I found this a fascinating read about family relationships and divorce. I made the mistake of researching a little about the book before I started reading, and it was something of a spoiler. I recommend just reading the book and seeing how things evolve. The author did a great job bringing the characters to life, and I found them all relatable. By about the last third of the book, I found it quite suspenseful, and I flew through it trying to see how things happened. I would have liked a little more resolution at the end about the lives of the characters after the events in the book. I think this would make a great choice for book discussion groups. There would be lots to discuss!

"We Would Never" by Tova Mirvis tells the dark story of the lengths families will go to protect each other. Hailey Gelman is very close with her family, but in her opinion, they've never been too close. However, according to Jonah, Hailey's soon-to-be-ex-husband Hailey has a weird relationship with her mother. In fact, that's part of these reason they need a divorce (or so he says). In the midst of a nasty divorce Jonah turns up dead, and Hailey is thrust into the limelight as the bitter ex-wife. The Gelman's come to aide Hailey during this emotionally exhausting time, but they have secrets of their own...

Mirvis does an amazing job of painting a picturesque family and then slowly revealing the darker buts, layer by layer. This thriller is proof that you never truly know the people around you.

Thank you so much to Avid Press for the ARC!

I was immediately sold on the cover of this book. Literary suspense is my JAM and I knew this would be right up my alley!

Overall, this was definitely for me. Heavy on character development/family drama with a little bit of mystery thrown in there, but definitely leaning more towards literary fiction than anything else. I was surprised by the ending and thought the way it was wrapped up was super solid. Some parts in the middle lagged a little bit for me, but it did help give more background on the characters!

As a side note, I wouldn't recommend reading the synopsis as it gives away almost the entirety of the story.

I would recommend this book for fans of Liane Moriarty or Sally Hepworth!

I believe I heard about the case this book is loosely based on. So I was interested to read it. It centers on a woman going through a contentious divorce, and the effects it has on her dysfunctional family. The author writes about the characters as normal people, like your own family members, who are pushed to the brink mentally. This makes it much more relatable than your typical thriller type of book. I was turning the pages quickly through most of the book. I guessed the correct ending but that didn’t matter because this story was more about the relationships between the characters than a typical who-done-it.
There is one big question I still have which I won’t say because of it being a huge spoiler, but maybe there is an answer to that. I would have also liked another chapter just to give us a clue to how the future would be for the characters, because I was so invested in them at the end.
This is worth a read. It successfully touches on complex relationships among family members that many of us have experienced even if it doesn’t get as gritty and scary in our own lives. I received an advanced copy from NetGalley.

Who killed Hailey’s estranged husband? Jonah wasn’t the nicest fellow and the divorce was his idea. The longer the proceedings went on, the more demanding and unreasonable he became.

Hailey came from one of those families in which at least two people were more involved in her business than they needed to be. It wasn’t a stretch for me to imagine that one of her brothers or parents might have killed Jonah. The more I read, the surer I was that I had found the culprit. Time after time, I found out I was wrong.

Tova Mirvis has written such a suspenseful book, with so many twists and turns. The characters, the foibles, and the family situations seem real. “We Would Never” is exciting, tragic, and hard to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance reader’s copy. This is my honest review.

We Would Never by Tova Mirvis was a fascinating tale about the lengths a family will go to in order to support one another. Each character was complex and well written, with extensive details about each person’s life and individual motivation.

The book begins by setting up a murder case which is explored and slowly revealed through alternating timelines throughout the book, with a final twist at the end. Though I predicted the ending, I still felt that it was a natural ending to this complicated story.

Mirvis’s writing is engaging and well-paced, and I will definitely be reading her other work.
This book will be published February 10, 2025.

We Would Never is such a great read! I'm hooked on Tova Mirvis' writing and will definitely be on the lookout for more of their books.

Have you read the inheritance? If so, proceed with the same thread.

If not, have fun!
I liked this one. I feel like Adam could have been a bit more…..explained. But there is something to say about a family that just doesn’t get along and a mom that tries to brush it under the rug. My only complaint with this book is that there are a LOT of plot lines to follow. I think we could have done away with either the Nate and Tara mix, the Adam and the dog mix, or the Hailey being so dependent on her mother mix. The story would have still worked, the plot could have been a bit more robust, and it would have flowed a bit better, in my opinion. Solid three stars- I think non-picky people would like it and like…airport people.

I really enjoyed this book—so much so that I stayed up until 2am finishing it. I found the mystery and family drama captivating, but I wish the ending hadn’t been so abrupt.

What a great read! This is based on a true crime. How far would you go to help your child or sibling? That is the premise of this book. Good characterization and lots of angst. I enjoyed this style of writing very much, lots of different pov's and jumping from one point in time to another.
Thanks to Net Galley and the author for allowing me to read this unusual book.

I have really enjoyed Nova Mirvis's previous books so I was excited to see her new one coming out soon. What she does well is family drama!

Hailey and Jonah have been married for a number of years and during that time there has been some strain. Hailey's mother is always wanting them to come visit, but Jonah never wants to, is one of the smaller issues. Eventually the decide to get divorced which then turns into a nasty divorce-not a recommended read if this is happening to you IRL.

I was all in on the drama in this story. The mother was completely overbearing and annoying, but I think that was the point. The brother was unusually close to his mother. The father seemed a bit adrift and Hailey, she was in the thick of it. Wanting the best for everyone but mostly for her daughter.

This was mostly drama with a small mystery plot which I enjoyed. I felt like it was a lot of whining and finger pointing. Not a lot happened in the plot, aside from a dead body amongst a divorce. I liked it, but I also would've liked more plot and more character development.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for the gifted e-ARC,

Hailey’s soon-to-be-ex-husband, Jonah, dies in the midst of their bitter divorce negotiations, and while she’s not formally accused of the crime, the court of public opinion is pretty sure she did it. After all, she hated his guts. Case closed. But it’s not that simple. Over the course of this book, we learn what actually happened to Jonah . But while a murder is at the centre of its plot, this story leans more toward literary fiction than a straight-up thriller.

At the heart of this book is Hailey’s complex, sometimes overbearing family. There’s her mother, who always felt like Jonah was keeping Hailey away from her. Hailey’s workaholic father. Her brothers, who are one another’s polar opposites. And then there’s Hailey herself, a people pleaser trying to keep everyone happy as her life unravels.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s tightly paced and involves multiple timelines and POVs. Each character felt real and dynamic, and it was so interesting to watch them interact with one another.

I’d recommend this book to people who love literary thrillers like The God of the Woods, but also to fans of family dramas like Long Island Compromise. I look forward to checking out more from this author!

⭐⭐⭐
WOAH. This was my first read from Tova Mirvis, and I will say I am returning for more. This family thriller/mystery had me hooked it was the perfect combination of unanswered questions unfolding right before my very eyes. The theme that this novel had was heavy & strong: how far you would go to protect your family from harm, without turning into something unrecognizable. Throughout the novel I found myself gravitated into the story like I was a part of her family! I loved how it was told from Pov's of the family members it shows you the toxic and messy parts of their life the unfiltered truth. This case was very awakening, and it leaves you wondering. I would have liked to have seen more unravel to really grasp the realization and understanding, but without, it was still a solid 3 star read. Thank you, Net Galley, and Tova Mirvis, for the allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel, stay blessed everyone 😊🙏

We Would Never by Tova Mirvis is part family drama, part thriller. The book unfurls at a very deliberate pace, revealing key information about each character that makes you question previous assumptions. The characters are all flawed, and the book intentionally humanizes them, making their decisions all the more interesting. 

I devoured the book, but felt a little disappointed by the ending. I wanted more of a resolution than the book was willing to give. Still, I enjoyed reading this and would recommend it, especially to those who enjoy the intersection of crime and family drama.

This was a heavy read but I was invested from the beginning. The characters were beautifully flawed and overall fairly unlikeable - but not in a bad way. It was a slower paced plot with a lot of time and perspective jumping, but it gave the feeling that you were living the hell that the characters were in. Great read!

I love a good family drama, and this one did not disappoint! I was hooked from the very first page! Great story filled with drama, secrets, lies, and murder!

Told from different points of view this novel is full of family drama and a murder. There are characters to both like and hate and it is based on a true story. The story kept me engaged while reading and thinking about the events when the book was set aside. While I had not heard of this author previously, this story left me wanting to read more of their works. I found it a solid read and would recommend it.

First I would like to thank NetGalley and Tova Mirvis for the allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel .

For me this was closer to a 3.5 star read . I was incredibly intrigued when reading the description of the book but it fell just a bit short for my likes.

While I did enjoy this author’s writing style very much ,the pacing wasn’t as fast or intense as I typically gravitate towards. However, the characters were all written so well . Each character had such a real sense to them that you could find something to relate to each one in some small way . The best part of this book for me was the dive in the psyche elements of the characters as they process all of their emotions, trauma, toxic family dynamics, motivations, and moral limitations. It was also nice to see a nod at the toxicity of media sensationalism and speculation in such cases . The ending felt a bit anticlimactic for me as I had already guessed it but also a bit abrupt . Personally I was hoping for just a tiny bit more of a twist or elaboration.

Overall it’s good and I look forward to looking into the case that inspired this .

I was intrigued by the summary of this book that I was so thrilled to be provided with an advance copy courtesy of NetGalley. Unfortunately I had such high hopes for this book but they ultimately fell flat for me. It started off great but as the story went on I found the characters to be increasingly annoying and unlikable. The switching POVs from the characters can be difficult to follow at times and there were many slow moments throughout. My critique would be more editing and revisions as needed throughout the book. Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/ Simon & Schuster for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A very compelling read - especially when you realize that it was loosely based off of the true murder mystery of Dan Markel (if you want a good podcast on the case, I would highly recommend Over My Dead Body). Featuring a complicated cast of characters, it was a task for me to find empathy for anyone - especially the deceased in this case, who was an emotionally abusive man asking for a sudden divorce. Told through the soon-to-be ex-wife's past memories and sprinkled with her layered family drama, the book slowly unspools the steps that lead to her ex-husband's demise. While I'm sure the family dynamics were meant to give depth and throw in a red herring or two into the whodunit category, I sadly found these chapters to be a tad boring.

If this was a Dateline episode, Keith Morrison would be raising an all-knowing eyebrow at the ex-wife, right? Because it's always the ex-wife...right??

Many thanks to Avid Reader Press, NetGalley, and Tova Mirvis for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.