An interesting read with a lot of dark humour interwoven with the unbelivable but it did highlight just how insidious domestic violence is and what many men get away with. It was refreshing to read women getting their power back.

This story is about four very different women with one unfortunate thing in common. Given the nature of the main topic - domestic abuse in various forms - it is interesting that this narrative nevertheless manages to deliver quite a lot of humour (albeit somewhat dark humour!) and an equal amount of entertainment. That too, in a novel set in the COVID pandemic period!

Marriage is complicated, but Sally never meant to brain her husband with a skillet. Having done so however, she needed to find a graceful way of handling it...

What she didn't expect to find were three other people managing equally complicated relationships in close proximity to her. One, whose abusive husband is planning to marry off their young daughter against her will. Another, whose husband is preventing her from using her much-needed nursing skills as she wants to, by helping out in the health crisis underway. And the third who is a very tired mother, struggling to cope with certain aspects of her life.

The writer's notes in this book explaining her choice of topic are also very interesting and well worth reading. I salute Casale for pulling off an interesting, unusual, and original piece of storytelling. Highly recommended.

How to Bury Your Husband focuses on domestic violence occurring in the Covid-19 lockdown and the found friendships that can occur out of the dire situation our main protagonist Sally finds herself in along with the other sufferers of violence. It’s an admirable and meaningful topic to cover which is handled with dark humour and care.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netflix for the advanced copy.

From start to finish, this book had me hooked. It tackles the incredibly difficult subject of domestic violence in a way that makes it accessible. Casale does a wonderful job of making every single woman likeable and funny, even in the midst of them murdering their husbands. This book made me laugh out loud, which a book hasn't done in a while, especially a book about murder. The dark comedy aspect adds to the suspense, one minute I was laughing and the next I was panicking for these women and their outcomes. It also poses important moral and ethical questions that leaves the reader pondering long after finishing the book. Although this book was a dark comedy, and yes it was fictional, reading the authors note after felt like a punch to the gut, and reminds us, as readers, why books like this are so important. It's hard to walk the line between serious and humour, but Casale did it well, and I wouldn't hesitate to read more books from her in the future.

This is a story about a group of women suffering from Domestic Violence during lockdown at the hands of a men and, well, killing them in self defense. The beginning of the book is black humour at its peak juxtaposed with the depiction of domestic abuse and then the story transforms into one of friendship and hope. I was thinking (before I read the Authors Note) that it's obviously wildly impossible that this scenario would ever happen irl but that not the point of the book. And the authors note at the end really puts it into perspective, she says (from my memory, not verbatim) we can laugh at 4 women murdering their husbands in the same week, in the same little town because it would never happen. But it is probable that 4 men in the same town could murder a women and there's nothing funny about that at all.


Anyway I don't want to give away too much. It's got lots of surprises which people will enjoy which I predicted way towards the beginning, but despite the predicability it was a very compelling and fun (as fun as it can be) book. I've already started recommending it to everyone who I know that reads 👌🏻

I really tried hard to get into this book several times but I found it just wasn't for me. While I love the package and the title, I found the tone and style of the story was far darker than suggested. I also wasn't convinced by the concept of so many women all killing their partners around the same time – I usually very happy to suspend belief when reading but I didn't feel this story was written convincingly enough for me to buy into it here.
The writing was great though, I just wasn't a fan of the story. And for me personally, the setting of lockdown still feels a bit too close and sore for now.

I was intrigued by the title of this and even more so when I read the author’s note at the beginning. Until about half way through I was unsure about the “dark comedy” element but I was hooked on Sally and her friends and if they’d succeed in their mission.

This is also a very thought provoking book based on the very serious matter of domestic violence and how the scale of the issue escalated during Covid lockdowns.

I would highly recommend

ok this kind of premise is what really hooked me. being trapped on your house and just murdering someone? sign me up! i also like that the main character was older which we don’t get a lot in books so i was also a fan of that. Now when i read the authors note in the beginning and reading on the direction of this book i was like ah ok i get it but idk if she was able to pull it off for me personally with the characters not being fleshed out and the “comedy” was uncomfortable at times. i think this author was trying to go for “my sister the serial killer” and “how to kill your family”

side note: going back to the authors note. when i read it at the beginning i was like ah ok i get it. but ma’am you can’t write black fictional characters and the issues they face as a white author unless you’ve collabed with a black author (i’ve read plenty) about the issues they face like police brutality. so that put me off straight away but i chugged along. i know it has nothing to do with the actual story but reading all that it was giving me libertarian vibes with what kind of “comedy” that would be in this book. just bc you can write fictional characters going through serious issues so you can feel like you’re allowed to laugh about it doesn’t immediately make it ok.

Really well written dark-comedy focusing on an important topic which is often not talked about enough.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!
Very interesting this book, I'll check the others author's books too

I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting when I opened this book but thus surpassed it. To say it tackles a very dark subject with domestic violence it is really well put across in a humorous way.

The novel is set during covid lockdown. Sally is married to Jim and they are both under the beady eye of their neighbour Enid who seems to be the self appointed enforcer of lockdown rules Sally has long had a tempestuous relationship with Jim who has taken every opportunity to ridicule and undermine Sally. He's also submitted her to violent attacks but always in such a way that the bruises etc can easily be covered up. She has always tried to hide the difficulties from her two children in order to protect them. One day, Sally snaps and in response to Jim's latest attack she fights back. I don't want to say more about the plot so I don't spoil it for other readers. Suffice to say, this book is a brilliant read and fulfills the authors intentions to highlight the prevalence of domestic violence using dark humour. Well worth reading. A difficult subject, sensitively handled.

4.5 stars

It’s the start of the Covid pandemic and the country is in lockdown with the strict enforcement of rules and with Sally‘s next door neighbour Edwina keeping a beady open for any infractions. Sally is married to Jim and she realises early in their marriage that he is a mediocre man with resentment seeping from his very pores. After twenty years of violence, of telling herself that it’s her fault, that they’re accidents but now that the children have left home and it’s lockdown, she’s stuck inside with him alone for many hours a day and so she fights back and how. Then there’s Samira, whose abusive husband Yafir is arranging a marriage for their elder daughter Leila against her will and so Samira determines to do something to keep Leila safe. Then there is Ruth and Lionel, she wants to help utilise her much needed nursing skills in the pandemic and he definitely doesn’t. Finally, there is a very tired mother and as for her husband, I’m sure you can guess. The story is told principally by Sally but also by the other three women so you get to understand them and their dire domestic situations.

First of all, I really admire the authors purpose in writing this book and she sure has all the credentials. I hope she achieves her ends by using humour to get her points across and in my opinion, she does. Yes, it’s a novel that has its roots in domestic violence which as we all know, reaches crisis point in lockdown but equally it’s a novel about friendship, some forged of necessity, one which is lapsed and one that is a real surprise. It’s also about family and the bonds between mother and children, which is clear to see with Samira and Leila, but also with Sally‘s children and I love how her son sends her a song of the day to show he cares. This is cleverly done as they seem to match or highlight situations and are often darkly amusing.

The characterisation is very good, each has their own defined personality and my favourite, much to my surprise, turns out to be Edwina, although obviously you root for all of these women.

Whilst the issue is obviously a serious one, the novel is genuinely funny at times, obviously darkly so but it does make me guffaw and hoot with laughter from time to time. Go ladies! Although all the storylines are very good, the very tired mother is emotional, moving and scary but I also like the different cultural aspects of the storyline too via Samira especially but also with Ruth. It’s a very well written novel and Covid lockdown is used most effectively in highlighting what women like these four have to face. Along the journey to the end there are some good twists, there’s tension and suspense, one real jaw dropper and a whoops and a sort of surprise that probably isn’t right at the end, but the image of that will stay with me forever! Kudos to the author.

Overall, it’s a very readable book that highlights a dreadful reality but does so in a light-hearted way which engages but also drives the points across very effectively. It demonstrates that survival is possible with the help of friends. It’s poignant, sad, but darkly funny.

*The authors foreword and notes at the end are well worth reading.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC!

How to Bury Your Husband deals with domestic violence during the lockdown, the book deals with such serious issues very well. The writing uses themes of dark humour/content.

This book is a story of survivorship

I enjoyed this book, it was heartbreaking and at times humorous, albeit with dark humour.

I'm not sure what I anticipated when I picked this book up but it wasn't this! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a bit mad and eccentric, I mean of course the possibility of something like this happening is absolutely zero, however it was fun to read and also shed a light on the increase in domestic violence that occurred during the lockdown. It is poignant in that sense and was hard to read in places but overall this is a great book.

I dnf this book. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the writing style but am sure a lot of other people would be more invested than I was.

A lighthearted page turner despite the dark themes, would definitely read more by this author!

Main themes: murder, domestic violence, friendship, family

Twist right at the end - did not see it coming

Dark content with the husbands, but superb dark comedy.
Really enjoyed this, wouldn’t hesitate to read another book by this author.

Read this book on holiday and loved every minute of it , mostly lighthearted with a slight dark side on how to get away with the murder of your husband , but only if he deserves it 😂. All the husbands in this book did they were mean and unsupportive.
I will definitely look out for other books by this author , I like the style of writing .

this reminded me a lot of 'how to kill your family (also four stars),' as it had a similar sense of dark humour and the mystery / thriller element too. i really liked this, more than i thought i was going to, and found myself rooting for the characters from the beginning. although i more or less guessed the twist towards the end of the book, i was still happy to see my suspicions confirmed (iykyk!). i would happily read a sequel to this - i need to know the events that follow!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Domestic violence (in and out of lockdown) isn’t the most obvious choice for a book but Alexia Casale knows her stuff and I think this may be a novel that sadly many can understand and enjoy.

I think the humour was good but there were moments that were still uncomfortable to me, add to that a rather unbelievable plot, this wasn’t for me. But this will be an important book for many.