challenges in their personal lives that they are keeping secret. As the wedding gets closer they start to question what they know about their family. Will the family survive the wedding?

Very nicely done with lots of surprises. The author knows how to set up readers to anticipate one event, then deliver another. Great job!

ow, to add to their overflowing plates, their father has announced that he will be getting married again. While he is still married to their mom. To a woman who is nearer their age than his. What they don't know is things are about to get a lot tougher as secrets from all parties start to surface.

This was a fun one. It was a very quick read. Multi POV makes it so hard to put books down! Adding in the angle of Tully and Rachel's mom being mentally unreliable was a great method of burying the family secrets. Heather, the new fiancé, was a great character. She was complex but delivered as the opposite. She reminded me of Kate Upton's character in the movie The Other Woman.

On top of multi POV, we also get a bit of timeline jumping which can be confusing, but in this instance it was super easy to follow the story. Not to mention, the story opens at the beginning of the end which immediately sucked me in.

This was my first Sally Hepworth novel. It was a suspenseful read, and I enjoyed it, until I didn't. It left me saying, wait, what? The majority of the characters are neurotic for one reason of another. The only normal person is Stephen, or is he neurotic too? This story line is complicated, and just when I think I know where it is going, new truth is reveled. It is worth a read, just to understand what I am writing about. Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for opportunity to read and provide my honest feedback on this book.

This is not my first time reading this authors work and I’ve enjoyed every one so far. This book is marked as mystery/thriller but I do feel it was more of a domestic drama. I didn’t feel like there was a lot of thriller in the story but I was invested with the characters. I enjoyed them all and the flow of the story progressed well and was easy to follow and get through. Overall I’d recommend this book to others.

4.5 stars. I am happy to have received a comp copy from the publisher, St Martin's Publishing Group through NetGalley.

Hepworth is so darn good, but I'm just not sure what we're supposed to make of that ending. It's left a little vague and some may think they know what happened, while others will argue the opposite. But that's OK sometimes, when everything else is superb.

A family where everyone seems to need a bit of counseling. Other elements are Alzheimer's, domestic abuse, eating disorders, and keeping secrets from your loved ones. I thought Hepworth handled them with her usual aplomb. An engaging read that will stay on your mind long after finishing. .

Stephen is getting married again, even though his first wife is still alive. She is currently in a nursing home with dementia. When he introduces his fiancé Heather to his daughters Rachel and Tully, both girls have an immediate dislike for her. She is younger than both of them! And their mom is still alive! The secrets seem to be stacking up though. will the girls be able to find the truth?

I have loved Sally Hepworths past books and she has quickly become an auto buy author for me! I was so excited to get an arc of this one! I thought the relationships between the characters was so realistic. I did figure out what was going on pretty early, but I still needed to know if everyone else would figure it out, so I could not stop reading As always I flew through Hepworths latest read and cant wait to see what she does next.

Sally Hepworth has a talent for writing stories around family dynamics that appear simple at the start of the book and get increasingly complicated and darker as the story goes on. The Younger Wife is no exception, revolving around grown daughters Tully and Rachel and their dad Stephen’s fiancé, Heather. Tully and Rachel are understandably upset about their father’s engagement to Heather. She’s younger than both of them and not least of all, he’s still married to their mother Pam, who’s suffering from dementia. As the story progresses the reader learns that Tully is a kleptomaniac that can’t quit stealing things, and both Rachel and Heather suffered major trauma earlier in their lives. So when things seem a little off with Stephen, are the three women imagining something because of their own personal struggles or are they seeing hints of something that he’s been able to very cleverly hide from everyone? This is a bit of a slow burn, but it also reads incredibly quickly which makes it easier to stay engaged. It also features Hepworth’s trademark of women acknowledging their faults and traumas and coming out stronger as a result of it. This takes her books a step above the traditional psychological thriller where a woman has a vulnerability that gets her in a bad spot, but she never evolves from it. The ending is interesting and will likely have you second-guessing (or perhaps third-guessing) the truth versus perception. A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sucked me in from the very beginning. A lot of different characters to relate to, and spot-on with the eccentricities of each. One of my favorite authors and I'm so glad I got to read this book before it was published.

4.5 stars, rounded up
Anyone looking for a delicious, psychological thriller? This is the one for you. Told from multiple POVs, the story starts with a wedding where someone is hurt and then backtracks to when Tully and Rachel learn their dad is planning to marry a much younger woman. Like their age. And oh, he’s still married to his current wife, although she does have Alzheimer’s.
Tully is a mother to two young boys, married to a barrister. She’s also a total neurotic. Rachel is her gorgeous sister, a successful baker who has also developed a problem with overeating. As you would expect, everyone is hiding secrets. Heather, the young fiancée, is hiding the story of her family. We also hear from an unknown narrator at the wedding who hypotheses as to who has done what to whom.
The writing is vibrant. Things move at a fast pace as the book switches gears between the three young women. And I was engaged in each of their lives. So often, psychological thrillers are just over the top. But this book has a great subdued sense of suspense, which makes it imminently believable. Each woman is questioning what she knows. I had no clue as to the ending until it was revealed. And I LOVED the ambiguous ending.
Usually I don’t think mysteries or thrillers make for good book club selections. But this might be the exception. There are several deeper themes to be explored - body image, rape domestic abuse, mental health issues.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

4.0 stars

I received a complimentary Kindle book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This was an intriguing, fun, and wild ride of a book. It was a very DIFFERENT and INTERESTING ending!! Now, some reviewers are saying that it wasn't a good ending. Honestly, I thought it was AWESOME because it was real life and what really happens in a family - one or two things can change how our life path turns!!

I have read all of Sally Hepworth's books and this was a fun one. The characters were interesting (some intriguing backstories), true, and what families are like. It definitely was NOT cookie-cutter characters from television.

RECOMMEND! This will be an excellent read for by the pool or at the beach - light easy and fun!!