I didn't completely love this book. I did love the concept of the app itself but I just felt there was no conflict. if there was, it was so minimal it didn't cause me a rush too read and solve it. There was a lot of characters, which to me seemed too confusing. This took me a long time to read because it was a good plot but not entertaining enough to be "unputdownable." The idea of a Wife App itself did seen good but I think it's called Care.com now.

The mental load is such a real %$&*(^$ thing. I swear it contributed to the end of my first marriage (lots of other things too - think cherry on top!). In my wildest dreams I would have loved to have an app like this when my daughter was younger...

Excellent book - love the romantic aspects and the characters are so real. Terrific later summer beach read!!

Lauren, Sophie, and Madeline gather for Lauren's divorce celebration, and have a wine fueled idea about a Wife phone app, which would hire people to do some of the unpaid work wives have been doing forever. Lauren loves the idea and pursues it. It becomes a success and changes all of their lives (that's it in a nutshell).

I loved this novel! The characters were sympathetic and realistic, as were their situations. This would make a terrific movie or even better, a series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

The Wife App is a terrific look at three women who are reclaiming what it means to be a woman and a wife. I loved the friendship between the three main characters and how they all came from different walks of life and had different histories. There was no overwhelming drama for the sake of drama and it was nice to read about three friends who are just trying to live their lives and start an app while they're at it.

"The Wife App" by Carolyn Mackler takes readers on a journey through the lives of three best friends who've had enough of their ex-husbands' disregard for their roles as wives and mothers. Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie are strong, relatable characters who decide to take matters into their own hands by creating the Wife App, an ingenious solution to the invisible labor that women often bear. What starts as a humorous idea born during a girls' night out quickly transforms into a booming business venture that challenges societal norms and expectations.

Mackler skillfully crafts the narrative by delving deep into the inner lives of her protagonists. Lauren's shocking discovery on her husband's phone sets off a chain reaction that unravels her life, while Madeline's struggle to keep custody of her daughter exposes old wounds and unresolved traumas. Sophie, perpetually plagued by the fear of missing out and financial instability, grapples with authenticity. As the Wife App's success skyrockets, the story keeps its focus on the complexities of love, friendship, and personal growth, allowing the characters to evolve organically.

The novel strikes a remarkable balance between uproarious humor and poignant introspection. Mackler's witty prose keeps readers engaged while touching on themes of empowerment, resilience, and the multifaceted nature of love. "The Wife App" is an enchanting debut into adult fiction, showcasing Mackler's adeptness at capturing the intricacies of modern relationships. This book is a celebration of female camaraderie and the journey of self-discovery, all wrapped up in a clever and entertaining package.

#NetGallery #TheWifeApp

3.5 stars (rounded up).

"The Wife App" by Carolyn Mackler boasts an interesting, fun premise that kept me engaged from start to finish. Mackler delves deep into the ways women are overworked, underpaid, and woefully underappreciated by everybody in their lives. Three friends from a variety of different backgrounds come up with The Wife App, where people can get paid for jobs that are typically deemed tasks that a wife to do. I think this story has a biting, necessary commentary on how women take up the emotional and mental labor in many family/relationship dynamics. The dialogue is witty, and there is a lot of good banter here. I couldn't connect with a couple of the storylines, but this book was mostly a success for me. There is no real revenge, and there are no real consequences, as promised, but if you ignore that, I think you will find something to appreciate or like about this book. I do think that it goes on a little too long, but overall, I enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Carolyn Mackler, and Simon & Schuster for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.

Fun read that hit all the right notes. I read it fast and enjoyed it. I loved the diverse relationships of the characters. It was a fun plot and a great read.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the concept of this book!! Who wouldn't want a wife? Three best friends are tired of being taken advantage of by their ex-husbands and come up with the idea to design an app to get paid for jobs they already do......wife "duties". This was such a fun book and I really liked the relationship and friendship of the wives.
So much of the household duties falls on the moms shoulders so why not get paid to do it. I think this would be a great book for a book club and discussing how woman are pretty much the ones to do the bulk of the work, even when she has an outside job. Great topic on nature vs nurture and how women have an innate ability to handle the everyday tasks.

This was a fun concept to think about. Three women create and app that offers users a way to order up a "wife" - Or the mental load of a wife. I enjoyed the three different story lines but could not figure out why these women would want to do "wife work" when that is what they were complaining about to begin with - Ha - You couldn't pay me to do that work for someone else! A fun read and great discussion for book club.

Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC
#goodreads

3.5 stars. Loved the concept of women earning extra money by getting other people to hire them to do tasks wives do for free (I also loved that the Wife App calls any of these tasks folks are outsourcing as Mental Load!) It was also a well written story that had me invested in all of the main characters. I’m not quite sure how this app got revenge on their exes (besides these women being able to say to them: “HA! People are paying me for all the shit I used to do for you for free”) but it’s an enjoyable read nonetheless.

There is a lot of talk about the mental load of running a household and how that responsibility often falls upon the female in the relationship. Is this a result of nature or nurture? Do women have an innate ability to handle many tasks at one time, or do men not have an interest in these efforts? In Carolyn Mackler's novel, The Wife App, she examines the vast array of unpaid roles that women often engage in as a wife. Three best friends are struggling to manage their own lives as single mothers. Lauren works in the software industry and fantasizes about creating an App to take the mental load off of overwhelmed wives. After discussing the dream with her friends, she begins developing the technology. Through the App, the friends find their own dreams and desires. This unique book is a satisfying tale of friendship. Mackler's work illustrates many of the current cultural transitions without being heavy handed.

Historically girls are raised with the idea that they should want to be a wife and a mom. Throw in to that mix is you can have it all by adding a successful career. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to have it all there is the problem of doing it all. Often it is doing it all with little help.

Three best friends have decided that they are going to keep doing it all but think it is time that women should be compensated for all of their work. The Wife App is born, or should I say developed? Through the app you can hire a wife to do all the jobs of life you don't like. Say you hate filling out school forms, there is a wife that will do it. Pay a monthly fee and have access to your own wife. Maybe you are a women who kind of likes filling out those forms. Sign up to be a wife and actually get paid to do it. Seems like a glorious win win. This is how our story begins.

You will follow the app development and the bumps along the way. Those of the app and those of our three protagonists. Overall, it is a pretty good read. I liked getting to know these characters and they are all pretty likeable. It just didn't seem to all flow well. The premise of this book is that life is messy and hard. I didn't really feel that with these women. The book is a slow burn until the last quarter of the book. A pretty good read,and if you want to make the Wife App a real thing, sign me up. I need someone to chauffeur my kids around.

A great story featuring three friends down on love- funny and smart, great banter and a fun plot. Felt similar to The First Wives Club- refreshing and different. This book was a good time.

Boring 😴 I tried both the physical copy and the audiobook and was bored by both. I didn’t have any engagement with the characters and didn’t care to continue so I’m DNFing. Thanks anyway for the ARC!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! Right off the bat, this book reminded me of The First Wive’s Club, a 1996 classic starring Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton. I’ve watched this countless times and was intrigued by the concept. Couldn’t go wrong.
Three divorced friends, burnt out by the never ending mental and physical load of motherhood and marriage decide to MONETIZE! Conveniently enough, one of the friends works in app development and puts the wheels in motion. There are rules, there are creeps and there are (not)surprisingly still a multitude of burdens shouldered by these women. The app grows quickly, taking on more than they can handle while balancing exes, potential new romances, financial woes and children in various stages of childhood.
There are a few lovely “F’ yous” to some exes throughout, and a hilariously ironic (albeit convenient) new relationship formed that had me laughing.
I rounded up to 4 stars. The story dragged a little for me in the middle. The ending was laughably unrealistic, but sweet enough if you are willing to suspend reality a bit. And what reader isn’t willing to do that once in a while?

Posted to Goodreads.

I am SO glad I read The Wife App because it is now one of my 2023 top picks! I loved the creativity and the witty banter. All three women were relatable, even though I am not divorced. They presented well as sympathetic characters and I cared about each of them. There was one situation Sophie had to deal with that reminded me so much of something I had to deal with over the past few years.

It had a vibe similar to the TV series And Just Like That. There were even some parts on the show that reminded me of the book, and vice versa. I also loved the New York feel throughout. There is a lot going on in the story and the abundance of supporting characters keeps the story flowing nicely and had me turning the pages without wanting to put it down. (Even though real life did tend to get in the way...)

My only concern is that the synopsis says that there are big consequences for the women, but I didn't really feel that such a thing actually happened. That didn't take away from my enjoyment but I was all nervous for them and I didn't really have to be.

Mental load is a real thing and I would love an app that would take some of that off my shoulders. (I am currently dreading having to call the dry cleaner about a shirt they didn't clean.) However, I'm in a wonderful group on Facebook called Balanced Working Moms Community. We address the mental loads in our lives and also find ways to make things easier and stress-free for ourselves. Stay-at-home moms could also join this group as they have just as much to balance as the working moms do.

Funny moment: There was a mention of Alan Ginsberg's poem "Howl". I read that part in the book right after I saw an episode of Riverdale that talked about it a few times. What are the odds?!?

Overall, The Wife App was an enjoyable read and I highly recommended this one! (Someone I recently recommended it to loved it as much as I did.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Lauren: Mila Kunis
Sophie: Jaime King
Madeline: Elyse Levesque
Beatrice: Kathleen Munroe
Joshua: Kyle Schmid
Colin: Theo James
Eric: Sean Faris
Gideon: Bob Morley
Arabella: Catherine Ashmore Bradley

The premise of this book sounded great. It gave me the idea that it was basically a remake of the first wives club. It was a decree to women that they didn’t need those pesky husbands to find something worthwhile because it was within them this whole time. And while that did happen, and we read about how the development of the wife app grew, it really gave too much detail in the minutia of day to day and we got less about their relationships. Even their relationships as friends seemed a little lacking. The last 25% of the book I absolutely loved. This is where the ladies finally get their happy ending and start being their most authentic selves. I loved the idea of Lauren reconnecting with an old flame and that Sophie embraced her sexuality to find love with her husbands second wife (risqué but totally awesome). I do wish they had fleshed out Madeline’s relationship with Colin….what happened after they hooked up? Overall it was a good read, I just there was more focus on their friendship (while we were told how they met, they had very few interactions outside of messaging and phone calls about the app).

This was a very clever plot and I had a rollicking good time reading it. A few pages made me chuckle.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really tried to get into this book. I loved the concept and thought it had funny parts. However, it was a DNF for me. It just kept dragging on and I wasn’t the biggest fan. I’m still rating a 3 because I think it did have some good qualities to it. I like the friendships in the book!

I received this book as an advance reader copy from NetGalley. I thought this was a fun take on the digital age of dating apps and womanhood.