⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars

My Husband is a psychological deep dive into the mind of a love obsessed forty year old woman with a, dare I say, unhealthy infatuation for her husband.

She's keeping score, taking notes, and overanalyzing her husband’s every word (spoken or unspoken), and action (taken or not taken).

Just when it seems the story has come to its conclusion, here comes an epilogue that'll leave you reeling like a sucker punch to the face.

I was surprised to read that this is the author's debut novel. It's short but stout and made for a compulsive read.

The translation from French to English feels seamless; superbly done.

Thanks to NetGalley, HarperVia (HarperCollins), and the author for this digital Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Husband follows an unnamed narrator who is obsessed with her (also unnamed) husband. They have been together for 15 years, but no matter how much time passes her every waking thought has always been about him. She never stops thinking about how best to please him and never stops worrying that one day he’ll leave her. This book is set over the course of one week in which the narrator’s concern that her husband will leave her, and her obsessive behavior in response to that fear, increase daily.

I think this book is just fantastic. It is without a doubt a literary fiction, or maybe contemporary, novel, but the narrator’s inner thoughts feel more like the thoughts of a protagonist in a psychological thriller. As someone whose favorite genres are both lit fic and thriller this just heightened my enjoyment of my time reading this.

I loved how with every chapter the narrator introduced more details about her thoughts and behavior surrounding her husband, and I as a reader was able to slowly learn just how bizarre and intense she is as a person. Her character was meticulously developed, especially for such a short book. Her personality is so fleshed out that she jumped out of the page and felt like a fully formed person to me in spite of the fact that I’ve never met anyone this… strange. The fact that more information about her was revealed with each chapter ensured that she always held my interest. She’s one of the most compelling main characters I’ve encountered in a long time. This is definitely not a plot heavy book, but it felt as fast paced as plot focused stories tend to be. I always admire authors who manage to create books that feel both fast paced and as if the story is slowly being unfolded. In general I just came away from this book with the impression that Maud Ventura is a great writer overall.

*Before I get to this next part I’ll warn you that although there aren’t any spoilers, this isn’t a paragraph that I would want to read before reading this book. I think it might give you a little too much warning about what happens in this book, and it addressed something you might want to experience without being mentally prepared for it.*

I hated, and I mean thoroughly despised, the ending of this book. It was so predictable and basic that I wanted to scream. And I never scream. This is not a book that deserves a predictable and basic ending. I felt like I cheapened the quality and maturity of the rest of the book. This ending stopped being impressive in 2016. I would like to make something clear: I do NOT think books bad just because they have a predictable ending. That’s ridiculous, especially because that’s very common in plotless literary fiction books like this one. But the ending of My Husband really plays into the aspects of this story that felt like a psychological thriller. I know that this was an ending that was supposed to shock me and then make me think about the story I’d just experienced in a new way. But it was something I expected just by reading the summary of the book. Every review of this book I’ve ever seen mentions the ending either in a neutral way or in a complimentary way, so I thought the book would reveal both the event that was the ending AND something that’s actually interesting. But instead I got a disappointing ending that made me remove a star from my rating.

All in all I highly recommend My Husband.

My Husband is a delicious, devious, deeply psychological character study that reads like a thriller, taking us into the disturbed psyche of a sophisticated French woman over the course of one week in her life.

An English teacher and translator, our narrator is married to an ideal man, has two healthy and well-behaved children, and lives in a beautifully appointed home. But instead of being content in the trappings of her suburban life, she is paranoid and unsettled. Through her intimate and introspective first-person narration, we learn the cause: She is completely and utterly obsessed with her husband. She carefully and meticulously plans every interaction with him (although it is imperative that these interactions seem effortless) and keeps a record of his perceived injustices against her, doling out punishments as necessary. But despite all her efforts to be the perfect partner, she is never quite certain her passionate love is reciprocated.

My Husband is an engaging and fascinating read as Maud Ventura explores notions of modern love, womanhood, and motherhood through the eyes of an obsessive wife and mother. There are so many interesting ideas explored in this novel: how women feel obligated to meet societal expectations but find that they either can't, or that they can but that it's not enough to satisfy them; emotional manipulation and power imbalances within romantic partnerships; the conflicting needs for both agency and dependency. The narrative flows in a stream of consciousness style as the wife muses on all of these topics, revealing more about herself than she means to, and it's both darkly funny and incredibly insightful.

Even though there isn't much of a plot -- it's really just one week of the wife obsessively fretting about her husband's devotion or lack thereof -- I nevertheless found My Husband completely riveting and read it in only a couple of sittings. This is my favorite kind of book: the kind that makes you feel a bit unsteady and uncomfortable as it immerses you fully in the mind of someone who is becoming unhinged. And the ending is just straight-up savage: an absolute stunner that makes you rethink everything you've just read. Thank you to HarperVia and NetGalley for the early reading opportunity.

Not what I expected at all, but I loved almost everything about it. I initially thought this would be something completely different, but it's more of a focus on a woman's codependency and obsession. I think the use of first-person helps us view the main character as she is, witness her spiral, and observe her as she does everything she needs to ensure their relationship is perfect and her husband stays entranced by her. The writing is lovely. 'My Husband' is a short read but an entertaining one.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥4/5 stars

read if you like:
♡ 'unhinged' women
♡ domestic thrillers
♡ dark comedies

➸ a darkly funny vignette of a woman’s obsessive love for her husband, my husband is as crazed as it is masterful. maud ventura picks apart our conception of love just as the protagonist picks apart every aspect of her own marriage, hellbent on finding fault with her husband and vindicating her paranoia in a desperate bid to restore symmetry to the power dynamic between the two of them as her all-consuming love constantly puts her on the back-foot. my husband set my teeth on edge and had me reeling at its self-contained and claustrophobic venn diagram on love, control and where they start to conflate.

(further review to come)

thank you netgalley for the arc !

This short novel utilizes a certain technique in its story structure to deliver jaw-dropping results. The comparisons to Gone Girl and Fates and Furies are not at all off the mark, but if you've read those books then you know how easily a reviewer could give away important tidbits and twists that would take away from a reader's enjoyment. I will simply say, I really liked it and please let me know if/when you read it because I want to discuss it!

At forty years old her life is seemingly perfect, she has her looks, a good job, two wonderful kids, a beautiful house, and the ideal husband. They’ve been together 15 years and she is still completely in love, but she’s never sure her passion is reciprocated.

She’s determined to keep their relationship absolutely perfect to the point she obsesses over it. One day…she may have gone too far.

This was a peculiar book. I didn’t love it, but I also didn’t hate it, I did enjoy it. I was just in awe with how obsessed with her husband the main character was. To the point that she disliked her children for getting older and staying up later – so she got less truly alone time with her husband. Her entire life revolved around her husband and keeping him in love with her. It was a compulsion. I did truly enjoy the epilogue chapter from the husband’s point of view. It really cemented that this was a twisted book, and not twisted in a thriller sense of the way. This book was originally written in French and translated to English. I thought the translation was great and seamless. The pacing on this one was decent and it was a quick read.

Additional links will be added once posted

A slow burn sets in as this nameless protagonist - a wealthy French woman - spends her days obsessing over the love of her husband. The woman has everything she could want - two children, perfect house, and career, but it isn't enough if her husband slights her. In this twisty, creepy tale, we learn everything about the woman's life and everything she does to keep her husband enthralled. The problem is, it never seems enough.

As we move through the days with the couple, the woman sets traps to test her husband's love. One day, it seems she goes to far...

Truly creepy, My Husband is perfectly pitched. You will read late into the night and wonder to yourself next week of your friend's thoughts about their own husbands. If you like a slow burn, an eerie creepy tone or just love a unique domestic thriller, My Husbnad is for you! #HarperVIa #MyHusband #MaudVentura

My Husband allows you to enter an obsessive mind in such a beautiful way. The story details the innermost thoughts of a woman consumed by her husband’s every move. I love when a book challenges my intuition and shows me that I don’t always know the full story. The writing was so consistent, quirky, and intriguing. Highly recommend. I will be thinking of this book for a long time to come.

What would happen if a woman lived by the advice given in every women's magazines? To be a vessel for her husband, To do nothing of her own, to only live to please him.

While I hoped I would have loved this, I couldn't get into it. It tried a little hard to be smart and witty.

Still, maybe it was lost in translation.

Thanks so much to the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

“My husband has no name; he is my husband, he belongs to me.”

My Husband is about an unnamed wife that is obsessed with her husband and being the perfect significant for him. I was lucky enough to get this ARC through NetGalley and finished it all yesterday!
Throughout the book, she talks very highly of her husband but her insecurities and unhealthy obsession slowly unravels the farther I progressed through the book. She would never refer to her husband by his name, she only referred to him as “my husband” which treads into the territory of iconizing and objectifying him. After a certain time, I feel that her husband begins to lose the feeling of him being an actual individual and more of an entity of her imagination. The main character is captivated with the idea of being the only person for her husband and detests having to spend time with friends or family because she sees her husband to be enough for her but takes offense when her husband wants to spend time with their mutual friends. This form of obsession even affects her ability to parent, she doesn’t have the motherly instinct many mothers would have towards their children. She states that she would be fine without them and that’s telling of how dependent she is on her husband’s every move. I really enjoyed the themes and flow of the story, it progressed smoothly and I didn’t feel like anything should’ve been added or omitted. Maud Ventura excellently showcased a story where one individual with obsessive and controlling thoughts did things that she shouldn’t have done. The hypocrisy and justification of the character’s actions was wild to say the least but added to the character and story development.
I am so excited to get the physical copy of My Husband and I’m looking forward to the future projects Maud Ventura has to put out!

“My husband has no name; he is my husband, he belongs to me”

“My Husband” by Maud Ventura is a fast and suspenseful read where we follow an unnamed narrator who’s completely obsessed with her husband. Both the wife and husband are unnamed throughout the book, giving the book a mysterious feel, but I wouldn’t classify this book as a thriller. To me, it felt more like a dark literary fiction. I feel like if I went into it with that mindset, then I wouldn’t be as disappointed at the end since nothing thriller-y really happened in my opinion.

Regardless of that, the writing was so quirky and fun to read. Set throughout the course of a week, the book goes through the thoughts and feelings of the narrator, who obsesses over her husband and her image as the perfect wife. Even though they have been together for 15 years, she still has an immense amount of insecurities and a complexity of emotions about being with her husband, with certain moments that can even be described as pathetic. Since it’s a first-person narrative with a strange inner monologue that you can’t tear yourself away from, “My Husband” is an easy binge. Also, an interesting feature of the book is that synesthesia is used to describe each of the days of the week with each day compared to a color. This heightens the loss of control that the narrator goes through as each day passes.

“Sometimes I ask myself whether I should feel guilty about going through my husband's things. But I always come to the conclusion that I should not, for one simple reason: I wish he would do the same. I would finally have the proof of his jealousy and the confirmation of his commitment. Unfortunately, I know he doesn't. Unfortunately, my husband trusts me.”

This is definitely a no-plot, just vibes kind of book, but it was really fun!

My Husband by Maud Ventura was an interesting character study. It’s translated from French and features a woman who is passionately in love with her husband - perhaps too much, if that’s possible?
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Alternating between poignant observations about love and wild decisions by the protagonist… you’ll likely be sucked in by the narrative and be along for the general observations.
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The publisher blurb makes it sound like it has thriller or suspense vibes. I didn’t think it did, really. So I think you’ll likely be disappointed if that’s what you expect.
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This was a quick, different read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of My Husband. Covering 1 week in a marriage, this is quite an unusual book. The wife is totally obsessed with the idea of love—whether to be loved or to love. “I love too intensely and I’m consumed by my own love (analysis, jealousy, doubt)—so much so that when I’m in love, I always end up slightly extinguished and saddened…..A heavy shadow settles over my relationships. I love and want to be loved with so much gravitas that it quickly becomes exhausting (for me, for the other person).” It’s at once compelling and creepy as she shares every thought about, and perceived slight in, their marriage. She is loathe to share her husband with others, including her children. “I love ur children, that goes without saying. I love them, but still, I would rather have not had them. I love them, but I would rather have lived alone with my husband.” Interestingly, looking at the family from the outside, it appears to be a successful, loving family. Who knows what the true story is? This is a pretty quick read and it keeps your attention as you are driven to see the payoff. 3.5 rounding up to 4.

This story of a woman obsessively in love with her husband was so quirky, unique, and delicious. The language was beautiful, and dryly funny. I also appreciated how she incorporated synesthesia, which is rare to find in a book (I also associate the days of the week with colors, but have never seen this acknowledged anywhere else). I'll be thinking about this one for a long time- definitely one of my top reads of the year!

I didn't know what to expect with this book. I mean, judging by the description, I fully thought I was reading a murder confession novel. But no. This book is a wildly unhinged character study that is more than what meets the eye and what the synopsis can give away in terms of what is actually on the page.

The Narrator is like an extreme version of those people who live their lives by just reading self help articles online, and she quite literally follows them to a T. It's equally hilarious and heartbreaking to see how insecure she is and have these insecurities brought to life by her equally conniving husband. At the same time, it's an also a compelling portrait of power imbalances within a marriage and the ways in which men grind down women in an effort to boost their own egos or exert control over their wives.

It's a wild read with some inventive prose and turns of phrases that left my Kindle copy absolutely marked up from all the highlighting I was doing. Especially the sex scenes and the descriptions of sex are absolutely unique and profound, and singular to Maud Ventura and the compelling, tension filled voice she created with My Husband.

Thank you endlessly to HarperCollins, the author, and the Netgalley team for getting this ARC into my hands! ❤️

"My Husband" by Maud Ventura follows a week in one woman's life. The novel is primarily focused on her role as a wife - in the same way that the narrator herself organizes and designs her entire life based on her husband.
The novel is organized by the days of the week, moving chronologically. Each day felt so long, yet so short. Spending each day in the narrator's mind made the days feel longer than they really were, which was a clever representation of the way the narrator's mindset makes everything in her life more extensive, ongoing, and distressing for her. She lives in a constant state of hyperawareness and hypersensitivity, documenting her husband's behavior in obsessive detail and planning her own behavior accordingly. Her entire world revolves around her husband even though he appears clueless to her antics.
This was written impressively, in a way that made me feel the narrator's anxiety and distress. Even when she was in a panic over something so minimal that I wouldn't usually think twice about, the excellent writing truly made me fall into the panic with her.
This exaggerated representation of the way women's roles as wives can affect them was not only very clever, but also incredibly interesting. I couldn't stop taking in each little detail, in the same way the narrator does in her own life.
As the book neared the end, I felt a dread I couldn't fully explain, and this dread was validated by the ending - which left me surprised without seeming outlandish. Ventura clearly holds immense talent, and this novel is an incredibly impressive debut.

A haunting and unsettling character study that I absolutely devoured. A perfect portrait of obsessive love with an epilogue that left my jaw on the floor. A stunning read.

My Husband is an amazing book that captures the essence of a wife's world revolving around her husband. This relatable story delves into the complexities of marriage and the insecurities that can plague a person's mind.

The protagonist, whose name remains a mystery throughout the book, gauges the success of her marriage by her ability to predict her husband's actions. This pursuit becomes her obsession as she constantly strives to be the perfect wife. Deep down, she harbors a permanent insecurity, believing that her husband could have chosen someone better. This insecurity likely stems from her childhood trauma or abandonment, which adds a layer of depth and complexity to her character.

What truly captivated me about this book was the protagonist's strangely appealing internal monologue. It was a quirky and detached style, and it gave me strong neurodivergent vibes. Her thoughts and reflections felt both familiar and unique, and as an unreliable narrator, kept me hooked until the very end.

The author's choice to present the story from a first-person point of view, without revealing the names of the characters, was a stroke of genius. It allowed me to immerse myself fully in the protagonist's perspective, experiencing her joys, insecurities, and struggles firsthand. This narrative technique added an air of mystery and intrigue, keeping me engaged throughout.

The prose of My Husband is beautifully crafted, with smooth and approachable language. The author's ability to convey complex emotions and thoughts in simple terms made the story accessible to readers of all ages. The words flowed effortlessly from page to page and I inhaled this book.

As the story unfolds over a span of 15 years, time jumping back and forth to moments that have brought us to the present. The protagonist, despite having children and living her life, remains stuck in the initial phase of insecure girlfriend. This exploration of the lasting impact of her likely childhood trauma and/or mental illness and its effect on her ability to fully and actively love her husband is both poignant and thought-provoking.

Finally, the twist at the end of the book left me stunned. It showcased the author's skill in crafting a narrative that keeps readers guessing and working to understand the motives behind each character's actions.

In conclusion, My Husband is a must-read for those who enjoy delving into the complexities of human behavior and relationships. The relatable protagonist, engaging narrative style, and smooth prose make it an exceptional book. Whether you've experienced the insecurities of marriage or simply love to explore the depths of the human psyche, this book will captivate and resonate with you on a profound level.

This was an unsettling look into the mind of a woman obsessed with her husband, to an extremely unhealthy degree. I’m not sure if I enjoyed it, but it was certainly fascinating. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.