Three women..Each with a specific set of problems. All in turmoil. Together they develop an App for the work that women do. Running the kids, walking the dog, arranging appointments, filling out paperwork and so on.
It turns out to be a successful venture,, and while the ladies work towards their goals they find a happy stage of their lives.
A good read. Good for vacations or work travel. You don’t need to think this one thru, just enjoy the ride.
I recommend. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me this ARC.

I mean, anyone who can quote The Princess Bride has to be good, right?!

Admittedly, this book began slowly for me. The motivations of the three main characters are a bit vague. (First Wives Club did it better.)

Lauren was the most difficult for me to connect with initially, but by the end, she was my favorite. Perhaps it was her growing interactions and relationship with her daughters that really worked for me. Into the Woods! And home before dark. And her ultimate strength in adversity, especially where he friends are concerned, is admirable

Sophie is the kind of frail-but-strong character I usually gravitate toward. And the LGBTQIA+ rep is appreciated! Madeline is the character that gels the three together, but has the least characterization, in my opinion.

I really enjoyed the idea of this story. Friends creating an app to hire Wives to help with their workload is an interesting idea. And I'm sure something we have all thought we could need at different points in our lives. I enjoyed the peak into each of the woman's life and all the struggles that they faced. The story just felt a little too dragged out for me.

I don't think I was expecting to love this one as much as I did. I thought the concept of the Wife App was so interesting and I was rooting for the women the whole time. This really did highlight female friendships as well as the importance of a woman's role not only in a marriage but in life. I kept cheering for Lauren every time something went well. I liked how this was paced and I really enjoyed the alternating POV's from all three women. I liked that this showcased different ways to be a wife or a mother and that there isn't just one right way. I thought this was sharp and I really enjoyed reading it. Thank you to Simon Books for the ARC to read and review!

The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler feels like a very timely book for me. As a stay-at-home-mom, I wonder about my value to my family sometimes compared to the lack of compensation and support that I receive in return. The mental load disparity is real. I also related to the feeling of jealousy while viewing social media accounts of women who seem to have it all. I enjoyed reading from the perspective of the different characters.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The Wife App
Carolyn Mackler

Redefining the definition of marriage and gender related duties within marriage is the primary focus of this book. Three New York City ladies, Lauren, Madeline and Sofia come together in the creation and development of The Wife App, an app designed to offer people a chance to outsource the “mental load” of marriage to an outside party via an app. All three come from very different backgrounds and have unique stories. Lauren is a recently divorced mother of two and works as a computer programmer. The Wife App starts off as her project, but quickly Madeline and Sofia come on board.

This book was a fast, fun read. I loved the New York City setting. One thing I would have appreciated would have been more likable men. Just about every male character in the book was pretty horrid, the only man I didn’t want to strangle didn’t show up until the last few pages of the book.

In a world of apps, a wife app for all the tasks needed to keep a family going and help a working mom (single or otherwise) has got to be the best and most creative. Three cheers to the three women that come up with the idea over drinks, to flushing out the concept, launching it and then making it work. Each woman brought her own story, strength and perspective to the business and they all grew individually in the process. I would definitely recommend this book.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters and their struggles. Mackler was able to bring into writing what it's like to be a wife and what is expected of them. She captured Sophie, Lauren, and Madeline 's feelings so well that I was feeling everything with them. I love all the women empowerment in this book and it's view of the work force and the way the world works.

It starts a lot of interesting conversations and challenges gender roles in relationships. It also mentions topics like sex work and bridging the economic divide, but it does it with an airy whimsical voice that's coated heavily in sarcasm.

I liked the topic, the plot, and the characters until the last 80 or so pages. That is when the story starts to wrap up but out was wrapped up with a nice bow that I didn't want. It was very anticlimactic and everything worked out a little too well. I get that that is the point of the book, that women can have it all but wives are no longer doing their work for free, but there were too many good consequences in the end. It was hard to believe that everything worked out for the characters that smoothly.

If you want a character driven story with feminist topics and a motivational feel then this is your next book.

#TheWifeApp #SimonBooksBuddy @SimonBooks @CarolynMacklerBooks

Clever premise with good female friendships. Seemed to try to fit in many of todays societies issues - parenting, relationships, gender, etc. - which while important seemed a bit forced. Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Premise of this book is really great - three friends in bad relationships figure out that women (and men) need to unload their "Mental Load" - and who better to do that than a "wife"?!! So they invent "The Wife App", which is kind of like a virtual assistant who is good at all the thankless tasks that usually fall on a wife.

The story is told from the perspective of each woman (Sophie, Lauren, and Madeline) in rotating chapters. It mainly follows each woman's life regarding her kids, work, and relationships. I found it interesting but a bit cliche, especially some of the ways sex is discussed.

This probably would be a good choice to discuss Mental Loads in a group/book club setting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. #sponsored

—4/5 stars—
Thank you to NetGalley, Carolyn Mackler, and the publisher for this ARC opportunity! All opinions shared are my own.

About the book
_________________
Age: adult
Genres: contemporary, romance, general fiction
Writing: 7/10
Characters: 8/10
Plot: 9/10
__________________
My thoughts:
This was a great read. I genuinely to my core enjoyed 99.5% of this book. This story felt reminiscent of a modern day “First Wives Club” in the BEST way possible! It was told from 3 perspectives and following 3 close friends.
The pacing of this book was wonderful. Sophie was easily my favorite character just due to how she was written. This band of friends felt very natural and I could see this existing in the real world which is exactly what kept me gripped.
I wish we saw more of Lauren’s ending, but it still felt natural. I just wanted more of her since it felt she breathed so much life into this.
My only true criticism is on the use of the exclamation marks within the writing. They stood out to be in an unnatural way. I would place the sentences they were used into a situation where it felt like I was listening to the character’s thoughts. That aside, I go back to my original point of it feeling paced well.
Thank you again for this opportunity and I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy to share with my friends!

3.5 stars!
The concept of this book was really interesting to me, and the author definitely knows how to get a person engaged from the very first page. That said, overall, this premise felt a bit like “struggling ex wives forget that personal assistants exist”, and for me the plot never quite fully addressed that issue.
There were some funny moments, unexpected moments, definitely worth checking out if you’re interested!

Loved this one! Already recommended it to multiple friends/colleagues. Such a great concept. Work IS work and we should all be compensated fairly for it. I adored the friend dynamics in this just as much (or more than?) the romances. The whole novel was a delight and I plowed right through it.

The author's note and publisher's notes book made me interested but leary. I was hopeful for this book. At 41% I was done. I can't stand the characters. The author claims to be happily married but I have my doubts based on this book. It feels like a marriage and man hating book. I absolutely love being a wife and I feel like this author doesn't respect that role. I appreciate NetGalley for this ARC but this book is not for me.

I really Liked this book! It was such a unique concept. An App that hires a wife to do the menial tasks that spouses can’t be bothered to do. It was a fresh and original story. Plus, one of the characters had my name so that was fun.

I enjoyed this and appreciated receiving an ARC! It was so relatable as far as being a wife and having mental load. I loved that they “called work what it is”! I found small parts of each character relatable, but especially Sophie’s issues with FOMO via social media “highlight reels”. I deducted one star from my rating because of the pacing of the book and I also felt it was too short! I wanted a bit more!

Overall, I enjoyed the premise of this book more than the actual implementation. While the topic was important, I wasn't invested in the characters themselves and had to push myself to finish this one. I also read this during a stressful time so perhaps this is a "it's not the book, it's me" situation as many did enjoy this book.

The Wife App focuses on three close friends, Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie, who all understand the mental load of being a wife, the toll it took on their marriages, and the difficulties of divorce and the rollercoaster of co-parenting after a breakup. During a night out, the women jokingly propose a Wife App to monetize the huge jobs that wives take on. Lauren invests her settlement money on building an Uber type app in which anyone can request a “wife” to take on their mental load for significant compensation. The situations that arise, the attention the app draws, and the ramifications both positive and negative of such an enterprise are fun, new, and interesting. While it was engaging to meet such well developed characters and see the mental load of running a household, raising children, and working be celebrated, I found it a bit long and a bit patronizing. The husbands featured were very stereotypical and not reflective of my own experiences in marriage. Thank you NetGalley and Simon&Schuster for this fun ARC.

The Wife App had an interesting premise and a promising hook of a first chapter. However; as I continued reading I couldn't connect with any of the characters and often found myself lost in the complex storyline. I did not finish this book at forty-two percent.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of The Wife App in exchange for my review.

The Wife App is the brainchild of three friends who have all been through divorces. They realize that as wives, they have been responsible for the mental load of raising children and running households without any recognition or compensation for their efforts. They create an app that lets people outsource their mental loads for a price, hopefully leading to more equitable relationships and garnering more power for women.

Through the story, each of the women deal with challenges and fallout from their failed marriages and co-parenting issues. As the app grows, the women work through their personal issues, sometimes even relying on the app for their own mental loads.

This is a fun and empowering story of friendship, life after divorce, and business risks. It was a quick and engrossing read with characters who felt well defined and real. I recommend this book and would be interested in reading future books by Carolyn Mackler.