This debut novel’s bananas premise makes for a humorous read with themes of choice, relationships, and self-love. Lauren returns home from a hen (bachelorette) party to find her husband waiting at home in her flat. Thing is, she’s not married, and she’s never seen this guy before. Turns out, Lauren has a surreal problem. As soon as she sends Husband No. 1 back into the attic, a new hubby descends. “My weird attic is magic,” she says. “It’s been creating a whole bunch of husbands, and I don’t know what to do.” The novel brings us along on Lauren’s process of figuring out what she can control and what she can’t, who and what she gets to choose for herself. The ending had me scratching my head, but I enjoyed arriving there.

[Thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

—— Review

Thank you for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

The cover really pulled me in and then to be told it was a story about a magical attic that produces endless husbands! I am such such a sucker for these magical realism stories. I really went in thinking this would take a “love the one your with” trope and was intrigued that it felt quite unique the first half of the book!
Lauren, who has never been married, comes home to discover her attic is producing endless amounts of husbands. It was quite comical and I really liked the main characters stream of consciousness that reminded me a bit of lit-fic.
The last 1/2 of the book kinda slowed and dragged testing out a million men and I lost my interest and the ability to keep names straight reading the physical copy (so I’m not sure I would recommend audio). The side characters felt so distant and flat. It felt rather anticlimactic with an abrupt ending that I liked the moral of, but could have been fleshed out more.
Not for me, really seeing a lot of mixed reviews on this one! If you read and posted a review, comment below I really want to read and share!


Ps) I am a star rater. I don’t tag authors. Stars are half its a good book half vibes. I think booksta community really need to chill on making them more than they really are with everyone’s philosophical takes on them. Most of book sales are predicted before even published & sales don’t represent “good books” always.

2⭐️

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio is an entertaining story about choice and relationships.

When I first read the synopsis for The Husbands by Holly Gramazio—a story about a woman, a magical attic and an endless supply of husbands—I thought it sounded charming and fun. And it is! But like many of these kind of time loop type stories, it gets a little repetitive at times. However, overall I did quite enjoy it.

This is a fun and entertaining read. It doesn’t ponder as much about oneself like others in the genre. It also leans much into humor, and never really takes itself or the scenario too seriously.

If you’re looking for a cute and easy read, this is a good choice.

Lauren returns home after a night out to find a man in her apartment claiming to be her husband but Lauren is single and has never met this man in her life. When he crawls up into the attic and a different husband climbs down, Lauren discovers that her attic produces an infinite supply of husbands. By the halfway mark of the book, Lauren has gone through over 100 different husbands. I was drawn in by the unique premise and stayed for the laughs. I found Lauren’s experience highly entertaining and it had me thinking about which flaws I’d be willing to tolerate in a partner. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this one and thought Gramazio stuck the landing with the ending.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @Doubleday for the ARC. The Husbands was such an interesting book. Imagine having a new husband every day. Don't like how he snores, send him back. Sounds Ideal, but what if out of 200 husbands non are a match? Lauren has to decide which reality is the best fit. Towards the middle of the book, the story starts to drag a bit and become repetitive. It picks up till the ending but not sure if Lauren truly gets her happy ending.

THIS. BOOK. WAS. SO. STRESSFUL. I loved it.

I wasn’t sure where it was going or how I needed to end, but damnit I was so relieved that it ended the way it did!

I will come back and hopefully have something a little more eloquent to say, but for now, I am impressed at how much this book pulled me in. It wasn’t a rom-com exactly, not a thriller exactly. Just a really good, weird story that had a lot more meat to it than what the premise would lead you to believe. The MC’s plight had me in tears more than once.

Many stars. All the stars!

This is a unique plot and would make a great rom-com movie. The story is filled with humor, and it is an entertaining and light read. The revolving and endless supply of husbands isn’t as farfetched as it may seem when compared to reality dating shows and dating apps. The story makes the reader rethink past relationships and how every decision in life can lead to a different life led. As a reader, it would have been nice to see less husbands and maybe go into more depth with husbands Lauren really enjoyed. Lauren went through so many husbands so quickly, it was a shame she did not give each of them more of a chance. It is unclear if Lauren really learned anything as the book ended abruptly almost as if Lauren had had enough and just planned to stick with who she had. Overall, quirky and a fun read if you enjoy magical realism in a romantic comedy setting. (3.5/5)

This premise is one I'll be thinking about for a long time. I've noticed books like this can quickly fall into a Groundhog's Day sort of feeling, a repetitive, mundane drudgery. I would start feeling that with this book, but then something would change it up which I really appreciated. I will say that this book felt long. No idea if it was or not, I mostly listened. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it--I did. But maybe because I heard it hyped everywhere I expected more. It was still very clever and interesting. I do wish we would have had more of a build up to the resolution. I felt like it was 99% the dilemma and 1% resolution.

The first part of the book was intriguing, but it really slowed down as it played out. Lauren returns from a drunk night out with friends to find a man descending the ladder from her attic. The man is her husband, who she has never met before. She realizes that when he returns to the attic, a new husband will appear. The concept was unique and funny, but as there were hundreds of husbands, Lauren appears superficial and annoying. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend.

When Lauren returns to her flat after attending her friend, Elena’s hen do, she is shocked to find a man waiting for her and saying he is her husband, Michael. But she doesn’t know him and she doesn’t recognize her furniture. She also knows that she’s not married. However, he knows her and when she looks at her phone, there’s even a picture of both of them together. Lauren is shocked and tries to make sense of all this. Yes, she had had too much to drink when out with Elena, but this is more than a hangover.

The next day, Holly takes a walk trying to sort this out and receives a call from Michael asking her to pickup a light bulb as the one in the attic has gone out. Back in her flat, Michael takes the lightbulb up to the attic to change it out. There is a flash and down the ladder comes another man. Again, Holly doesn’t know what to think as she tries to find out if she has a magical attic. Sending the second husband up into the attic, down comes yet another man. This scenario repeats itself over and over. Some of the husbands are repulsive and one or two are appealing.

OMG! This is by far the most ridiculous and irritating book I have ever read. The meaning of it is nuts. Please don’t write another book like this. You will do nothing but bore your readers.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, which focuses on a woman who has husbands (and alternate accompanying lives) climbing out of her attic. I’m a fan of books that include time loops and alternate lives (Oona Out of Order comes to mind) and I thought the author did this one well. As with all time loop books, yes, it can get a bit repetitive at times, but there were enough plot twists and unexpected scenarios to keep me entertained. The premise was funny and unique, and the execution lived up to my expectations. I thought the constant cycling through and exchanging of husbands that the main character was able to do made an interesting (slightly alarming) satire of online dating and shows like The Bachelor, where people aren’t even seen or treated as fully human but instead are reduced to a quippy profile, a handful of pics, or a convenient tv persona. The book asks, how can you make a choice when you have major choice overload? How can you settle down when there might always be something better right around the corner (or just a ladder climb away?). It really was just an outlandish, over the top way of depicting something that’s actually all too relevant, and that was part of what really made it stand out for me

It was such a strange story, but I was transfixed. What if you could try on "Husbands" like you try on clothes to see if they fit. Would you give it a go? Everything is different yet the same, would you be intrigued. It's definitely a unique story with ever changing dynamics. How can you choose one life if you have so many options available to you. The ending was unexpected, but I'm not sure there could have been any other way to end the story other than the forever smorgasbord of husbands. It was enjoyable.

Single gal Lauren arrives home from a Hen Party for her friend to fine a man climbing down from her attic. Not just any man but her husband. This comes as quite a shock but after several, it’s old hat. She just send them right back up and another comes down on his place. Her world turns upside down every time but some things remain the same. Sometimes. It’s a confusing plot but you catch on after a while. Just like our MC. I expected a little more oomph to the ending but I did get the moral of the story. Took a minute, but it got there.

Absolutely hilarious. I will be posting a full review on my blog and here by the end of next week 4/12

I love a book that goes out of the box, and this book definitely fits that description. This is a fun, fast-paced read that will keep you interested the entire time. I wouldn’t say this is a book that will change or life or absolutely blow you away, but it is definitely an entertaining read. The concept is original, fun, and funny, but I couldn’t really connect much with the characters or the book as a whole. I’d recommend for a light, fun read as a palette cleanser!

Thank you Doubleday and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I had to DNF this one around the 50% mark. It was too damn repetitive and felt like we were going in circles. I wanted to hang out to see if she actually held on to a husband but I just couldn’t do it anymore. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was so much FUN! If you want a read that you can't put down, grab this one. You will be hooked as Lauren realizes she is married, but her husband "changes" if he is sent up to get something from her attic. Grumpy husband? No problem, up to the office. Boring husband? No worries, a new one can easily be brought down. She ends up starting to like a few-once they are gone, and starts to play with the concept to see if you she can get them back. Clever and fresh and fun!

First, the idea of this book is wholly original. It was a book with incredible promise, but I don't think it quite lived up to it. I really enjoyed the main character and I enjoyed the list-iness of getting to know each of the various husbands (at least in broad strokes). But I found the protagonist's action occasionally bewildering. (Seriously, you're going to go out to a country location with a husband who vaguely creeps you out, even knowing there's going to have to be a whole contrived plan to make him go away?) Kind of a mixed bag, but I rated it highly because I think it's worth the experience of reading, even if the reader doesn't love every part.

I've been slowly venturing into magical realism books more and more for the past year. When I saw the description of "The Husbands" by Holly Gramazio on NetGalley I knew I had to read it. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

This books is about exactly what is sounds like a bunch of husbands, over 200 if you're wondering! Our main character Lauren comes home from her friends hen-do to find a strange man climbing down from her attic. This man seems to think he is her husband and after some research it turns out he is. In fact she can't remember any of their history, but her friends and family seem to know it all. When she figures out climbing into the attic triggers a new husband, that's when the adventure begins.

I had a lot of hope for this book, but sadly this was a miss for me. There was simply too many husbands! There was no character development. I wish the ending happened early and we could have spent some time in that. The biggest development doesn't happen till 50% into the book, but it had be hooked and then all of a sudden it was back to a never-ending list of husbands who didn't matter. It was a fun read, but just not executed well.

This was a cute story. I liked the author's style, and it was funny. Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read the ARC.
I would recommend.