This is a classic horror story I've long desired to read! I was so disappointed to find that there were no good Ira Levin books on audio in existence--until now! I've listened to the new audio of A Kiss Before Dying which was excellent, and now Stepford Wives.

Stepford Wives, the classic by Ira Levin, finally has a great audiobook! It's narrated by January LaBoy and published by Blackstone Publishing and with an afterword by he wonderful Peter Straub (thank you for the #gifted audio to review via NetGalley!). Available now!

The narration is stellar and, as you may already know, it's deliciously readable. A great domestic horror for lovers of the genre but not scary so that anyone can pick it up for a thoughtful, unsettling read. January LaBoy was an excellent voice for this story! Her voice is so clear and strong and easy to listen to. She did great at the saccharine, fake housewife voice.

Another banger from Ira Levin. I didn't love it quite as much as Rosemary's Baby, but you can clearly tell that this dude could write, and was waaay ahead of his time. And the actual book is much more subtle and impressive than its pop culture residue would have you believe. (Don't even get me started on the bastardization that is the 2004 film. Now that I've read the book, I hate that movie even more.)

It's the early 1970s and our main character is Joanna Eberhart, a photographer who has just moved to a pretty little town called Stepford with her husband and two kids. At first she's loving her new community, and even makes a couple of friends, but soon it becomes clear that all the other housewives (or hausfraus as they call them) are eerily similar in very disturbing ways. They are all obsessed with cleaning their houses, never socialize with other women, and have large breasts and trim waists. They are unfailingly sweet and polite, so Joanna holds no ire for them, but she is concerned nonetheless. Her concern morphs into distress when her friends suddenly seem to change into Stepford wives as well*, and she is sure that the Men's Association (which didn't exist until six or seven years prior) are responsible for what's going on with Stepford's women (the wives of course; no one cares about the children or the elderly).

*One friend, Bobbie, is initially described as messy, with a large bottom and dirty toes, and she is infamously haphazard with her housekeeping and mothering skills, so when she changes it's a huge red flag for Joanna.

The commentary here, that men (even ones that previously professed to be okay with—even proud of—their wives' ambitions, achievements, and personhood) would rather murder their wives and replace them with robots than have to rethink their view of women as inferior beings. There is a scene in here where in hindsight Joanna's husband has clearly just found out about what will happen to his wife soon, and his reaction is truly disgusting. I wish Joanna would have burned the house down with him inside it.

I'm giving this four stars because I'm unsure how I feel about the ending and its implications. It feels very decisive and right for the 1970s, but I would be interested to see if Levin had written it today, what he could have come up with instead.

(The new audiobook, narrated by January LaVoy, with the Peter Straub afterward narrated by Grover Gardner, was a great listen, and I highly recommend it.)

A classic! This book is so good. Always has been. The audiobook is even better. Also that cover!!! The audionook was well done and well casted.

Actual Rating 3.5

I’ve been meaning to read this one for years, so imagine my excitement when I saw that an audiobook version was being released! While this wasn’t really a work of horror, it does do well at being psychological suspense. I enjoyed how well the author balanced the creepiness of the work, making things seem questionable until all the sudden it’s too late to go back. The work is fast paced and short, making it a perfect read/listen for a weekend.

Of course, as this text was originally published in 1972, some of the aspects didn’t age particularly well, but not in a way that detracts much from the text. I’d never seen either of the movies and didn’t know much about this going in, which made it an enjoyable experience.

If you haven’t read this one before or are looking to revisit it, I highly recommend checking out this audio version. My thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Stepford Wives is a classic thriller that has been referenced again and again in some of my favorite thrillers over the years. It was one of my favorite books as a kid (lol?) and I loved getting to revisit this story. January LaVoy does an excellent job bringing the story to life as always. Can’t recommend this version enough!

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank You, NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to listen to The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin.

This book actually reminded me of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix.

You meet Joanna, her husband, Walter, and their children, who have just moved to beautiful Stepford from the city.

There seems to be something amiss. A town with a men's club and no activities for women who seem to have no interests of their own. Joanna, slowly notices the women in the town behave like programmed robots who are only concerned with cooking and cleaning.

When she tries to gather women together for a club of their own, she only finds two takers and even they change after a certain period. There seems to be a conspiracy in place. Will Joanna be able to unravel and escape whatever it is that is changing the women there? That is what you find out in the book.

I enjoyed reading it because it has an unnerving edge and psychological suspense.

I would definitely recommend it.

Ira Levin, legendary novelist and playwright, published The Stepford Wives in 1972, a time when feminist ideas were at a fever pitch for many, and a frightening development for others. Women’s rights were at the forefront in a way that they had not been since the suffragists had won the right for women to vote over 50 years earlier. Now the book is re-released in audio format, at a time when the advances won during that time have been rolled back in some places, and appear to be under attack everywhere. So although I was already familiar with this book, I jumped at the chance to listen to it and promote it; I wish Levin was still alive today, because we can use men like him.

My thanks go to NetGalley and Blackstone Audio for the review copy. This book is for sale now.

Stepford, Connecticut appears to be idyllic; beautiful homes; rolling lawns; good schools. There’s no crime to speak of in Stepford, and Joanna and Walter jump at the chance to move their young family away from the city and into a lovely new home. The children make friends almost immediately, but for Joanna, it’s a little harder. All the women are stay home mothers—not unusual in 1972—but they are insular, preferring housework and beauty regimens over any outside interests, including other women. She finds two women that are friendly, and that have moved here fairly recently themselves, and she turns to them for solidarity. But then one of them begins to change, and Joanna has become suspicious. Is it something in the water? Why are Stepford women such docile, ornamental drudges?

This is a brief book, more of a novella than a novel, and that’s part of what makes it so effective. Levin uses spare prose and doesn’t let anything clutter his central message. In doing so, he creates a more spine chilling effect than a more description laden, dialogue rich novel could have done. And once you read it, you’ll never forget it.

I highly recommend this classic work of horror for women and those that care about them.

Joanna moves to the perfect little town of Stepford where nothing is as wonderful as it seems. Most of the women in Stepford are "perfect, stay-in-the-kitchen wives with big boobs and no demands". They spend their days cleaning, bleaching, ironing, scrubbing and cooking and have no interests outside the four walls of their homes. Joanna does find a couple friends who she can play tennis with, enjoy a greasy burger and fries and gripe about their husbands and the rest of the Stepford Wives with. But then even her friends start to seem off. Something isn't right.

This is the third Ira Levin book I've picked up this year and I have been absolutely blown away at how much I've loved them. First it was Rosemary's Baby, then A Kiss Before Dying and now The Stepford Wives - wow. It packed such a punch in such a short book! The end of this book was *muah* absolute chef's kiss. I loved this one from the first page to the last.

Thank you Blackstone Audio and Netgally for this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinions.

It's hard to review one of the best horror books of the 20th century. Or maybe I should just leave it at that. Ira Levin was a genius, and this book is merely a reflection of that. The narration was great as well. Listened to this in an afternoon.

This was a reread for me, although it has been quite a few years. My previous review? Simply: "I love this book, although it pisses me off something fierce."

"The Stepford Wives" was a really interesting read: I enjoyed how it build up the tension towards the end and how the atmosphere got more and more oppressive and threatening as the story went on.

I’ve wanted to read this book for quite a long time and I’m glad I was finally able to read/listen to it! I’ve never seen the movie, but I always knew the concept of the movie/book.

I love that this book is short, but I actually kind of wish it was a little longer because I feel like some of the details were a little skimmed over. The end was so abrupt, I was actually kind of confused what really happened. I had to double check to see what happened since I wasn’t fully sure what happened.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I listened to The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin and narrated by January LaBoy & Grover Gardner.

I had seen The Stepford Wives movie years ago, but I didn’t remember all the details. I just remembered that it was creepy. The narration was great and I really enjoyed listening to it. And I was surprised at the ending. I’m definitely glad I listened to this.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the Advanced Listening Copy (ALC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This book has the case of “the book was better” than the movie, but I still enjoyed the movie!

Thank you @ for this audio copy!

I honestly didn’t know about this book until I saw it on NetGalley and then realized it’s an older book with a face lift! (A lot of books are getting those lately)

I really enjoyed the audiobook! The book felt creepier than the movie did which is one of the things I liked about the book!
The cast and the way it was read was perfection!

The audiobook flowed so well and kept my attention and if I constantly didn’t have a million things going on I would have devoured it in one sitting. I’ve never read anything by this author but after this I’d be more open to others!

There were a lot of shocking moments believe it or not but no spoilers here you’ll have to read to find out! It was so good I want to listen again!

Men are the bad guys here and this was all about female power and sticking to who you are and not taking no for an answer!

It’s very short and I think the physical book has just over 100 pages but even for the books age I can tell it’s one that will live on! Definitely not what you expect from a horror thriller these days but it will definitely have you gasping!

The audio edition of this book provided a marvelous experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the narrating experience and felt that the people working on the audiobook did a brilliant job. While I had initially known about the book through its movie adaptation, I found that I preferred the book version. This iconic book has received longstanding praise, and I definitely agree with the positive reviews. To me, it felt more like a thriller than a horror story, and I particularly appreciated the complex characters and the feminist undertones embedded in the cultural references. The book's exploration of the concept of "Stepford wife" gave it a totally different meaning for me, and I found it fascinating. Furthermore, the book's portrayal of the role of women in a misogynistic culture was thought-provoking, and the satire effectively depicted this in a brilliant way.

Not sure whether this is classed as feminist literature or a domestic thriller but either way, it was really good.

To a lot of men, a Stepford wife sounds ideal. Always pretty, big bosomed, never complains, fulfils all his sexual needs, keeps an extremely clean house and waxes lyrical about ..wax. Hopefully there are more men who would prefer a woman who has brains, who they can converse with, who will challenge them.

It's an interesting read not only for the extreme nature of men and their desires but also a think piece on how women are perceived and valued in our society. Surely we are seen as more than sex slaves who keep a clean house.

This audio book is a top-notch rendition of the original book. I was very impressed with the narration, and I was immediately drawn into the story. It's as relevant now as it was when it was written.

This was such an amazing reading experience. The Stepford Wives is one of those classic stories that I’ve absorbed through pop culture osmosis without seeing any of the adaptations or reading the original text. Going into the book I knew the basic plot, the big reveal, and what themes would be present. But even with having all of that knowledge, it was still extremely fun and suspenseful to follow the story as it played out.

I’m so glad that this new audiobook version convinced me to finally read this. I was drawn in by the narrator January LaVoy, she’s one of my all-time favorites. The book goes by so quickly, but there’s so much covered without it ever feeling rushed.

Definitely give this one a read even if you feel like you already know all the twists and turns.

I forgot how good this is!! Rosemary’s Baby is my favorite movie and I’ve slowly been reading all of Levin’s novel. I read Stepford Wives many years ago and when I saw the opportunity to listen to the audiobook I jumped at the chance!

The narrator did a great job of portraying all the different women and men. Her tone was perfectly suited for the story.

The book isn’t super long and it’s told so beautifully. Sometimes it doesn’t need to be so complex. Simple writing like this makes me happy.

Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley, January LaBoy, Grover Gardner, Blackstone Publishing and the Ira Levin legacy for the opportunity to read The Stepford Wives. I have written this review voluntarily.

Absolutely stunning rendition of The Stepford Wives. The narrator was absolutely amazing. I hadn’t ever read this before and I’m very glad I waited for the audiobook because the narrator truly just brought the whole thing to life.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks and NetGalley for a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to see a new release of the audiobook version of The Stepford Wives. I've had the ebook copy for years but haven't taken the time to sit and read it. This audiobook was fast moving and caught my attention right from the start. The narrator did an excellent job in voicing all of the different character's voices and I could feel all of the emotions (hate , fear...) that she was trying to convey completely!

Excellent version of a classic with flawless narration. Unnerving story as expected, and surprisingly still holds true for today's times.