Thank you NetGalley and to Simon & Schuster for this ARC. This is the first book I have read by Carolyn Mackler and I am impressed. This book had an original idea, flawed characters, it tackled real life issues and best yet-it uplifted women.

Lauren, Madeline and Sophie are three women who have gotten divorced. Two of them men are jerks, and one is a good guy. But they each experience the issue most wives do: the mental load of doing so much for their husbands and children while still maintaining other jobs they get paid for. They launch the Wife App to monetize common “wife” duties such as scheduling doctor’s appts, picking up dry cleaning, filling out school paperwork, etc, etc.

The story feels fresh and original and each woman learns a lot about themselves as women, wives and mothers by the end of the book. The characters and their experiences were very relatable and well written. I really enjoyed spending time with these characters.

I enjoyed this. I loved the plot of the story and I really liked Madeline, Lauren and Sophie. This could be a group of women that you could actually envision because it is written so well.
I just reviewed The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler. #TheWifeApp #NetGalley
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I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The novel accurately describes the difficulties that wives face in running households and careers simultaneously. The characters are realistic and the storyline are believable.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Wife App.

I don't reach much fiction geared toward women anymore but I was intrigued by the premise.

The best thing about the story is the friendship between the BFFs; the way they're there for each other, work together on the app and help one another out through the challenges of raising children and dealing with their scumbag ex husbands.

I also liked seeing how the characters evolve, including their children, and how their relationships with their children improved once the women understood they needed to adapt and be flexible.

There were a few things I didn't like; how Beatrice and Sophie end up together, which felt contrived; the cringey sex scenes didn't feel appropriate in the narrative.

I'm no prude, I love erotica and romance as much as the next person but the sex scenes didn't fit with the tone of the story.

The three women also didn't feel realistic; though their differences were more grounded; how they viewed marriage and being a wife.

Also, the happily ever after ending is so cliche, especially since two out of the three women are coupled up.

The narrative did slow down as we read about the women juggling duties as a mom and the duties that came from the app.

Overall, the premise is a good one, the writing is good, and the friendship between the women and how the children grow stronger and more confident to handle their own issues are the best parts of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and read it in one day! The plot was fast-moving, the characters were relatable and the story had just the right amount of twists and turns. A nice, modern take on relationships, love and the importance of friendship, with some excellent writing and one-liners along the way. Highly recommend!

I devoured this one and enjoy it tremendously. There is so much happening in this book, lots of story, characters, themes, moments of laughter, sadness, and some you have got to be kidding me times too. A little over the top for sure but still a super fun read.
Recommended For: For wives and mothers who are sick of the physical and mental load expected of them.

Almost a good book. I liked the concept. I wish some of the men weren't awful characters. It did seem kind of dumb that the main characters had the use the app for themselves. My biggest complaint - the crude sexual references - they seemed forced in and did not fit with the rest of the book.

Thank you for the advance copy!

This book was such a fun read! It was interesting, funny, heartfelt, and I loved it so much. I can’t wait for what’s next from the author.

The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler has a publication date of 6/26/2023. Ever wish you had a wife? A “wife” to do those pesky chores: picking up cleaning, scheduling appointments, applications for summer camps for the kiddos, and other delightful (and often time-consuming) chores?
This cute rom-com’s main characters are three divorced mothers, Lauren, Madeleine, and Sophie. Each has had a different journey in their divorces, but have been friends for several years. The women all have children and ex-husbands who drive them crazy! Along with all the ups and downs of single parenting, the three devise a solution to not enough time to do everything: creating a “wife app”. The app hires a “wife” to do those chores. It’s not for sex or raising children, but solutions and help to help wives, and husbands, singles or married manage their time and find help. It’s silly, it’s funny, and it’s real. Delightful read!
I did have a few concerns, which led to a 4 star rating. One was Lauren’s last name. Zuckerman? Really? There are several prominent Zuckermans, and it might (?) be confused with Zuckerberg. Second, was the length of time to get to the plot. Background is necessary, but it seemed a bit overkill. Finally, I needed a more developed and detailed conclusion. It felt flat, especially considering the last couple chapters. Perhaps an epilogue?

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster, and Carolyn Mackler for allowing me the honor of reading the ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

I really wanted to love this book. The concept was great. However i feel like it was drawn out too much to keep my attention. Unfortunately I did not finish it.

Great concept, well-paced, timely and relatable. I breezed through it, it’s a good time, lots of Mom-content that made me smile. I love a women’s friendship story & I miss Laurie Sophie & Madeleine already.

This was an intriguing read! The premise was interesting and creative - three female friends find themselves divorced with children and learn and grow through the creation of The Wife App where “Wives” get paid to take care of the “mental load” of “Spouses”. As someone who has to remind her husband to take the dog out, and then when I suggest he sets an alarm to remind him so I don’t have to, but then he doesn’t, so then I have to remind him to set the alarm that will remind him to take the dog out (💀) I GET the mental load and the desire to offload it (or be fairly compensated for how much damn work it is!) on a deeeeeeep level. What didn’t totally make sense to me was that in order to hire someone else to handle your mental load, you need to get all your ducks in order (like if you want someone to fill out your medical forms for you - which would be a HIPAA nightmare they they just write off in the book by the way, you’d need to provide the Wife with soooo much background information that you may as well just do it yourself). The tasks that make sense for the app are things people could mostly do on other apps like taskrabbit. So it felt like I had to suspend some disbelief. But even if the idea of the app was flawed, I loved the growth of the characters! This was definitely more character driven than plot driven, so given that, I would’ve preferred to love them, and I felt at arms length from each of them at all times. So that’s one way it could’ve been improved. But overall, this was a really different and satisfying read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review. 3.5 rounded up to 4/5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy..

What a magnificent idea, an app that would pay you for all the things wives do daily for free. That is the premise of this book. This story follows three middle age moms who start playing with a brilliant idea and make it happen while completely changing the course of their lives.
Madeline, Sophie, and Lauren are 3 best friends who are separated from their husbands. The overwhelming responsibilities of a wife and mom inspire them to develop this magnificent app.

This is a fun and easy read that everybody can enjoy and feel related in a profound way. The main characters are well developed and admirable.
I highly recommend this book!

Ebook received for free through NetGalley

I absolutely adored this book and had trouble putting it down. The perfect blend of mental load, hilarity, sadness, and perfection.

Thanks so much Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advance read in exchange for this review.

Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie jokingly discuss starting an app where they get paid to do all the labor that a wife does. It turns into an app that is popular! Life happens. Love happens. Ex husbands happen.

I really liked the idea of this book. Go get paid for the mental load. I liked the 3 women together, but I didn't really connect to one individually. I liked the app too much and didn't care for their individual stories. It's a quick read that has laughs though!

I want to start off by saying: I loved the concept of this book. In the age following Eve Rodsky and her blueberries, I think the idea of an app that takes away the 'mental load' and makes it monetized: absolutely brilliant! I also loved the idea of three friends coming together to build this app, all with different viewpoints on marriage, child-rearing, and the role women play in life.
That being said...I thought the middle to last third of the book got a bit strange. The one 'twist' relationship was really very out of left field and just left a sour taste towards that character. Some of the additional points added to almost 'check boxes' just felt very forced and really not related to the overall message of the book. I loved when they pitched for funding, and I loved most of the child-based interactions...but just the B plotlines left a ton to be desired.
That said: GREAT concept. I read this in about four days and I found myself going back for more. But I would caveat my enjoyment a bit

Tired of the Mental Load of being a wife to not only your kids, but your spouse? Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie were, so they decided to build an app. The Wife App. Designed to take the load off of other spouses minds, they embark on the journey of a lifetime while dealing with lots of changes and challenges in their own lives.

Although I feel like I wasn’t the target audience for this book, I enjoyed it. I liked seeing the character development between not only the three main characters, but also the side characters of the children, exes, step-parents, etc. I really liked the story that was being told and following not only everyone’s life, but the life of the Wife App along the way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC of The Wife App.

The title and premise of the book grabbed me instantly!
Three divorced women create and launch a digital app to monetize the free mental and physical labor (non-sexual) that women - wives - have been burdened with without compensation forever.

Brilliant! I would not be surprised if a real-life app became available after the publishing of this book.

This story is much like the film, “The First Wives Club,” but the modern utility to me was far more interesting. I enjoyed reading about the success of an app that outsourced the mundane concierge of domesticity, far more intimate than a handyman app.

There is the reality of affordability; only well-to-do can afford such services as the app delivers, even though its memberships are price-tiered. I happen to love peeks of elite lifestyles and enjoyed some of the “Spouse” luxury jobs!
Also, many people today choose and depend upon “gig” jobs to make a flexible living, so I saw this as a win for all socioeconomic levels.

The three wives soon become burdened by their success though, and find they have to hire their own Wives to handle their own “mental loads.”
The question of where work/life balance begins and ends is present.

A fun “girl-power” book (though some of the gig-Wives were men!). Four stars.

Three best friends decide they’re finally done with their ex-husbands taking their work as wives and moms for granted. They’re ready to monetize the mental load, stick it to their exes, and have a wild ride in the process.

Lauren, mother of twins, wakes up one morning to her Wife Alarm Bells sounding. She sleuths on her husband’s phone and stumbles on a dirty secret that explodes her marriage. Madeline has it all—a penthouse apartment, a perfect daughter, and no-strings-attached romps with handsome men. When she learns that she might lose her child to her ex in England, it stirs up a decades-old personal tragedy. Sophie, with too much FOMO and never enough money, obsesses over her ex-husband’s Family 2.0—all while keeping her true desires hidden, even from herself.

It starts as a joke during a tipsy night out, as Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie rail against everything wives do for free. Let’s build an app that monetizes the mental load. And maybe get revenge on our exes in the process? Soon, the Wife App is born, and before long, it’s the fastest growing start-up in New York City. But then life intervenes. Love intervenes. Ex-husbands intervene. And the consequences are bigger than anything Lauren, Madeline, or Sophie could have expected. Carolyn Mackler marks her debut into adult fiction with a hilarious rollercoaster ride of revenge and redemption that is at once a send-up of modern marriage and a celebration of female friendship and love in all forms.

Awesome plotlines, strong female friendships, and great character development. I really loved this story. Will recommend to others.

Lauren, Sophia, and Madeline are three best friends and divorced single moms living in NYC. The book starts off with a celebration dinner for the finalization of Lauren’s divorce and that is when the idea for The Wife App comes alive. The Wife App allows busy men, women or non-binary people to take the mental load off of themselves and put it onto “the wife.” The wives then sign up to do tasks that they normally wouldn’t get paid for. The App takes off and the woman learn more about themselves and their families. I really loved the concept of this book. I think some of the dialogue and relationships between the characters wasn’t always realistic