This story of how far a family will go is quietly compelling and does an excellent job communicating all the moments between the first break and the point of no return. The connections between the characters are paramount, and its intriguing to read the history of their relationships and how each person interprets them differently.

Book Review: We Would Never by Tova Mirvis

“How far would you go to protect the ones you love?”

Tova Mirvis delivers a gripping family drama wrapped in a suspenseful mystery. When Hailey Gelman’s estranged husband, Jonah, is found dead, she becomes the prime suspect. But this isn’t just her story—it’s about the entire Marcus family and the secrets they keep. As the past unravels, we’re left questioning: What would we do in their place?

💖 What I Loved:

• Complex family dynamics that felt so real: Every relationship in this book—between parents, siblings, and spouses—was layered with love, tension, and unspoken truths. It felt like stepping into a real family, flaws and all.

• A morally gray story that makes you think: No one in this book is purely good or bad, which made it even more compelling. It really makes you question what you would do in their situation.

• The slow burn: I loved how the story slowly unraveled through different moments in time, adding depth and suspense. Each reveal made me rethink what I thought I knew about these characters.

💭 What Could Have Been Better:

• The jumps in time & the multiple POVs were confusing at times. The story constantly shifted between past and present, and with multiple perspectives in the mix, I sometimes had to stop and figure out where (and when) I was in the story. It took a while to adjust, and I found myself flipping back to earlier chapters to keep track.

💡 Inspired by a true story, this novel dives deep into loyalty, love, and the weight of choices. If you love character-driven thrillers with moral dilemmas, this one’s for you!

🏡 Would you risk everything for family? Let’s discuss in the comments! ⬇️

Thank you @simonandschuster , @avidreaderpress and @netgalley for this ARC

Inspired by an actual crime, We Would Never by Tova Mirvis explores a dysfunctional family as the only daughter goes through a contentious divorce. How far will they go to support her?

This is the first novel I’ve read by this author, and the writing style was ‘unique.’ At times it felt like a script for a true crime documentary which made it hard for me to connect with the story - yet I had to finish to get the full explanation of events. I appreciate the author’s ability to create nuance around events that are shockingly wrong.

I should’ve anticipated the ending but didn’t. I like some ambiguous threads at the conclusion of books, but this plot just stopped abruptly.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press for sharing review copies of this novel.

Thank you to Net Galley, the author and Simon and Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The description sounded right up my alley - a family drama, mystery, ripped from the headlines story. Ultimately I found that a lot of the story dragged and I found myself wanting to skim to reach the end. So much was left unexplored while so the same plot points were discussed ad nauseum.

Oh my goodness, so good! "We Would Never" by Tova Mirvis was an excellent, interesting novel about a family, its complex dynamics, dysfunction and the trickle affect. Relatable characters, with very big twists. I loved it! Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

I thought the characters were not realistic. The author seemed to feel it necessary to stereotype everyone especially the mother, Sherry. I think the anger one could feel toward an ex during an ugly divorce is interesting to consider, but the storyline was over the top. I was curious to get to the end to find out what happened but overall I did not find the book to my liking.

I just cannot get into this book. I am 25% of the way through and it is so boring to me. I was so excited to read it, knowing it was based on a true story, or loosely based. But this book started way too slow and I couldn't get into it. I didn't like the characters or really anything about them. This was my first book that I did not finish.

This was a decent literary mystery/family drama (of a very dysfunctional family). I enjoyed having it in both audio and kindle. I do think this would be a good beach read. I can't exactly put my finger on why, but it wasn't exactly what I needed it to be.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avid Reader Press and Simon & Schuster for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Good staring suspense start that keeps you hungry for more. The characters tended to be wordy and more dramatic than I care for. This felt more like a family drama beach read rather than a mystery suspense.

The hanks Net Galley for the advance copy!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avid Reader Press and Simon & Schuster for gifting me a review copy of We Would Never by Tova Mirvis. In exchange I offer my honest opinion.
I was excited to read an early review copy of Tova Mirvis’s latest family drama, We Would Never. The blurb seemed like the type of juicy story, I often enjoy reading, especially seeing it was based off a true story.
They are the perfect family. Successful and happy by all appearances, but the Gelman Family are keeping secrets. And they will go to any length to protect and defend Hailey, the middle child, beloved by her two brothers and over protected parents, when she comes under suspicion for the murder of her estranged husband. While the plot was intriguing, I found the writing lacked sophistication and substance. The book was heavy on dialogue with little creative showing. Fine and entertaining, a quick read but not a story that will stand out.

This is marketed as a thriller, and you'll be disappointed if that's what you're expecting. This book the story of a dysfunctional family. It's also the story of an acrimonious divorce and how far that anger can push people. There's also a murder. The tension runs throughout, but at times it seemed a little too long.

This is a genre-blending story full of deception, family drama, and murder. Once I learned it is based on a true story, I was even more intrigued! The narrator does a great job amplifying the cornucopia of emotions throughout the story which made this one so easy to binge!

Hailey’s ex-husband is murdered and she’s immediately under suspicion. Most of the story takes a deep dive into each member of Hailey’s family and their relationships with each other and her ex-husband. Everyone is sus and I was surprised with the ending. I’m never great at figuring out whodunnit but I was definitely surprised with this one!

In writing “We Would Never”, Tova Mirvis has manufactured a basic whodunit to a rabid husband bent on a vengeful divorce.
Hailey and Jonah Gelman live in upstate New York with their daughter, Maya, where Jonah is a professor at SUNY Binghamton. As the divorce proceedings get messier and Jonah becomes more manipulative and demanding, Hailey’s mother, Sherry Marcus, pleads with her to move to West Palm in Florida to be with her and her husband, Sol.
Hailey has two brothers, Nate, who is in a medical practice with her dad and the other, Adam, who lives in Maine. She goes from one to the other seeking advice and Jonah winds up dead.
Everyone suspects the family and the medical office admin, Tara, since she’s dating Nate while trying to reconnect with the father of her young son. She seems to be a character drawn as a Hailey clone.
While it must be acknowledged that Sherry is cast as an overbearing mom, I thought she deserved some sympathy for living the tongue-in-cheek adage of “not losing a daughter but gaining a son” when her daughter married. Not enough recognition is given to the dilemma a primary family can find itself in when children marry, leaving the nest with some finality, and move far away.
As for Solomon, being silent regarding Hailey’s decision to marry Jonah is a choice he grows to regret.
An interesting dilemma.
Thank you NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for publishing another excellent Tova Mirvis book.

A great page-turner - Hailey Gelman's soon-to-be ex-husband is murdered, and she becomes the most likely suspect as it's widely known that the divorce process has been messy and contentious. Would be a great summer beach read!

If you love a gripping family drama with a touch of true crime, We Would Never is a must-read.

Hailey is blindsided when her husband, Jonah, announces he wants a divorce. Their marriage has been strained, but she never realized he was this unhappy. Now, with their four-year-old daughter, Maya, caught in the middle, Hailey is forced to navigate an increasingly contentious separation. Having reluctantly moved to upstate New York three years ago, she feels even more isolated from her close-knit family in Florida. As the divorce drags on, tensions rise, and what begins as a domestic dispute escalates into something far more sinister—showing how even ordinary people can become entangled in dark and unexpected circumstances.

Mirvis masterfully explores the complexities of family dynamics, not just through Hailey’s perspective but also through the eyes of her parents and brother. The character development is exceptional, making the novel deeply immersive. I found myself thinking about these characters even when I wasn’t reading, fully invested in their struggles and emotions. We Would Never doesn’t just tell a story—it makes you question just how far you’d go for the people you love.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. I absolutely loved it!

Thank you Avid Reader Press for the advanced readers copies. This released just last week and was inspired by a true story.

For all you true crime fanatics, though this is a fictionalized interpretation, you might like this. It is a slower pace, family drama and the beginning takes a bit to get going. Sherry annoyed me (definitely an over-involved helicopter mom, even if meant with the best intentions, yet wow, she could be so obsessive and intrusive), but ultimately every character has their anxiety, their insecurity, about something. For Sherry it’s losing control and those she loves; for Nate it’s the need of approval from his father and his loyalty to his family; for Sol it’s losing purpose and the ability to take care of his family; etc. You can understand where the characters come from yet some of it feels overdone, over the top, exaggerated. And from my standpoint, Sherry’s desire for a close-knit family goes beyond healthy boundaries, and that makes things messy, as this story warns.

What I found confusing, and maybe the official release isn’t like this, but in the ARC there isn’t a clear timeline. Here and there it’ll say “Maine, 2019” from Hailey’s POV but the majority of the rest of the POVs, even a few from her too, are set at some undisclosed time in the past. We are told roughly how long after Jonah has died when these 2019 moments occur but the past timelines aren’t clear. That to me made the flow a little harder to follow because you’re jumping around without knowing when exactly you are. Also, only Hailey in 2019 is told in first person, so that shift in narrative with the other POVs would occasionally throw me off too. In looking at the physical ARC I received the font is different with Hailey’s current POV than everyone else’s so if you opt not to do a digital or audio copy it may be easier to distinguish this. As the story starts to wrap up it suddenly ends and that annoyed me. The story felt long already and I was annoyed with every character throughout but it would've been nice if the ending wasn't so chopped off.

Content includes a messy divorce, a murder (off-page), and minor profanity. Maybe because I have my own legal matters going on (completely different scenarios but stressful and overwhelming all the same), but any time these elements were brought up, I got anxious. I felt the weight and scrutiny that Hailey was put under; how the other party will try everything to manipulate and distort who you are: character, motives, etc. Reading these made it hard for me to get through because it can be a form of trauma for the person/s involved. Because this is written in-depth, for anyone who has experienced something of this nature, it may bring up some unpleasant feelings.

I was extremely intrigued by this obviously ripped-from-the-headlines story.

Maybe it was my familiarity with the actual true crime case that obviously inspired it, but I felt this fictionalized version of the story left SO much left unexplored.

It should have been a story of obsessive love, betrayal, and family dysfunction, and how all this ended up in such a shocking manner.

But it ended up seeming like a bland family feud that inexplicably ended tragically. Maybe the literary style worked against it, but I feel like a book like The Paper Palace managed to balance literary writing with deeply disturbing things and family dysfunction.

This is the first book I have read by this is author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a suspenseful read about a dysfunctional family taking extremes measures to supposedly help a family member. I appreciated the way the author touched on each of the family members and their perspective on the situation at hand. The author threw in a twist at the end which surprised me. A good read with family drama, suspense and a surprise ending.

I was excited to read the book, We Would Never, by Tova Mirvis, but while reading it turned out to be a completely different story.

The book is labeled as being in the thriller genre, but it seemed to almost be more of a contemporary drama with lots of chaotic family dynamics. At first I was really intrigued with the premise of the story with the main character finding herself in a bitter divorce and attempting to decipher what happened for her to get to this part, how she was going to handle her daughter’s anguish, and then a crime is committed relinquishing these issues but creating a whole new set of issues.

Overall, the story was incredibly interesting and has me hooked attempting to discover the intricacies of what really happened, however it focused on the family members of the main character more than I would have liked. I teetered between finding a few of them relatable, but ended up finding that I really disliked them and did not find a lot of their actions redeemable, which might be the exact point the author was attempting to make. I also hoped the ending would wrap things up a bit more and provide more detail, but found it to be lacking. I’m still glad I read it as it was an overall enjoyable read.

This is not the book I was expecting, but it sure was a great read.

Hailey Gelman has a family who loves her and would do anything for her. So when her ex-husband, who she is in a contentious divorce and custody battle with, is murdered, both Hailey and her family members come under scrutiny. Just how far would they go for Hailey and her daughter Maya?

Positives:
Well paced and told from multiple povs
Family crime drama
Excellent character development
Some surprised and twists that added to the overall plot

Negatives:
Not really a negative but I wasn;t expecting the emotional aspect of the novel and characters. I am still thinking about them and some of their choices, and you feel for them. I was expecting more of a thriller. I think, overall, that development added to the book and made it even better.