It is a fun read that is not taxing on one's mind, in a good way. Many times, I need a novel that isn't going to make me feel such strong emotions other than wanting a good time. A beach read, if you will. This fits into this troupe.

Lauren, the protagonist, goes home after a "hen party" to her house where she is greeted by "her husband." The only hitch is, she doesn't have a husband. She is naturally beyond unsure and feeling very unstable, she reaches out to Nat, her brother, and her friends to ask about her spouse. The fun begins every time the husband goes into the attic, like Dr. Who's time machine, another husband pops up. One is abusive, and I really did not like that one. Lauren tries to get her bearings and even manages to capture the blinking lights and see the furniture and colors of the wall change. After a while, I felt the turnaround wheels of husbands grew a bit too repetitive and therefore ran a bit too long.

This entertaining read provides a lighthearted and enjoyable escape. Sometimes, I crave a novel that doesn't evoke intense emotions, just a fun and relaxing experience. This book fits that bill perfectly.

The story follows Lauren, the protagonist, as she returns home from a "hen party" to her house, where she is greeted by her supposed "husband." However, there's a catch: Lauren doesn't have a husband. Feeling disoriented and uncertain, she seeks help from Nat, and her friends to unravel the mystery.

The intriguing twist comes when Lauren's "husband" enters the attic like Dr. Who's time machine, and out pops a series of different husbands. One of them is abusive, which I found particularly disturbing. Lauren tries to make sense of her situation and even manages to capture the blinking lights and observe the changing furniture and wall colors.

While the concept of revolving husbands is captivating, I felt that the repetition became a bit excessive and prolonged the story unnecessarily.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A terrific premise--I really want to see more by this author! Unfortunately, the story began losing momentum a little more than a third of the way through. The husbands were increasingly cardboard, with only superficial differences, and I began skimming. The payoff left me shrugging, but I still admire the unique premise.

Original story of a woman who comes home one night to find a man in her flat who claims he's her husband. She soon discovers that her attic is a portal that keeps churning out a new husband after each one enters the attic. As the story progresses and the husband turnover continues, out protagonist learns more about life, love, and realizing that there's no perfect someone for everyone.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of The Husbands. Because some of my students are adults, they are sometimes ready to start to transition away from YA to adult fiction. The Husbands had a premise that I thought might fit the bill for those students.

While I enjoyed the overall story very much, I think my students will find it repetitive and not quite fast-paced enough in the middle. This makes The Husbands a non-purchase for my school library; however, I do know several fellow staff members who would enjoy the book and will be recommending it to them.

There are a few quibbles I have with The Husbands:
1. I started to get lost in the middle with the sheer volume of husbands.
2. I started to get caught up in the "how" of it all instead of enjoying the story. I wish there had been a bit more resolution there.
3. I honestly don't think our protagonist grew as much as I would have liked.

Overall, it was light and fun, but I think it didn't quite live up to its potential. I enjoyed it, but I don't know that it'll hold an enduring place on bookcases.

I enjoyed this brain candy book that was both humorous and serious. I thought Lauren was a relatable main character. Would make a great summer/beach read. Reminded me of the Secret Life of Addie LaRue and The Midnight Library.

If getting a different husband was as easy as a simple household chore, would you do it? And keep doing it until a flawless man enters your life? Single Londoner Lauren comes home one evening to a man she's never met but is apparently her husband. When he goes into the attic and a different husband emerges she takes it pretty well. And just sends him back up to the attic when she tires of him. Time continues on but husbands keep changing. Laugh out loud funny, thoughtful and often ridiculous, this debut was a fun and thought provoking read. Things go a little off the rails toward the end, but if you'd gone through hundreds of husbands in a year, you'd probably go off the rails a bit too.

The Husbands is a cute story with a unique premise. It’s a quick read and would make a perfect beach/pool read! Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I love it when I’m surprised in all the best ways by a book. I thought the premise of The Husbands sounded interesting—an attic produces a seemingly infinite numbers of husbands and new lives for a women—but I wasn’t sure since I rarely read fiction with such large dollops of magical realism. This novel is nothing but fun. A crazy, convoluted premise turns out to be the perfect escape route from the crazy, convoluted world we’re living in right now.

Lauren, the protagonist and victim of a magical attic’s antics, is in for the shock of her life when she comes home to her London flat after a “hen’s party.” Michael, who she doesn’t know, greets her and she soon realizes he thinks he’s her husband. He is her husband. The reader immediately steps into an unbelievable world that the author makes totally believable—or at least believable enough to allow you to suspend disbelief.

The voice is fabulous. The ever-changing husbands are fresh and original characters. Lauren’s progression through such a fantastical journey reads true. I haven’t read anything as original and fun in a long time. I chuckled more than once, actually considered what Lauren’s experience would feel like, and looked forward to reading it every night.

I eagerly anticipate more from the talented Holly Gramazio. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance review copy.

The Husbands defies genre. It's part romcom part scifi part character study. Lauren comes home to find a stranger in her house, but the stranger claims to be her husband. Lauren doesn't even remember dating the guy, let alone marrying him. Soon Lauren discovers her attic replaces any husband that enters it. This doorway into other dimensions allows Lauren to see what her life would be like if she stuck with that awful boyfriend or married that rich older man. She continues trading and checking in with her family, friends and job, to see how the world around her has changed. Eventually, she has to make a choice, doesn't she? Can she keep this up forever? Her desperate actions at the end kept me on the edge of my seat.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was nearly impossible to put down. I look forward to more works by Holly Gramazio, Thank you NetGalley, Doubleday Books, and Holly Gramazio for the arc.

How fun! I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet and short story about a woman finding husbands in her attic. It’s cute, cheeky, and honestly kept me guessing at every page — I had no idea how her journey would end (nor did I want it to). (Thanks, Doubleday Books and NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

3.5 📚 I typically only read domestic thrillers, psychological thrillers, and some graphic novels; however, I decided to give this read a try as a “palate cleanser.” The premise of the book was so interesting, but I think in that interesting premise the characters were lost at times. I loved the idea of Lauren, a serial dater (haven’t we all either been one or known one?) arriving home one evening to a husband… only to have him disappear into the attic and out pops a different husband! It just felt a bit chaotic at times. I may give it another read later on to see if I can make heads or tails of it. I will try this author again in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley for this advance reader copy of The Husbands in exchange for a fair review which will appear on Goodreads.
Something is going on with the attic - whenever Lauren sends her husband up, down comes a different husband. The idea of this book could go horribly wrong, or it could be funny and intriguing. I found it to be a fun, palate cleansing book from historical fictions or thrillers, as the husbands are like a box of chocolates.
Early on, going through 100 husbands was like a whirlwind and I prayed that pace didn't hold. Its hard to latch on to a character when he gets a page or less. But then I quickly realized that this book is more about Lauren then the husbands.
It's not the book club book for my group (which reads historical fiction) but I really enjoyed this as a diversion. This could be recommended to patrons who are looking for the same.
3.5* which I will round to 4 for the purpose of this pre-pub.

I liked this so much I immediately texted several friends and urged them to add it to their to-read lists.

Lauren Strickland comes home from her best friend’s bachelorette party one night and makes a scary discovery: there’s a man in her apartment. But the man doesn’t threaten or hurt her. Instead he urges her to come inside, and soon Lauren learn the man’s name is Michael and he’s her husband. There’s just one problem: Lauren’s never been married. She has no memories of a wedding, never mind what the pictures in her apartment show her.

Before Lauren can figure out where Michael came from or what to do with him, he climbs into the attic to change a lightbulb that’s burned out. When her “husband” climbs back down, he’s a completely different man who believes he’s Lauren’s husband now. Suddenly Lauren realizes that her attic has turned into a magic portal: she can send the men—the husbands—who come down back into the attic and reset her entire world and personal circumstances.

At times it’s a perplexing set of circumstances, and Lauren doesn’t understand why she’s going through them. She does know, however, that before Elena’s bachelorette party, she’d been smarting from the end of her relationship with her long-term boyfriend, Amos. When Amos comes down from the attic as one of the husbands, Lauren gets a sample of what life would have been like as his wife.

As the husbands come and go and the months pass, Lauren starts to zero in on what a lifelong commitment would look like. The husbands offer their own quirks and preferences, their own experiences and views on relationships. Through every “marriage,” Lauren will have to decide whether she’ll ever want to stop one of the men from going up to the attic and become a wife for real.

Author Holly Gramazio’s debut offers readers a lot to ponder about what it means to stay with one person forever. Setting her book in her adopted city of London, she uses the sensibility of a dry British wit to great effect. Gramazio balances humor and insight, making for a book that will leave readers amused but also thinking about their own long-term commitments.

The novel doesn’t answer every question it poses, which might leave some readers a little puzzled. Also, while Lauren spends most of her time with the husbands in her apartment, she does follow a few of them on various adventures in other parts of the country (and, in one case, the world.) The adventures aren’t always as successful in execution as they might have sounded in the plotting stage. However, Lauren is a likeable protagonist and will most like induce sympathy in readers who will also find themselves wondering what they would do in her place.

I didn't know what to expect from this book but I thought the premise was fun so I had to try it. I am glad that I did! It actually went in a completely different direction than I imagined it would and I'm always pleased to be taken by surprise. I think my brain is just a bit too wired to a "House Hunters" type format so I wasn't prepared for this ride but it was very fun and entertaining ride. I highly recommend for anyone looking for a fun, contemporary adult fiction read. Thank you to Netgalley and Doubleday for an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

3.5 Stars

This story revolves around Lauren, and the seemingly endless parade of men who, one at a time, descend from her attic and appear as if conjured by magic. Fortunately, at least for her, she is able to ‘return’ them by sending them back up to the attic on some mission to find something. But once one has been ‘returned’ another follows shortly after, and with each new husband, it seems her home is magically redecorated, as well, and not always in a way that pleases her.

Her friends and family seem to not react as each new husband descends from the attic, as though they are always her first and only husband, the former one having magically been forgotten.

Each new husband stays until she requests they go up to the attic for something that she creates a reason for, but only so they will disappear once they are there, at least from her life, as well as apparently from her family and friends memories.

There are so many husbands, over 200, in this novel, and none of them stay for very long, but since they aren’t really there for long, they are never memorable, and thus the story felt very repetitive after a while, even though each man was different, in some ways, from another.

While I felt that this was very different from any other novel that I’ve read, the repetitive nature of the story took away from some of my enjoyment of this story, but I’d be interested in what she writes next, as I did appreciate how different this story was from anything else I’ve read.



Pub Date: 02 Apr 2024


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Doubleday Books, Doubleday

wow what an interesting book and a different guy comes out of the attic. this book was okay and I really didn't like of of the husband's per say. they felt very cardboard.

Lauren goes out with her best friend for her "hen do" and comes home to her husband. But she didn't HAVE a husband before she left. And here he is, coming down the attic stairs, acting like he's always been there. When he goes back up, and comes down a different person entirely, Lauren's home and life change around her in a blink. In a matter of minutes, she trades one husband after another until she finds one that might work for her. But there's always something that makes her want to trade in for a new husband. One chews too loudly. One is an evil millionaire. One is a cocaine addict. But where do you stop when you have easy access to change your life in an instant?

I could not put this book down. The crazy antics that happen as she's switching are fun and funny. Once she was into a marriage for more than a few sentences' worth of her time, I couldn't wait to see what she would find wrong with the new guy. Near the end, when this burden of constant new husbands was weighing on her, she clearly started losing it, and her lives with the husband turned worse and worse, and I couldn't help feeling for her, though some of the lengths she went to... Geez. The ending was so good, and I loved the way she resolved the whole situation.

I'm leaving out a major spoiler, because I don't want to spoil, but suffice to say, I appreciate Bohai and his purpose. A lot.

This book was so much fun. I look forward to recommending it to the patrons at my library. What a ride.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

The Husbands by Holly Garamazio was witty and heartfelt look at life and all the choices and possibilities we are faced with daily. I thought it was a great debut novel. The Husbands was funny, and thought provoking. It had me captivated and chuckling the whole way through. Lauren’s dilemma made me contemplate my marriage and life in all its phases. If my younger self was just plunked here out of nowhere, would I be happy? I chose this book because it was featured on Anne Bogel’s list of 2024 spring releases.
Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of this book..

I was so intrigued by the premise of this story. It is unique and charming.

The book is paced perfectly. It pulls you straight in and keeps you turning pages throughout.

I loved the humor and crazy differences between characters in each “world”.