I didn’t resonate with this book. This woman thinks her obsession with her husband is evidence that she’s super in love with him. It’s really just massive insecurity and she’s looking to him and absolutely everywhere else outside herself for validation. It’s not cute.

this was a DNF for me, unfortunately. i stopped reading at the 30% mark.

this is marketed as a thriller, with comparisons to "gone girl" and "you." yeah, maybe this is like "you," if joe goldberg was endlessly boring and nothing ever happened. thrilling is one of the last words i would use to describe this book.

i'm really not someone who likes "no plot, just vibes" books, and that's what this is. it takes place over one week and it's all just the ramblings of an insecure, obsessive woman. the writing isn't bad, it's simply not my thing.

i got almost a third of the way through, realized i was not and would not be getting into it, and then lightly skimmed through until the epilogue that other reviewers have spoken about. unfortunately, the epilogue was ridiculous and confirmed that i had no desire to read the other 60% of the book.

i feel bad DNFing an arc but i think this book needs to be marketed completely differently. calling it a thriller is just untrue.

I didn't know what to expect going into this book, other than I had heard a few people were very excited to read it. I think that's probably the best way to step into a book like this - not having any expectations. That's not to say it would disappoint, but it is truly the look inside a woman's head as she spirals on the daily.

This definitely falls more on the side of character study than it does "plot driven," and I think it's a perfect length book to run the full spectrum of emotions from sadness to laughter to absolute irritation. There were times I was laughing at the narrator, sometimes I was laughing with her, and times I related... maybe a little too much.

Overall I think this is a really fun, pretty quick read. I would recommend this book to people who really like to get into the heads of characters, because that's more or less what this is. I enjoyed my time reading it and will absolutely recommend it to friends.

MY REVIEW: 5 Stars, No All The Stars!

Holy crap on a cracker! I’ve just found one of my favorite books of the year and I’m d@mn sure getting the hardback!

I requested this book because of the beautiful cover and it sounded good! I had no idea what I was in for in this book!

This book won’t be for some people I’m sure, but give it a try anyway! This lady is obsessed with her husband, I won’t go into specifics because you need to read it for yourself! I know some people think reading a book talking about someone’s life can be boring (not me) but this book is a nutter and I love it! AND, just when I thought it could’ve get any crazier, I read the epilogue! What the hell! I wanted to smack someone and at the same time thinking what just happened! Did I just read that, lol!

This book was so awesome!

***Thank you so much to Netgalley and HarperCollins for a digital copy of this book

Mel

The synopsis pulled me in and had me anticipating a 5-star psychological thriller. The concept was intriguing -- spending a week with a nameless wife who is obsessed with her nameless husband and their relationship.

Unfortunately, I don't typically like being isolated in a characters mind without any, or very little, contact with other characters for an entire book. I prefer to be shown rather than told, and so much of this book is the wife telling us her thoughts about her marriage which diminished the tension and thrills and instead felt repetitive. The epilogue was anti-climatic but it was also my favorite chapter in the book. Overall, it's really disappointing to say that I didn't enjoy this book at all. There are some great reviews, though, so I may be in the minority.

Thanks to the publishers for the arc!

A tidy little tale of obsessive love. The story itself was entertaining and uniquely done. Did not care for the ending. Thank you Harper Via and NetGalley for my ARC

I didn't realize this was an unfinished novel; I'm sure mega fans of Maud Ventura will enjoy this, but really not for the every man's consumption.

Woah! Have you ever felt a deep, obsessive love for someone? So much that you can’t even function if you aren’t with them 24/7? So much that if they don’t even hold your hand while watching TV, your thoughts immediately turn into panic and your mind makes up this false narrative that they’re probably going to divorce you tomorrow, so you might as well just die?

Throughout this book, my disdain for the female MC intensified. I hated her so much. But then, I started to feel some empathy. Not validation for anything she did or thought, but I felt sorry for her. If she were a real-life person and not a fictional character, she’d be in desperate need of some mental health support. Her husband seems to be just fine. The story navigates you through normal, mundane things we all do every day: wake up, eat breakfast, bring kids to school, go to work, attend social parties, etc. But any of these daily tasks take away precious alone time with her husband. And she won’t allow it. Not even competing with her young children.

My Husband has so many odd behaviors, hidden secrets, gaslighting, domestic abuse, and a bit of sexually graphic scenes. It’s an intense psychological thriller, it nearly feels real.

Authored by Maud Ventura, My Husband was originally written in the French language, and published in France in 2021 titled as Mon Mari. I would be curious of anyone who is bilingual in both English and French to hear their takes on how these two compare. Does the translation come across emotionally the same?

Thank you to @NetGalley , HarperVia, author Maud Ventura, and translator Emma Ramadan for this free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

I love Net Galley because I can discover titles I have never seen before or wouldn't otherwise read. My Husband by Maud Ventura was such a pleasant read. The author is truly amazing at imagery and setting the scene.

This book left me feeling so unsettled, which is what the writer wants. Ventura is able to take such minor details and create a growing suspicion within the reader. I think this novel is also a critique of domesticity. I really enjoyed this rollercoaster of a book.

Part psychological thriller, part domestic suspense, I absolutely loved My Husband. In this book, we spend a week inside the world of our unnamed MC who is a married mom of 2 trying desperately to manage and control every aspect of her life, particularly her marriage to her husband. It was hard to tell if she truly loves or hates her husband as she takes pains to be the perfect wife for him, overanalyzes each conversation and interaction they have, but also keeps a notebook of all the "punishments" she doles out for his missteps. She was so well-developed (and icky) that is was almost uncomfortable to read at times. I thought the translation was outstanding and the writing was crisp and kept the story moving along at a fast pace. The ending was perfect and I wanted more of this strange couple and their creepy life.

Thank you to the author, Net Galley and HarperVia for the opportunity to advance read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This little book is a gem! It’s so original, a compelling story about a woman (unnamed) who is obsessed with her husband (also unnamed). This was published in French under the title Mon Mari, and the translation to English seems impeccable. I love the understated writing style, as wells as the cover illustration. And, after many years, I’m inspired to re-read The Lover.
Highly recommended.

A creepy, quick and dark read about a woman who loves her husband... possibly too much? Very enjoyable, highly recommend!

What did I just read??? This is a strange ramble about both an obsessive, slightly unhinged love and about a pretty, working-class girl who's married up and needs to learn the new rules. It's interesting, but about 3 times as long as it needs to be -- this obsession is such a fascinating concept but then there's too much rambling about through her color-coordinated vocabulary notebooks. or his cheese market receipts. There's a truly stunning epilogue, but it's a slog to get there.

I appreciate being given this ARC by Netgalley and HarperCollins in turn for an honest review

This book is a week in the life of a nameless woman, obsessed with her relationship with her husband to the point of madness. She is a translator and teacher who "married up". He is a successful business man from a rich family. It is an account filled with score keeping about meaningless things and finding odd meanings in acts we would think we would need no explanation. (I am deliberately being vague here because further specificity, I think, would spoil the experience of the week as it proceeds.)

There is no great mystery but there is a twist at the end. All in all I found the reading experience enervating and irritating. I found no thrill in it, just a desire to get through it. The surprise at the end was not worth the effort. I don't know if my disappointment is a result of personal taste or a cultural difference as this was translated from the French. I just wasn't into it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. My Husband was a unique find. It is translated from French and follows a beautiful woman who has been married to her husband for 15 years, yet she imagines all kinds of games and circumstances are taking place, without any proof. It is all in her head. She puts her husband, who she only and always called "my husband" in different scenarios with waitresses, her children, his co-workers - all that are just part of her overactive imagination. The book is at turns darkly comical and almost painful to read. Our narrator cannot accept that sometimes what a situation is on face value is what it truly is underneath. A very interesting and different kind of story.

The cover got me! What was this woman thinking? What was her story? I had no idea this book would be an odd proclamation of the MC going on and on about how much she loves her husband. It was overwhelming and I found myself laughing at loud at her! Was this real? I flew through this one. One part really irritated me when she comments she doesn’t mind if her kids died just not her husband! Clearly she’s ill but it isn’t talked about…. It’s just her manifestos about her husband! Four stars from me. Perhaps things were lost in the translation?!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book gave me the icks in every sense of the word. I disliked both characters so much, I had to push myself to finish. Wha a toxic, manipulative pair. They really do deserve each other. Read this if you liked Tell Me Lies, both these books had me screaming internally.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy In exchange for my honest review!

I'm not sure how I feel about 'My Husband.' It's a unique book, for sure. It's an interior novel about an unnamed woman who is obsessed with her also unnamed husband and their fifteen year marriage. The novel is told over one week, where seemingly not a lot happens. As she constantly thinks of her husband, the story can get a bit redundant. As the novel progresses, we learn the lengths to which she controls her behavior and relationship. Though the wife is deeply infatuated with her husband, it's not entirely clear why. He shows little personality, seems to lack basic courtesy at times, and is often indifferent. The epilogue brings some surprising insights about their complicated relationship.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I’m not really sure how I feel about “My Husband” except, I’ve never read anything like it before and anything I might have thought about it while reading made it all worth it with that epilogue!!!

I absolutely love this book. It’s very strange in the sense that I’ve never read anything like it. The main character is excellently drawn and the plot beautifully intricate.