I was intrigued by the premise of this book, as leading a double life is shocking to most people. I thought the character development was even and thorough, the story compelling, and the characters sincere. My only complaint was I felt like it was a little on the long side and thought we could have reached the conclusion a little sooner. Overall a satisfying read!

Thank you to William Morrow for a copy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's about a woman who ends up falling in love with two men and having a double life for a few years. She had a relationship in both Texas and in Mexico City. It all comes crashing down when her husband of 15+ years finds out about her new husband and the new husband winds up dead. A blogger wants to write a book based on this woman's love from the womans point of view.

I really enjoyed how the book was written between the varying point of views, however, at almost 450 pages, I felt the book could have been 100 pages shorter and been much more fast paced. I found myself wanting to move through the pages a bit faster than normal.

Katie Gutierrez's "More Than You'll Ever Know" is a mystery centered on bigamy, which would not be that unusual except that this bigamist is a woman.

Lore Rivera was married to Fabian Rivera and lived with him and their small twin sons in Laredo, Texas. She also married Andres Russo in 1985 Mexico City. How did this come about?

This question - and the answer to who really murdered one of the husbands - absorbs aspiring true-crime writer Cassie Bowman.

The questions - who the killer really was, whether Cassie will discover the truth, and finally what she will do about it - pull reader interest through this most intriguing story.

4.5/5

I think it is important to note that I actually started More Than You'll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez twice. The first time I was trying to work and listen to the audiobook at the same time, and it just wasn't working for me. I thought it was too slow and nothing was happening, but also had to acknowledge that I wasn't paying very close attention. So, I decided to restart it and give it my full attention and guess what, I loved it! The story alternates between Cassie in 2017 and Lore (Delores Rivera) in 1983, and I loved both stories equally. Cassie's viewpoint gave me that true crime/journalist quality while Lore's viewpoint gave me the backstory and character arc, I never knew I needed. Granted, Lore's backstory was more interesting for me, but I loved the way this allowed the reader to really get to know both of them.

I thought the audiobook for More Than You'll Ever Know was tremendous, and I loved both of the narrators, Inés del Castillo & Yareli Arizmendi. They truly brought the book and characters to life for me and felt absolutely perfect for the story. This book is indeed on the slower side, so the audio with Castillo & Arizmendi's narration really helped me with pacing as well. There are some Spanish words used in the novel that don't get explained, so you may have to do some Googling if you feel like you're missing something. This did provide a very authentic feel for the characters though, and I can understand why Gutierrez made this choice. I was so invested in seeing how the story played out that I was basically blindsided by the end and wasn't mad that I didn't figure it out. So, who should read this? If you like literary fiction with an air of romance, intrigue, and mystery as well as potentially unlikeable characters (looking at you Cassie) - More Than You'll Ever Know is for you.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

**3.5 stars**
The concept for this book is so cool and original. The idea was interesting but the execution not so much, at least for the majority of the book. The plot development is so slow and I was bored a lot. It took me much longer than it should have to read this book. It needed to be significantly trimmed down. I loved the historical fiction aspect of this book but it definitely shouldn't be characterized as a thriller. Sometimes when there are two POVs, one is more interesting than the other and that was the case here. I didn't care for Cassie's character and her story fell flat for me. Lore's life past and present was very interesting. The last 1/4 of the book was great and saved the story.

MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOW
This dual POV story follows Cassie, an aspiring true crime writer who after reading a short newspaper article follows up on a story she feels has everything to jump start her career and with Lore, the woman in that article who lived a double life until her two lives caught up with her, resulting in the death of her lover at the hands of her husband or so everyone thinks.

This story drew me in in the beginning because as a true crime junkie, i related to Cassie being mystified by acts of violence and the psychology behind them. However, this story was less of a thriller to me and more of women fiction/family drama? It was very well written, ( I especially liked around the earthquake scene in the midway point) but a lot of the time it felt like there was too much time spent in scenes and descriptions and it made the story lag a little bit for me, I ended up skimming a lot because I wanted to get to the meat of the story, it was def there just took way too long to get there.

Overall an interesting story but could've been shortened IMO, still. check it out if you like a dual POV story

Overall, I enjoyed More Than You'll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez. It is about a woman who led a double life while married to 2 men in 2 different countries. A true crime blogger named Cassie is interviewing Lore in order to write a book. However, I was more drawn into the storyline of Lore's storyline especially with husband number 1 (Fabian).. I found myself not really invested in Cassie's POV and background story.

I found this to be a compelling but slow-to-get-moving story. It picked up a little more than midway and I found myself racing to the finish. I look forward to this author’s next book.

Honest review in exchange for arc from Net Galley.

Sad that I couldn’t get into this one. I liked the premise but this was too much of a slow burn for me to enjoy. I think the two story lines diverged too much and didn’t comment in a satisfying way. I’ll definitely try this author again though.

Not the freshest take on this subject--I feel the author couldn't decide which lane to pick--but a solid effort. The ending was a little predictable, but the writing is what kept me wanting to finish it.

This is a beautiful story about love and family but what sets this one apart from other family sagas is betrayal with a side of murder. Crime journalist, Cassie Bowman, is trying to make it in the publishing industry when she comes across an article about a woman named Lore, who was married to 2 men in 2 different countries. Cassie makes a plan to meet this woman with hopes to investigate the woman and not just the crime. Initially Lore was reluctant to divulge her feelings and the entire story but eventually forms a friendship with Cassie where true emotions flow. As a woman and a mother, I really felt for Lore. Not as an adulterer but the circumstances that drove her there as she tried to find her identity.

Cassie is a true crime blogger, who becomes interested in the story of Lore, a woman with two husbands. Lore lives two lives seamlessly until one fated day when her second husband is killed, supposedly by her first husband. Cassie becomes obsessed with telling the story from Lore's point of view. Little does she know that she will be uncovering Lore's secrets as well as revealing her own.
This is not a murder mystery or a thriller, even though secrets about the murder are revealed. It is a slowly progressing family drama that examines the nature of relationships and love. The book starts off slowly and has a steady pace. It reads more as a romance than a mystery but it has heart. You feel for Lore, Andreas, Fabian, and Cassie. You feel the love and the desperation that the characters feel. You understand the relationship that develops between Lore and Cassie.
I enjoyed this story for the depth of its characters. If you like character development and emotional storytelling you will enjoy this.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins publishing for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

This was a well written and intriguing debut novel! It felt like a long read/ slow burn but it wasn’t dragging for me because I couldn’t put it down! If you’re a true crime lover, you’ll enjoy Cassie’s analytical thinking as she discovers the events that lead to the murder of one of Lore’s husbands. I did not expect the plot twist at all! Also, I enjoyed the Spanglish thrown around in the book 🤩! If you love family drama but with lots of mystery, this book is for you! Can’t wait to read more from Gutierrez!

This is a well written book with dual timelines and a mystery at the center. I enjoyed the family drama of the narrator as well as the mystery behind a woman living a double life. There was a lot going on and wish it was a little shorter but liked the themes and can see why this was picked for the Gma book club. Will definitely check out more books by this author.

I really enjoyed this book. The author makes it so easy to connect with the characters and feel so involved in their stories. There's parallel storylines that occur within different timelines, which is a very creative way to tell the full story. The book has true crime, murder, betrayal, and a love story all in one with an unexpected ending. The story did seem to drag a little in the middle as the story was progressing, but it was worth getting through and finishing the book.

I absolutely loved this book for its mystery, tension, and explorations into womanhood. This is a wonderful who done it book with complex characters. This. book is a story within a story and was very engaging. This is a literary/ domestic suspense. I could not put it down!

I adored this novel about Lola and her double life in both Laredo and Mexico. Told in dual timelines, the plot is incredibly immersive. A five star read for me!

This is a hard review to write, because I definitely adored Katie Gutierrez’s style of writing. Her descriptions were absolutely beautiful. However, I really struggled to connect with the characters, which made it difficult to really immerse myself in the book.

More than you’ll know is a debut author and definitely is a different read. True crime, journalist, double lives and a murder. The story moves back and forth between Lore and Cassie each a string woman in their own way.

Thank you to @williammorrowbooks and @katiegutierrezwriter for my copy of More Than You’ll Ever Know this one just published this week! It’s also a @gmabookclub pick for June!

This cover is gorgeous, definitely one of my favorites of the year.

And the book is so atmospheric I definitely felt myself transported to Mexico and Texas. @katiegutierrezwriter did a great job of bringing this story to life the scenes felt so real. Having family in Mexico I was familiar with the real life events and Spanish that was spoken throughout which for me added to the realness of the story.

I do wish this one had a different ending, and was slightly shorter as it’s over 400 pages. But those are me problems, and for the most part I really enjoyed it! If you like family dramas with a side of true crime and mystery I think you would enjoy this one.