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.

I absolutely loved this book. There are so many great themes. First, and foremost, are three women creating something together that becomes hugely successful. While developing the Wife App, each woman finds herself along the way. They each have their own eye-opening journey and it's all so inspiring. The character development was just really spot on.

Thank you @netgalley and @simonandschuster for giving me the opportunity to review The Wife App.

The Wife App
By Carolyn Mackler

I loved the premise of this story and the fun way three divorced women have created an app to monetize the work women do in marriages. In all Mackler writes an uplifting and light hearted story that is unique and refreshing.

I also had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook - the full cast of characters was incredible and I found it fascinating to listen to.

A really fun listen that I recommend

I am a little torn on how to rank this book. On the surface, it was pretty standard chic lit - three divorced women who design an app meant to monitize the work every wife does for free. It was well written and I have to say that the characters are well drawn and relatable. The thing that elevated it a bit was the creativity and the deeper issues the characters deal with, especially later in the book. If I had a struggle, it was that I was constantly looking for more about the app. There was some, but for a book titled The Wife App, I was thinking there would be more to that story. Instead, we hear more about the stories of the three main characters. Overall - I'd give it a 3.5.

Can you imagine downloading an app where you can hire a person to basically do all the invisible and visible loads of work that a wife does on the daily basis? It would completely change the game for many women (me included).

Three best friends from totally different backgrounds and ideologies come together to create an app to lighten the mental load for other mothers and wives.

Lauren, the tech engineer, is newly divorced (with twin girls) after finding her husband was paying women for sex. She creates the app and runs it. Even though she’s not looking for love, she keeps running into her ex-boyfriend.

Madeleine is the trouts fund baby who’s happily divorced. Her world revolves around her daughter. So imagine her surprise when she finds out her daughter wants to live with her Dad in London next year. She spends the novel trying to deal with her feelings of abandonment and betrayal of the one person she loves most. She also provides the money and support for the Wife App.

Sophie has been divorced (with two sons) for a while and is used to living paycheck to paycheck while her ex-husband lives a glamorous life with his new wife and baby. Sophie joins to Wife App to help make a little bit more money so she can provide her son with the therapy treatment he needs for his anxiety.

My thoughts: I really really enjoyed this book! I hope to read more from Carolyn Mackler. I thought it was interesting the way that all three women were connected even though they had little in common. I loved the different storylines and POVs. I think Sophie was my favorite. I just loved how her story ended. I also loved Madeleine’s ending.

I loved the synopsis of this book and couldn’t wait to see how the app works and all the logistics. I loved the details Carolyn Mackler went into to make sure this Wife App was a sound idea

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

It was so beautifully written and I would recommend this to any woman who’s every wished they had a wife at some point

Lauren, Madeline and Sophia are tired of being the wives that carry on the mental load of their families. Just like so many other wives, doing the mental and emotional labor of any relationship and a family is exhausting. The three friends decide to build an app that monetizes the mental labor of wives, aptly calling it the Wife app. And oh how I want this to be a real thing. It should be a real thing.

I liked this book but felt that the plot otherwise is a bit weak. I liked Lauren, Madeline and Sophia’s close relationship and how the book interweaves their personal and professional lives. I liked that the book addresses privilege and features a bisexual main character but nothing else really sticks out about the plot.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this eARC. The Wife App is out now.

3.5 stars.

I'm not sure how it happened, but way too many Millennial women in the United States have been raised to be people-pleasers in a manner that horrifies my late Gen X/geriatric Millennial sensibilities. Somehow, they've been persuaded by "Lean In" and "yes and" culture (with a healthy dose of late-stage capitalism) to think that having it all means running yourself ragged and putting everyone but yourself first. Ironically, that's the kind of thing they'd pretend to disparage in Boomers while doing the very same themselves (and I know several Gen Xers who also fall into this trap yet, on balance, make up a much smaller percentage of our cohort.)

The three New York City women at the heart of this book exemplify this problem, all quietly seething at the perceived injustices of their lives. Lauren kicked out her husband after discovering his secret sexual life, and is further blindsided when he chooses to make inappropriate relationship choices after their divorce. Independently wealthy Madeline has spent most of her adult life being the mother she never had for her now-teenage daughter Arabella, and doesn't know what to do when her ex-husband in London starts talking about bringing their daughter to come live with him for a year. Sophie is struggling to pay the bills for her two kids while her deadbeat ex and his gorgeous, accomplished new wife and baby have the Instagram-perfect life she can't help obsessing over.

One drunken dinner between the three friends persuades Lauren to launch a service called The Wife App, sort of a Task Rabbit on steroids. After the women complain about the thankless Mental Load they've always taken on as wives and mothers -- mostly in planning, organizing, and mentally and emotionally supporting their families -- tech-oriented Lauren decides to build an app for a service that takes over. After all, if you can hire housekeepers and nannies, why not hire a family organizer and counselor, essentially a Wife without all the sex and romance? Gloria Steinem would be proud.

There are road bumps along the way, but this is ultimately a feel-good novel in the vein of the classic movie The First Wives Club. Our heroines go from being hot messes who can barely communicate their needs when it matters to confident women who finally understand that you have to take care of yourself in order to be able to take care of other people. To be honest, the first third or so of this book was almost unreadable for me. While our protagonists have legitimate grievances, a lot of their issues could have been resolved by not being a coward about having difficult but necessary conversations. At least they tend to communicate with their children in a mature manner, even though I think Sophie was definitely spoiling her eldest child by constantly cleaning up after him when he was being lazy and stinky.

The last two thirds of the book mostly make up for the dire first part, as the women learn to stop defining themselves by other people. While the mindset becomes more and more progressive as the novel continues, there are still parts regarding sex that betray a conservative worldview. And while I appreciate the nod to the fact that gig jobs are exploitative, as well as the presence of a sliding scale for people who wouldn't ordinarily be able to afford the services, I felt that those topics were less tackled than tacked on. Sure, addressing the evils of the afore-mentioned late-stage capitalism might be well outside the scope of a novel like this, but having the subjects essentially tied up neatly with a bow only made the book feel more like fantasy than contemporary fiction.

Overall, I'm glad I read this book, which affirmed my own life choices in being stubborn and "selfish" in having a relatively unconventional family life. Keeping up with the Joneses has never been of interest to my husband and me, and raising our kids to be considerate, happy and functioning members of society is our number one priority. Also, do schools in NYC (or anywhere for that matter) really insist on home-baked goods so often? Over in my Maryland county, store-bought is de rigeur, if only for the accurate ingredient and allergen information required by law.

Anyway, The Wife App is a fun, fluffy book with a well-meaning feminist bent that reinforces an important message: stop harming yourselves in order to make other people's lives easier. Relationships are give and take, not give until you're emptied out. Cost-benefits analyses do not make you a selfish person, and anyone who tells you otherwise is subscribing to a system intent on keeping you passive while others continue to exploit you. These are all crucial lessons conveyed by this novel in a light, lecture-free manner that lots of people, wives or otherwise, still need to learn.

The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler was published June 27 2023 by Simon & Schuster and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781982158798">Bookshop!</a>

Thanks to Simon Books for my copy!

A really creative idea for a story. The Wife App follows three friends navigating various stages of being divorced, single former wives in NYC, and becoming increasingly tired of the mental load being a wife puts on their lives. They decide that other wives must feel the same way, and want to do something about it.

I really enjoyed the different points of view and experienced of each friend. I’m also pleasantly surprised at how the story turned out. I was not expecting some of the events to happen!

Overall it’s a great summer read, and highly relatable for spouses, women reaching their 30’s and 40’s, or anyone who feels like they’re stuck and want to make some changes in their life for the better.

This book was such a fun read. I could relate to it on a number of different levels. It is definitely a book I will recommend to others!

Guys, this was one of those books that I probably should have DNF'd but I felt like I'd invested too much time to give up on it. By the time I was 65% in, I was pretty sure nothing was happening and I didn't particularly care what did. That's probably a me problem rather than a book problem.

This is a prime example of why I read almost exclusively romance and thrillers. I like knowing what arc to expect. I like knowing where I'm going. General fiction or women's fiction doesn't follow an arc, and therefore I find I often don't love it and am not satisfied.

rating: 3.5 STARS
genre: woman's fiction
steam: fade-to-black but spoken explicitly

In the WIFE APP, I had no idea where the story was leading me, and that led me to being disappointed more often than not that something more extreme wasn't happening. I'd write examples of what I meant, but it would spoil the book for those planning to read it.

That all being said: the audiobook was enjoyable and had multiple narrators. It was easy to listen to on 2x speeds, which is often important to us audiobook listeners, and I was able to multitask while listening. All key for me.

This one wasn't for me, but it might be for you! Give it a shot.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

This was unfortunately a dnf for me. at 20 %. I didn't like the characters and them together with the events felt exaggerated. Several of my friends on Instagram enjoyed it so I think I'm an outlier here :)

The Wife App is a wonderfully funny, creative thought-out story about three divorced women who are best friends trying to manage all the crap that goes along with being a single parent, while trying to deal with their significant exes, work and manage everybody’s life. As a mother knows, when one of your kids, husbands, exes have a problem, it becomes YOUR problem. While meeting for drinks and complaining about life, they come up with an extraordinary idea which will change their lives forever.

In the process of the creation of The Wife App, they all become stronger, wiser in their relationships with their children as well as their exes. They begin to see their former husbands in very different lights, some for the better and some for the worse.

Lauren is the mother of twins who always thought her marriage was on solid ground. Until she looked at her husband’s phone one day and discovered it absolutely was not! Hence, she joined her best friends in the I am a single parent club. So, when her friend Madeline throws out the idea of an app that allows women to give someone else all the crap jobs they always feel boggled down doing, Lauren who worked in IT when she had no children jumps at the chance to create something.

Madeline is a rich divorcee whose husband lives in England, and she has custody of their daughter who is an upcoming cello player. She is happy. She and her daughter connect on so many levels unlike she and her own mother. The distance between her and her ex works perfectly. Madeline is just into The Wife App for the ride! Until she discovers her daughter has been keeping a secret from her and she begins to see the world in a different light.

Sophie, the third bestie has a different family dynamic. Her husband has remarried and has a very young daughter. Although she likes Beatrice, the new wife, she feels overwhelmed by all the extra tasks she must take on because it seems her husband is too busy with his new family. So as Sophie delves deeper into work for The Wife App, she discovers a new sense of strength and realizes for once what she truly wants rather than what is expected of her, and that truth sets her free.

To their surprise the app takes off. They realize it’s not just for wives, but for single parents, overworked partners and older people who just want help. Overwhelmed they suddenly find themselves in an incredible position of power. Hopefully nothing will go wrong!

The Wife App is brilliant! It opens the door to what we all know. Exhaustion. No matter who you are or what your lifestyle, guarantee you are juggling everything, feeling guilty and of course there is never enough time in the day. The story will be relatable, humorous and touching to those who reads it and I look forward to the purchase of the app, because I imagine some strong woman will absolutely make this happen for real!

Thank you #NetGalley #Simon&Schuster #TheWifeApp #CarolynMackler for the advanced copy.

This novel is about three divorced moms in NYC, Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie, each with their own foibles and issues. As they discuss the mental load that wives and mothers tend to take on more than their husbands do, one of them jokes that they should create a “wife app” to outsource some of those tasks - and then they decide to do exactly that. The book then charts their professional and personal journeys over the next year or so as they also figure out things about themselves and their families and what makes them happy.

This was a cute one, written with a very light and fun chick lit for grown ups kind of tone although romance is just a teeny tiny part of their stories. But while light, it also definitely has some very thought provoking points about all the unpaid work at home that both stay at home and working mothers tend to take on - the doctors appointments and the kids activities and the endless forms, etc etc - that should be relatable to almost any mom.

One quibble with this book for me - there were a few sex scenes for Madeline that while brief were kind of startlingly explicit compared to the rest of the book, and I especially just cannot deal with the use of the “c” word by a woman in this context, not just once but twice! I’m not saying I will only read closed door books, but it just seemed unnecessary and jarring in this one.

Still, overall a very cute book.

3.75 stars

I would consider this a good laid back day read. A group of friends who are experiencing relationship stress and life changes. Decided to create an app to help women help each other! Sign me up for this app!! The women finding themselves and new peace and quality of life is everything. The book and audiobook are phenomenal.

Synopsis: Three divorced women come together to build a Wife App that aims to ease the burden of the concept of Mental Load, which refers to those tasks that are usually left for the wife in a marriage to tackle, or else they just don't get done. Tasks such as scheduling doctors appointments, school pick up and drop offs, packing for various trips or summer camp, etc.

Thoughts: This book had themes of strong female friendships, women in the tech world, and gender identity. The multiple POVs shifting between Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie, in my opinion, made the pages turn fairly quickly. I found the overall premise of the novel to be interesting and new to me. I loved seeing the friendships depicted between these three women and I was definitely rooting for the female presence in a tech world storyline. With all this being said, I found the ending to be a bit rushed and would have liked the act of tying up the multiple POV storylines to have been paced out a little better.

I can see why the concept of having a Wife App to hire someone that handles the mundane tasks, such as scheduling appointments, appeals to individuals in the story, which is also why I feel that this book would be a perfect recommendation for a wife/mom (or any parent) juggling daily life and childcare responsibilities.

3.5 stars overall!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To say that I enjoyed this would be a huge understatement. I loved the concept, the character development, the very real discussions about the burden of the mental load that we take on as wives, mothers, and women. There were little talking points scattered throughout the book that really hit home for me too — particularly those centered around self-discovery, learning ones worth, and reminders that no one’s life is quite as put together or perfect as it seems. Loved loved loved this. Highly recommend it.

Thank you to Carolyn Mackler, Simon&Schuster, and NetGalley for this eARC.

During a night out, three best friends joke about how they’re going to make a Wife App to source people to take on the mental load of being a wife and mother. Well that drunk idea turned into reality and before they know it, The Wife App was successfully launched!

I was so excited to read this book because as a mother & wife, I can honestly say the mental load is REAL and horrible! I loved the how the story unfolded and you got 3 perspectives of from 3 different yet similar moms.

However at certain times through the books, the character POVS were hard to differentiate between. Especially if you stepped away from the book for a day or two and came back. Around the middle of the book it gets heavy in app development and it felts a little too in the weeds as a reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance reader copy of The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler.

Overall a super cute book.

There were moments I felt it was super slow but the twists I definitely appreciated.
I recommend this as a beach or pool read.

I wish an app like this really existed because the world needs an app that helps moms and wives.

Overall I would recommend this as a palate cleanser or if you need a cute book to get you through the week.

As a wife, this book was funny, but also really had me commiserating with Lauren and her friends. It is so true that wives are just automatically expected to remember dates, buy gifts, write thank yous, make appointments, fill out school forms, etc. I have no idea how it happens, but it's just this assumption ingrained in our society and there is rarely any acknowledgment or appreciation of the fact that we do all of these things. I have definitely proudly worn the "wife" badge, remembering everything for everyone, but recognize the inequity of it and have started letting a lot of it go as life gets overwhelming.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮:
👰‍♀️like a story with a solid friend group
👰‍♀️want to level the proverbial playing field when it comes to gender roles and marriage
👰‍♀️enjoy women seeking revenge on exes

3.75* The Wife App is a fun feminist read. The author really showcases the mental load of running a household and do so in a fun, truthful, and hilarious way. This was a joy to read and very much felt like an escape.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Author for a copy of this book. It is available for purchase now!

They’ve had all they can stand and they can’t stand no more! Lauren, Madeline and Sophie are three very different women and yet always, I mean always have each others backs. One evening after a few too many cocktails and a seriously good kvetch session they hatch an amazing plan. Monetize all that they’ve always done for their thankless husbands in the form of an app and maybe even get revenge on them as well. As their success grows, so does interference from outsiders, including their exes who even covertly try to take over and derail them. This is a well written story that touches on some tough subjects with humor and wit and the ever important bonds of friendship. There is no power greater than women supporting each other. An easy enjoyable enjoyable read. I very much look forward to what comes next from this author.