When I saw this on NetGalley I thought it sounded like a cute premise and I’m glad to say it was a quick and fun read.
Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie are all single Moms dealing with the stresses of ex-husbands, work, angsty teenagers, and the daily mental load of errands and chores. After a particularly bad day Madeline comes up with the idea of The Wife App, a Shipt like app for taking care of all the tasks that generally fall to wives. An evening of brainstorming leads to an app that takes off faster than any of them expected and a journey of self discovery for all 3.
While I had nothing in common with any of the protagonists (I am happily married and my husband jumps in to help with anything I need) I found myself relating to so much in this book.
The major theme throughout this is how wives often have advantage taken of them from husbands and kids, and how most of the time it seems the little things- dry cleaning drop off and pick up, filling out school and camp forms, making appointments, etc always falls to them regardless if they stay home or work.
This book made me feel seen. While I love my life as a wife and stay at home mom, there are times that things get to the point of becoming overwhelming and it was lovely to see that validated.
I loved all of the characters, the relationships they had with each other and the ones that developed throughout the book. Carolyn Mackler has only written young adult books up until now and I hope this is the start of a new genre for her.

This book title and description really grabbed me. A wife app seemed like a fun idea. I thoroughly enjoyed the app development and the twists and turns of building it for the main characters. What I disliked about this book was the choppy story lines of the 3 main characters story lines. They felt a little all over the place. There were some surprises in their storylines but there could have been better character development. Overall, this is an easy read and is enjoyable. Solid 3 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a great, fun, and entertaining read that hit the nail on the head about unpaid labor that is primarily done by women: the mental load. The wife app, which allows someone (not just women) to take care of aspects of this mental load for a fee, demonstrates that what women typically do for free is work and should be considered as such. I read this within a couple of days because of how entertaining and fast-paced it was. This follows the story of 3 women who are best friends with vastly different backgrounds on how they create this app as revenge for all the free labor they did for their shitty exes. Even though the three best friends lead different lives with different privileges and problems, they all come together. Overall, this was a great, fun read. I loved seeing the three different POVs of the friends to gain a deeper insight, and also see how they interacted and socialized with one another. Also, this features LGBTQ+ characters in a very natural way. Thank you Netgalley Simon & Schuster for the privilege of reading an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

this was so well done- i didn't expect to enjoy this as much as i did! thank you to the publisher & netgalley for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 3.5⭐️/5

An app to manage a wife’s invisible mental load? How awesome does that sound?
Lauren’s world is shattered when wakes up one morning with her wife alarm bells ringing to discover that her husband has been cheating on her. Madeline is a trust fund kid herself and is happily divorced and living with her 14 year old daughter when her world starts crumbling when she learns that her ex wants their daughter to live with him in London the next year. Sophie is a divorced teacher with two boys who is struggling to make ends meet while her ex is living the best life with his new wife.
What started as a joke of all the invisible things that women do in a marriage for free and how to monetize it! With her tech background and her close friends Madeline and Sophie’s ideas, Lauren creates The Wife App. Pay a “Wife” to schedule appointments, submit school forms, get laundry done, etc. The app gets more attention that they expected and goes “viral”. This is a fast paced chick-lit, which I loved! I felt like I was experiencing the same emotions as Lauren, Madeline and Sophie and was fully invested in their drama.
I enjoyed this book, enjoyed the character development with each character, and even their kids. I loved how story of each character was totally different from each other and relatable in their own way. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of this book.

As a woman at the age of 24 who has just moved in with her boyfriend, I feel like I needed to read this book. While my boyfriend is amazing and takes on a lot of the mental load that it takes to manage a house and take care of our dog I know there are couples that are not so lucky.

This book opened my eyes to what my mom, stepmom, grandmother, aunts, and friends have been talking about and what my future could look like. If you are affected by the “mental load” that comes with being in a relationship, then this book is for you. Lauren, Sophie, and Madeline navigate friendship, motherhood, and divorce and the guilt, expectations, and pressure that come with being a mom and a wife.

Fed up with not being compensated, they create the Wife App, an app that pays wives (women, men & non -binary) for their labor.


Although I enjoyed the story, the beginning of the book was pretty slow with long scenes and few details relating to the story, A few scenes/chapters felt a little muddy.

They say revenge is sweet and this book proves just how true this sentiment is. I loved following along as each woman had their own challenges and how they would overcome them by creating this app. Thank you Netgalley!

Five plus stars for The Wife App. I don’t know if I’ve related so much to characters in a book as I did to the women and mom’s in The Wife App. Even as a very happily married mother, author Carolyn Mackler is spot-on with her details about the mental load that women carry on a daily basis. Three friends, Lauren, Sophie and Madeline are all independently successful women. They are all three divorced and have children at various stages of life. When the Wife App is first discussed, it’s over drinks one night as a pie-in-the-sky idea. But, as women often do, these three incredible women put their heads together to bring a dream to reality. I loved watching them grow and change as people and discover who they are outside of being wives and mothers. The various scenarios are incredibly accurate and often made me cringe or literally laugh out loud. I immediately went to find the author online to sing her praises and absolutely cannot wait for this book to be out in June so that we can discuss at our ladies only book club!

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5*s - The Wife App is clever and funny, posing as a comrade I never knew I needed. Throughout the book, I found myself nodding along or saying, “YES!” “EXACTLY!” and “THAT TOO!”

Carolyn Mackler writes about being a mother and a wife in a way that makes you feel seen and teaches you to see others as well. What I thought would be a fun read about a brilliant idea to help a wife’s “mental load” turned out to be a look into the numerous obstacles that come with being a wife and mother.
This is Mackler’s first adult novel, and I believe she has secured a seat at the table with “The Wife App.”

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. I think it brings up a lot of feelings wives have while attempting to do it all. the feelings of not being appreciated for often what is an unpaid second job. The author tried to include a lot of side issues that maybe weren’t necessary for the story line. The part that didn’t necessarily sit well with me was how they all ended up in a relationship of some kind to be happy.

Thank you NetGalley, and Carolyn Mackler

I liked it, I didn’t love it. The characters were flawed but interesting and their relationships were well written. The concept of the wife app was a little dated, since there are so many apps available to help busy moms (and people in general) get things done. I think I would have liked the book just as much if there was a different link between the characters that got them to the end point. It is a fun, quick read.

I hope you enjoy the book

It took me a minute to get into this one because the characters were kind of annoying at first (specifically, 40-year-old women calling each other “mama” seems unrealistic and influencer-y to me). However, it absolutely redeemed itself in a fun and witty story with almost no pathetic female lead situations and a unique plot! Bonus points for integrating the LGBTQ storylines in a seamless way; some books today feel like as an afterthought the authors said “shoot, we need to add a queer or non-binary person” and the character ends up having nothing to contribute to the story other than the occasional PC comment - this is not that!

Definitely still a beach read, it’s not complex and I actually finished it in one day because once I was hooked I couldn’t put it down.

What a delightful novel with such an original concept. I read this on a cruise by the pool and ocean and really enjoyed it. Written from three points of view, which is tricky for some authors, Carolyn Mackler did a great job of individualizing each character and making their stories interesting and unique. A fun and entertaining read.

Interesting plot but the pace lagged the overall story down. Overall, it was an easy and enjoyable read.

There was a bad beginning but redeemed its self with a great middle and end. The app was so dumb and absolutely a stupid plot but the characters were deep. We definitely didn’t need that much character development for 150 pages but…alright. I wanted more of an ending for Madeline and wished the development of relationships at the end wasn’t rushed through with time jumps.

This is a delightful story. Fun, funny, and creative premise, but never shies away from the hard parts of life for these women. I think this app could definitely catch on if someone were to invent it!! Highly recommend for public libraries.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved getting to know all of the characters! 3 best friends getting together to design a wife app, an app where you can pay people to do the work of a wife like filling out forms, getting gifts etc. I really relate to it myself as a mom!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I received this arc from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and tbh I loved it! It’s feminist and fun but still so thoughtful. As someone who over uses the term unpaid emotional labor please read this sharp and witty book that managed to surprise me at the end.

The Wife App features three best friends, moms, and wives who are tired of being taken for granted. Each chapter belongs to the point of view of either Lauren, Madeleine, or Sophie. A wine filled night turns into a spark which then turns into The Wife App. This app lets users "hire" a "wife" to do tasks that they are not interested in doing (i.e. grocery shopping, planning trips, organizing cupboards, doing paperwork). We are taken on a journey of ups and downs, as well as a lot of laughs. The Wife App is a story about the bonds of friendship and the realities of marriage.

The main characters were fascinating, but I had a hard time relating to them as a reader.

Thank you to Net Galley for allowing me to read and review an arc of The Wife App!

This book had such a unique concept and I loved it! It was interesting to see how the premise played out and how each of the character dealt with what was going on in their lives. The three main characters were well written, engaging, and believable for the most part. I will be thinking about this book for awhile! Five stars. .