This is on me because I like a lot of the Read with Jenna books, and I was expecting a different kind of read. It was a bit too much on the search for the meaning of life than satirical.

Single, thirty-something Lauren returns to her apartment late one night, after her best friend's bachelorette party, only to find a man there. He says he's her husband and pictures in the apartment and pictures and texts on her phone seem to indicate that this is true. But, she has no memory of him. While Lauren is still trying to figure out what is happening, Michael (the husband) goes up in the attic to change a lightbulb, but the man who comes down is not Michael. Something strange is going on. Every time one husband goes up in the attic, another comes down. Sometimes Lauren spends a week or more with a husband; sometimes only a few minutes, but she always sends them back up. And she begins to wonder: is there a perfect husband and does she even want to be married?

This is not a romance, and it's not exactly suspense, but I found myself unable to put it down. I wanted to know how the parade of husbands would end, and how Lauren would change to suit her new circumstances. It's one of the best books I've read in the last year.

Man, I really enjoyed this book! I have some quibbles with it, but to me, that's the sign of a five-star read—you can't stop thinking about the premise, what you personally would have done differently, and wanting to stay longer in the world of the story. The premise could not be more high concept: Lauren comes home from a night out to find out she's not only married, but her attic is creating a magical stream of husbands for her. When she wants a new one, she sends the current husband up and a new one comes down. I wondered how Gramazio could sustain that idea for an entire book, but she manages to do it!

My main issue is that I thought Lauren's character could have been developed more in terms of her backstory and why she is so frightened of commitment—it felt hinted at, but the character development stopped at like 80% for me. I did think the ending was great and quite resonant given the premise, and managed to work thematically and plot=wise at the same time. Though I would have liked a bit more, character-wise, I can't deny that the author pulled off a very high difficulty feat with this book. Loved the experience of reading it and will be rereading in the future for sure!

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio was a super interesting and unique read that kept me hooked. The concept was fresh and thought-provoking, making for great discussions. I especially enjoyed sharing it with my like-minded mom friends, who found it just as engaging. Overall, it was a clever and entertaining book that stood out from the usual reads.

I thought this was an easy read and was enjoying it until it got a bit monotonous. I kind of started wondering how it was going to end and I do appreciate that there was some thought out into the ending which did leave me with some unanswered questions. But I would recommend this for a light read

Loved this clever, humorous and fresh concept, but tired of the execution before our main character did. Would have rather experienced fewer "husbands" and learned a bit more about each of them and how they changed Lauren's life. I also wanted to know what each husband was trying to reveal about her true self- where was the author taking us on this strange journey. Just needed a bit more depth and less breadth.

THE HUSBANDS by Holly Gramazio is one of my favorite reads of 2024!!! Loved the magical premise that the skilled writing and perfect pacing complimented to a tee. Loved the takeaway and the thoughtful reflection on what makes up a content life. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

OBSESSED. This is a book of the year for good reason. Such a unique premise and so well executed. I got so wrapped up in this story and can't wait to see what Gramazio does next.

I was thrilled to get a copy of this one, espeically when it was selected as a Read With Jenna pick last year. This wonderful book asks things like how we navigate live, love and choice when there is a never-ending set of options.

Lauren comes home to her flat in London late one night and is greeted by her husband, Michael. But she’s not married and has never seen this man before in her life. But then he goes to change a lightbulb and someone new appears. Her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands!

This book was a wonderful surprise--thanks so much for the copy!

Unfortunately I didn’t love it. Genius premise and unique take on the groundhog’s day trope, but I feel as though I didn’t know the MC and/or why the attic was magic. Needed a little more juice.

The Husbands was my favorite book of 2024. It was funny and reflective and a bit magical. When Lauren returns to her flat from a bachelorette party, she is greeted by her husband. However, she doesn't have one. The chaos that ensures in Lauren's life is funny, thought provoking and heartfelt. I look forward to reading more gf Gramazio's work.

One night, when Holly comes home from an outing with friends, a man is in her house who claims to be her husband. But the problem is, she's not married. However, she seems to be the only one who does not recall the existence of said husband. Even more strange is that when he goes up into the attic, another husband appears.

This is a light-hearted story, but it has a lot of substance and addresses plenty of serious themes. The pacing is well-done, and the story never gets redundant, despite the premise being repetitious in nature. This book perfectly captures the dilemma of having endless choices and never being able to settle on the "perfect one." It is a commentary and exaggeration of the swipe culture, where the possibility of the next one being better does not allow for ever reaching satisfaction.

This was a great read, and a perfect palette cleanser that was not too frothy.

What an absolute delight of a book. I absolutely love the idea of being able to explore different versions of your life depending on the choices that you've made. Although there were definitely moments in the book that I didn't like our main character very much (i.e. when she was stalking or stealing from her former husbands), I think that's what made this one so readable. I spent five minutes talking about it with a patron and they were so intrigued they put in on hold right away!

I was so excited to read this book because it sounded conceptually fascinating and so fun! Unfortunately I did not love the execution of the character first coming to terms with this event happening. I'm more the type of reader who enjoys being dropped in the middle of a weird event and being told the origin in flashbacks, it makes it feel more real for me. Obviously this is a user error lol and I definitely see where my subscribers [and other readers obvi] would LOVE this story, so I still highly recommend.

Lauren is very single. But when she arrives home after attending her friends hen party one night, she finds that she does, in fact, have a husband. One that is evident in the photos on her phone and around her home. One that her family and friends all recognize as her husband. When he retreats to the attic to change a lightbulb, a different husband reappears a few minutes later. This is how it goes. One husband comes down and when he's sent to the attic for one reason or another, a different husband emerges. On and on this goes. When Lauren is annoyed by something her husband does (whether large or small, significant or trivial), she tricks him into going up to the attic and waits anxiously for her new husband to appear. Sometimes the husbands stay for a couple days or longer, but some she sends back up after just a few seconds of meeting him, which makes Lauren come across as a bit shallow. This repeats (and repeats and repeats) with just a few surprises thrown in. Overall I think this was a book that never really went anywhere. While there were a few funny passages, the plot didn't hold my interest enough to rate this one very high.
There are many many high ratings and rave reviews out there, so I hope you'll try this one for yourself.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was both a refreshingly novel concept and also, an exhaustingly repetitive plot line. While I loved the exploration of partnership and marriage, there were points that I was just so ready for this time-loop-y concept to end. I’m torn on where I land with this one, but enjoyed the concept enough to keep an eye on whatever this author writes next!

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
The Husbands follows Lauren, a single woman who is coming home from a hen party when she finds a man in her house. At first, Lauren thinks the man has broken in, but she looks around and notices that her whole flat is slightly different and there are pictures of her and this man on the wall, and on her screen saver. Lauren slowly realizes that every time a husband goes up into the attic of her flat, another husband comes down. This magical attic takes Lauren on a journey that allows her to see how her life would change depending on the man she marries.

The premise of The Husbands is so intriguing! I was so interested to see where this story would take me and how it would make me think. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is interesting, funny, and easy to read. While I do not regret reading it, I do feel like this story could have been condensed into a novella or short story while still getting the general point across. While the premise of the magical attic pumping out husbands is interesting and kept me curious, I felt like this story started getting a little repetitive. The story definitely gets wilder and wilder and I liked the ending, but I don't think this book needed to be as long as it was.

I would recommend this to anyone who finds the premise interesting. The book is well written and the author definitely keeps things interesting.

e-ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found this novel highly entertaining!

Lauren comes home one night after being out with friends and finds Michael on her doorstep. He's her husband. Except she's not married. All the signs point to them being together for a while but Lauren has no recollection of any of it. When Michael goes to the attic to change a lightbulb he disappears, and another husband takes his place. Lauren suddenly has an endless supply of husbands...

It's a look at how we judge people, sometimes on first sight, a comment on what makes a marriage work and what doesn't, what makes a partner worth pursuing and what makes us want to send him back up the attic stairs. It's about making the decision to stay and work things out, and finding satisfaction in the everyday moments. A really clever, time-bending, magical-realism novel.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an insanely fun read that still felt literary in its scale. I have already recommended it to multiple people because I feel like it's a great bridge between popular and literary fiction, and when I describe the premise, people are so intrigued!

The concept is interesting. I thought the number of characters would be overwhelming but once I was so far into it, that wasn't an issue. It was better than I expected.