I’m a huge Bravo fan, so I was excited to read this. It was a fun, light read, but ultimately a bit disappointing to me. It just seemed like I was waiting for it to get interesting, for something to happen. Maybe it’s just that the actual Real Housewives are so outrageously entertaining (for fans of the shows) that it’s hard to recreate or top it in a novel. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although this was a fun read, I think I am not the target audience. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to read this ARC!

4 stars- this combines my two loves: reading and reality TV. inspired by the real housewive franchise, this is the perfect book to dive into. Hooked into the fictional world of Garden State Goddesses, this book is a fun one! Thanks netgally + the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey hit all the right notes for a fun, indulgent read that knows how to be delightfully over-the-top. Fans of The Real Housewives franchise—myself included—will recognize the familiar rhythm of drama, intrigue, and unforgettable personalities, served with a twist of murder mystery. This book fully embraces the franchise’s trademark glamour and high-stakes antics, while adding a suspenseful edge that kept me flipping the pages.

I’ve been struggling with a reading slump recently, and this novel gave me exactly the boost I needed. Its witty, fast-paced storytelling had me hooked, proving once again that sometimes a bit of “cheese” is the perfect cure to get back into the reading groove. I’m grateful to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC, and I highly recommend this book for fans of suspenseful yet lighthearted fiction.

This is a fast-paced, punchy book. The characters in the cast are exaggerated and constantly surrounded by drama. It truly has everything a fan of reality TV could possibly want in a book. Add a little murder mystery, and you've got a quick and enjoyable read. The format of the confessionals was the cherry on top of this reality TV-themed cake. This book was punchy and fast-paced! loved it!

Thank you to Astrid Dahl, Simon & Schuster Publishing, and NetGalley for this arc of The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey, out January 14, 2025!

📜Quick Summary: Eden is the showrunner for the Garden State Goddesses and needs to shake things up a bit to keep the struggling show relevant. She decides to introduce the bachelor Leo Fontana to her cousin~ her not so close cousin Hope~ to see if that sparks anything. As Hope joins the show's stars- Valerie, Carmela, Renee, Birdie-, things aren’t as smooth as Eden would have hoped. Hope seems to be the complete opposite of the Sicilian family, as well as harboring some secrets. The strong personalities have a lot to say about Hope’s entrance, and there is much, much, drama to unfold.

❣️Initial Feels: This is definitely feeling more drama than mystery right now, so I’m intrigued to see where this is going. I do not watch any of the Real Housewives T.V. Shows or much reality tv, so I’m interested to see how I feel about the novel.

👀Trigger Warnings: murder, drama, betrayal, marital affairs

🙋🏼‍♀️Moving Character: I feel like they all had small moments, but Eden made the biggest growth in character development for me. From the beginning to the end, you saw her morph and work through her feelings, and also her views on people and their personal experiences.

📖Read if you want: humor tickled with mystery, guilty pleasure type of read, reality tv

💡Final Sentiments: My mother’s maiden name is Fontana, and many of my cousins love the Real Housewives show, so I was instantly drawn into their world. While this type of novel isn’t my usual cup of tea, this is entertaining and dramatic, to say the least. There are a lot of characters to keep up with, and who is married to who, who is related to who, etc and I was grateful for the first two pages of the story that outlined who was who. I only wish I had it easily (and if you are reading a hard copy, it would be no problem) because I got confused at times, especially as the story was unraveling. I ended up enjoying this much more than I anticipated, and once I hit the 30,35% mark, I got invested in the characters and their life. I think this would be a great audiobook with different character voices!

🌟Overall Rating: 4 stars

This novel was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. I was so hopeful because I am a housewives stan and I loved this take because I could totally see it happening in real life, but this was not it. Market as a murder mystery but no mystery thank goodness it was under 300 pages. I finished it but I was not enjoying it. Although there was drama, and I liked the confessional transcripts. The characters were just shallow and boring to me.

Kind of desperate housewives meets jersey shore vibes with the plot centering around a reality tv show. Very quick read with lots of characters and relationships to remember and bit of murder mystery. While it was compelling enough to fly through, I found it to just be a little unsurprising? Like there was never any really shocking moments or twists and it all felt pretty surface level. I just felt like I was left wanting more— more mystery, drama, and depth! Overall, this was the perfect quick plane read. Nothing memorable but fun enough!

3.5 🌟

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I was really intrigued by the premise for this book - despite not being a reality TV fan, I can enjoy a nutty, camp novel with a cast of crazy characters.

Unfortunately this was not incredibly well developed and there were often jarring jumps in the plot with little explanation for what was happening. It felt like the first 60% of the book was setup, and the last 40% a rushed and not entirely satisfying conclusion. It wasn't bad, it just could have used a few more passes with an editors.

I did enjoy the characters a lot. My husband's grandma was a Sicilian spitfire named Carmela, so she was especially hilarious to me. The rest of the Godesses were so fun and I liked reading about their antics much more than I enjoy any sort of Real Housewives type show.

Yes yes a thousand times yes. Astrid Dahl, strangely one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite books this year wrote this book?? (Wink wink 💖)

If you are a Real Housewife of Bravo fan this is a MUST read. It will have you kicking your feet and giggling. So many inside jokes, so many twists and turns, so many.. murders?? I had a blast and you will too.

incredibly dramatic. not really or seriously a murder mystery, more like a reality show in book form. don'texpect any too awesome mysteries or any too elegantly done plot points, but it's fun. 3.,5 stars. would recommend. tysm for the arc.

✨️ARC REVIEW✨️
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

Loved the idea of this but unfortunately some of the execution was a fail. A lot of female characters and most were indistinguishable from each other. Very shallow in development BUT I loved the plot. I love that it read like a reality show.

MENTION IT ALL!!

I’m a self confessed Housewives connoisseur. I remember when Aviva threw her leg across the room, when Jenna had a glass of wine thrown at her face, when Kim Zolziack claimed to have cancer, but, no, she didn’t. I can go on and on. Obsessed.

When I read the initial plot of this book - Garden State Goddesses, one of Huzzah’s (think Bravo TV) most popular shows is in need of a refresh. Great timing, because Jersey Housewives could use its new Manzos and Giudices, and just like that, there’s a murder mystery.

However, the murder mystery takes up about 20% of the plot, and the rest of the time is full of shallowness and relationship issues. While the concept is a concept of a plan, its lack of execution is where the problem lies. There are loads of characters, reminiscent of the old school Jersey housewives, although most are stereotypical, and not much character development.

I understand the reasoning behind writing this book, but the execution fell flat, as is neither Housewives relatable or even a murder mystery.

I'm one of the handful of people who have never watched one of the Real Housewives franchise shows and I don't know if I want to if the characters are really based upon their real life counterparts in Astrid Dahl's The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey.

Eden is a producer and brings in a relative to the gang of the Garden State Goddesses. There were a lot of characters introduced quickly, so I had to flip back and forth to the character guide (a great thing, by the way) for a bit until I got a handle on everyone, but once I was a few chapters in, it was easier to fall into the book.

There were drama queens, mean ladies, and eventually murder. Eden is trying to control the uncontrollable, and despite this being a long book, she was able to get character development that had me comparing the Sopranos/stereotypical mob families, and what I guess are the characters in the Bravo series.

It was a fun and easy read that kept me guessing for the most part until the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this in consideration of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

DNF @ 40% because literally nothing has happened and when you promise a dead wife or more in the title, someone should be dead by now. Done.

This was a good book! I definitely think the New Jersey stereotypes were overplayed in this book, but it was still entertaining. I like to use and mix of social media and influencer and TV in this book. It had some twists and turns and some unexpected situation, and it was really good.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Mystery Thriller

The story is about a reality show, “Garden State Goddesses” that needs a makeover. When the showrunner, Eden, decides on the way that will give the show its much-needed facelift, things will get more chaotic and out of control.

I don’t want to reveal more about the plot, relationships, and the mystery in the book because I feel that might give away the interesting part of it which are not many. This story is less mystery thriller and more drama. The mystery part is hidden in the background and never manages to come to the forefront. The story has lots of drama, and by drama here I don’t mean it in a good way.

There are too many characters to follow for a short book. This is less than 300 pages, and having all these female characters made it more confusing. Unfortunately, the characters are not well developed. Yes, some of them are distinguishable from others, but even those needed more work to stay in my mind.

I think the story as a concept is quite interesting. The execution needs more work, though. I can’t pinpoint who will be the right audience for this book. I thought I was among them, but it ended up being an OK book. I hoped for something better reading the synopsis.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC of this book.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for the gifted digital ARC.

I'm sooo bummed to say I decided to DNF this one at 43%. As a big Real Housewives fan, this sounded so fun and very camp, but it ended up being a random hodgepodge of actual storylines from Housewives franchises and some actual dialogue, taglines, etc. mixed together in a way that just didn't work for me.

Ultimately it felt very derivative and unoriginal. An easter egg or two would have been fine, but it was definitely way more than that.

NetGalley is the only consumer site I will leave a rating or review for this book, I don't rate books that I don't finish.

This was a really fun thriller- housewives on the murder train. I really loved it! The characters were really entertaining.

Eden is the producer of a reality TV housewives of New Jersey show. When her California cousin marries into the Italian bloodline, the matriarch of the Ladies group cannot retract her claws. The story is engaging and enjoyable, although Eden is not the redeemable character we hope for all the time, she tries her hardest to solve the mystery of who killed her cousin and why.