The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey was a fast-paced domestic thriller, but the plot fell flat for me. The build-up to the major events took forever, and then once a lot of action happened, the ending felt rushed.

I guessed much of the plot early on, although there were a few surprises I didn’t see coming. Despite the twists, I just never felt invested enough in any of the characters.

The writing about the relationships, especially the queer ones, also felt off to me. It’s like the author was trying to have diverse representation, but the way those characters were talked about by other characters was really unkind. I know it’s one of those writing things that I’m sure was meant to portray authenticity, and it wasn’t overtly terrible, but it didn’t sit quite right with me.

I’m giving this 3 stars since the juicy drama and reality TV setting kept the pace up, but overall it wasn’t a win for me.

Special thanks to the author & @simonandschuster for my gifted copy‼️

A murder mystery set against the backdrop of a reality TV show “The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey” was a mix between Real Housewives and Growing Up Gotti. With any reality show you know you’re gonna get some drama. But Garden State Goddesses were filled with wealthy backstabbing wannabes who would stop at nothing to take your spot or take you out whichever comes first. With this one we get a lot of dark humor, shady banter, unexpected twists, and secret relationships. There were quite a few characters to keep up with but one who stood out most was Carmela. That woman was complete hell and she did not let up on Hope.

Would I recommend yes and no lol the book was okay but could’ve been better. It has a slow build but once bodies start dropping you’re pulled in. If anything this was entertaining but nothing I would want to read again.

Rating: 3.25/5⭐️

As a lover of all things Bravo, and all things murder mystery, I really wanted to love this. It so many elements I should've loved, like campy characters, dramatic table flips and truly funny yet realistic reality TV moments. However, the pacing totally threw this off. From the start, we know someone will end up dead, but after the opening we spend around 50% of the novel doing character work and learning about the behind the scenes of reality TV. We don't really get any mystery until later on, and from there, everything moves way too fast. So much action is packed into a few short chapters that I got whiplash reading them. Also, I found myself not buying into some character arcs. To me, Eden's journey was not satisfying, and I needed to learn more about her in the first half to root for her in the second. Renee was likable enough, but Valerie really shined, and truly felt like a real housewife.

Still, I had some fun with this. It's clear the author has an appreciation for the franchise and those who make it. There are some great funny moments, and some reveals that are gasp worthy. There is so much potential here, it just missed the mark.

I had a hard time with this one, and I’m unsure if it’s because I’m unfamiliar with this genre or what. It just didn’t click for me. The story could’ve been much more exciting,

My taste in reality TV is more Golden Bachelor and Selling Sunset than shows where women scream at each other and scratch with their fake nails. But when I see clips of some Real Housewives or restaurant servers going at it, I always wonder, when will one of these women snap and kill someone? Apparently author Astrid Dahl thought the same thing, as that’s the concept of her second book, The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey. And even if you don’t know the difference between Bravo and E, you’re going to love it.

Producer Eden Bennett has a killer idea for her reality show Garden State Goddesses – cast her naïve cousin Hope, who just married Leo, brother-in-law of the show’s star. Hope, the product of a Northern California Bible-thumping family, will be the perfect foil for Carmela, the long-nailed, hot-tempered, proud Italian married to Leo’s brother Dino, a rumored member of the Mafia.

But no one told Hope she was cannon-fodder, and she hates it when Carmela attacks her for no reason. At least the other women in the show are nicer: There’s rich drunk Birdie; bisexual Renee whose teen daughter wants to be the next Ariana Grande; and Leo’s sister Valerie. As the show takes its toll on Hope, it wears away at her marriage to Leo. But even Leo doesn’t know about the secrets Hope is hiding from her past. Will Carmela be the one to dig them up? And what happens when she does?

Wives begins with a lengthy cast list, a warning that the reader is going to have trouble keeping track of all those characters. I was confused at first, and since the book starts with a prologue from the middle, it took me a while to settle in about who was who. There are a lot of ancillary characters as well, such as Birdie’s son and Renee’s daughter.

While the tone is a little uneven, swerving from intrigue to farce, the structure matches the season of a reality show, from those fake girl trips to the on-camera confessionals. With such a sprawling cast list, Dahl does justice to the three point-of-view characters, giving depth to Eden, Hope, and Renee. Eden reminded me a lot of Rachel from the Unreal TV show that ran on Lifetime ten years ago. Beyond the reality TV genre, Eden is a stand-in for anyone who has had to compromise relationships and even personal integrity to move ahead in their dream careers.

The pacing is a little slow in the beginning, but Dahl hits her stride midway, and the deaths come fast and furious (and sometimes funny). The ending wraps up everything nicely while dangling enough loose threads for a sequel.

Reality TV fans should definitely add The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey to their TBR pile. Dahl is a talented-enough writer that Really Dead could spawn its own franchise, too.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for this egalley. I had this book sitting on my TBR for a while, but I really wanted to have the audiobook because the concept sounded like such a fun ride. As someone who loves reality TV, especially the behind-the-scenes of how these shows operate, I was excited to see how the book would play with those ideas. One of my favorite TV shows is UnREAL, which gives a dark and messy look into the making of reality dating shows, so I was hoping this would offer a similar kind of insight and over-the-top drama. But I think my expectations were too high.

This book definitely has secrets, scandals, and mess, but it struggles to commit to a specific tone. It wants to be satire, comedy, mystery, and thriller all at once, but because it never prioritizes one of these elements, everything about it feels uneven. Some readers have compared the experience of reading it to watching reality TV, but for me, it felt more like having an episode of your least favorite show playing in the background—where it’s there, but you’re not really tuned in.

The book starts by introducing us to each of the characters and gives us their "confessionals," but the confessionals feel flat, like they’re revealing nothing of substance. And honestly, one of the biggest flaws of the book is that the confessionals themselves contain spoilers. Early on, certain things are said that immediately made me realize how the book would unfold, so there wasn’t much mystery left. The first half of the book is focused on building relationships and sprinkling in little hints of drama, but it tells on itself too often, removing any real suspense.

The pacing is another major issue. We don’t even get the first death—something that should be the catalyst for the mystery—until over 50% into the book. That’s way too late. If the author had introduced this death earlier and structured the book around it instead of spending so much time on mundane daily events, the story could have been much stronger. Instead, it drags, giving us unnecessary filler before anything truly happens.

At the core of the story, we’re following two cousins, Eden and Hope, who have escaped a difficult upbringing and are trying to start fresh. But even their character arcs feel off. Hope, who supposedly wants to keep a low profile because of something in her past, decides to go on reality television of all things. That makes no sense. If she were really trying to stay hidden, a show where she’d be constantly filmed and scrutinized would be the last place she’d go. It would have made more sense if Eden had been the one with the secret past since she works behind the scenes and wouldn’t get screen time.

The book also leans into certain Real Housewives and Mob Wives tropes, which could have been fun, but it never pushes them far enough. If you’re someone who follows Real Housewives drama religiously, you might appreciate some of the references, but for me, it just wasn’t messy enough. There’s no over-the-top drama, no iconic fights, no real chaos—it’s just there. The characters are all surface-level, which could have worked if the book played into the idea that reality TV is full of shallow personalities, but even in the "off-camera" moments, the characters have no real depth.

This is where the book’s lack of commitment really hurts it. It tries to balance humor, mystery, and satire, but because it holds back instead of fully embracing the absurdity of its premise, it ends up feeling tame. It needed to be bigger, messier, and campier. I wanted to see huge fights, ridiculous betrayals, jaw-dropping twists—but instead, everything felt underwhelming.

Spoilers
A lot of things were painfully obvious early on. Pierre being the mastermind behind everything? Called it. Even when I briefly doubted it, I thought the maid might be involved because of all the hints about her muttering under her breath and hating her job. When Pierre wasn’t the first to die, it became even clearer that he had to be the culprit.

Hope’s death should have been shocking, but the way Eden reacts to it is completely off. The author tries to make it seem like Eden suddenly cares about her cousin’s death, but it contradicts how she was portrayed for most of the book. It would have made more sense if she had remained ruthless, treating Hope’s death as an inconvenience instead of suddenly growing a conscience.

Leo, Hope’s fiancé, was another disappointment. His casual approach to saying, "Oh yeah, I know you’re having an affair with Renee, but whatever, I’m sleeping with someone else too," felt forced. And when it’s revealed that he and Carmela were hooking up, it wasn’t a surprise at all. The book spends so much time telling us that they have weird, tense interactions that it becomes obvious what’s happening before we’re supposed to figure it out. The way everything was revealed felt anticlimactic because of how much it was foreshadowed without subtlety.

The "everyone’s being poisoned" plot twist was also a letdown. The murders could have been more creative, especially given the reality TV setting. The book had the perfect setup for some Final Destination-style deaths—dramatic, ridiculous, over-the-top—but instead, we got boring poisonings. Such a wasted opportunity.

And then there’s Hope’s big secret—her ex-girlfriend killed her parents. That should have been a jaw-dropping moment, but it’s written in such a casual way that it barely registers. When the ex gets arrested, it’s like, "Oh, okay. Let’s move on." Same with Pierre. Once he’s caught trying to flee the country, it’s a shrug moment instead of a climax. The whole book builds up these reveals only to deliver them in the least exciting way possible.

Even after all that, the book still drags on. A whole year passes, and suddenly Eden is dating Renee—the same woman Hope had an affair with and clearly had feelings for? Make it make sense. The book spends too much time wrapping things up when it should have ended much earlier. Instead of a strong, dramatic conclusion, we’re left with a whimper.

Final Thoughts
This book had so much potential, but it played it too safe. It needed to go all in on the mess and drama instead of holding back. The premise was perfect for a juicy, over-the-top mystery, but instead, we got a slow-moving, lukewarm story that never fully commits to any of its ideas. If you want a cozy mystery with a little bit of sass, maybe you’ll enjoy this. But if you’re looking for a Real Housewives-style scandal-filled thriller, this will probably disappoint you. It just wasn’t fun enough for me, and honestly, I hope there isn’t a sequel—because I won’t be reading it.

I loved Perfume and Pain and felt like i was missing a punchline. Maybe the critique would have been better had i not also been a lesbian on the outside of reality TV, but no amount of satire made it feel either mysterious or satirical.

LOVED THIS. This author is becoming an auto read/auto buy for me! She just has this really great LOL style of writing, and has niche lesbian things throw into her books. 10/10

I love stories that feel like they have a ring of truth, and I imagine there is at least a little bit of that in this portrayal of “reality” shows. These folks were certifiable, and there were sooooo many secrets. I loved the interviews, as we learned about what was really going on behind the camera. It was a good, quick read.

This book skewers reality TV with razor-sharp wit, turning the absurdity up so high it’s almost too real. Every twist is both hilarious and horrifying, making you laugh while secretly wondering if we’re all just one bad ratings stunt away from total chaos. I Love Anna...I mean Astrid.

The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey is a darkly humorous mystery about a woman who stumbles upon a shocking secret in her seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood. As she digs deeper, she uncovers unexpected secrets, hidden rivalries, and eerie coincidences that challenge her views of those around her. A fun read that quickly pulls you into the over the top reality show shenanigans.

I am a Bravo show lover through and through so this being a Real Housewives type thriller mixed with a little Bridgerton and Lady Whistledown, I knew I would be entertained. The multiple references to Bravo shows had me giggling throughout and I was definitely intrigued by the story. It was a quick listen and the drama was giving. I definitely enjoyed this one!

A treat for those of us who are Real Housewives fan--as well as anyone else who enjoys a thriller with a side of snark and camp!

I've never had any interest in watching any of the Real Housewives of whatever shows, so I don't know why I thought I'd be into a book with a similar premise. It was pretty much how I imagine the shows are - silly and stupid.
Thanks to #netgalley and #simonandschuster for this #arc of #thereallydeadwivesofnewjersey in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Publishing as well as Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review. Honestly, I did not have super high expectations for this book as I am not a Real Housewives fan but the description piqued my interest enough for me to pick it up. I am happy to say I was very wrong. The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey is a funny, fast paced, satire of reality tv, and the lives these real housewife types have to portray to maintain a modicum of fame.

While the end does wrap up a bit quickly and a bit too neatly, I think the absurdity of it all is excused by the fact that the book is supposed to be a satire. If you are looking for something quick, funny, with a hint of mystery, I think you will enjoy this.

I recently finished reading Perfume & Pain by Anna Dorn, which is the fictional story of…Astrid Dahl! What better than to follow that read up with a book published by “Astrid”? Seriously, kudos to Dorn for doing something this fun!

This is THE BOOK for fans of Bravo’s Real Housewives shows. I mean it’s basically a literary riff on the shows, but add murder!

🍸 The cast of characters are cringey in a way you can’t look away from.
🍸 The secrets are lurking around every corner.
🍸 The drama is top notch.

There are even excerpts from the confessionals for readers to get that insider feel of watching a reality TV show.

My favorite part is how self-aware some of the characters are with knowing that their actions are cringe, but admitting they’re there for the money.

If you’re looking for fun and entertainment, this is it!

one of my most anticipated read of the year!!!! i LOVED perfume and pain and was so excited to see this book from 'astrid dahl'! it was a fun satire, PERFECT for real housewives fans!

This book is a perfect escape for anyone that is a fan of the Real Housewives franchises. There are so many fun nods to some of the craziest moments on reality television, It's fun to see how the author took that inspiration and spun it into a wild murder mystery tale. The outcome was a bit predictable for me, but I enjoyed the book and was entertained by the crazy characters. Would definitely read more like this.

So this book is a page turner, filled with lots of secrets and rivalries which leads a producer on a quest for the truth after a murder. Hope Bennett marries into the wrong family. With the marriage so many rivalries come to a boil which leads to a sudden murder. A murder no one was expecting. Eden is the show producer, and she wants to catch the killer. I would definitely recommend,

If you like campy thrillers like "Patricia Wants to Cuddle" by Samantha Leigh Allen or the TV show "Unreal," I think you would enjoy "The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey." I also love the meta-ness of Astrid Dahl being the author protagonist from my favorite "Perfume and Pain!" adding to the Anna Dorn literary universe...