This book had a lot of promise.
It’s a short and fast read, less than 300 pages.
The idea was great but I think it was executed correctly. There were so many characters for such a short book. The character development could have been much better.
I did enjoy The Real Housewife type setting. It was great drama and definitely kept the book moving.
Overall, it was entertaining but I think it could have better with more character development.

The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey is a fun, light and campy read. If you like watching the wealthy and overly dramatic housewives reality show, then you will enjoy this book. I wouldn’t say it’s a murder “mystery”, because it’s not too hard to figure out. The plot and characters are very surface-level, but not boring. I really liked this book for what it was - which, honestly, is a pretty good time. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

🎬 This is a fun book that very much includes, references and is a similar reality show as the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

🎬 We get to know all the stars of the Garden State Goddesses - Birdie, the never sober matriarch; Renee, the bisexual mom of 13 year old Ruby; Carmela, the mean one and resident table flipper; her cousin Valerie, the pink loving puppet of Carmela;

♥️ To add to the drama this season, Valerie’s brother, Leo (who Carmela calls “Leona” for his feminine beauty), has married a new girl, Hope, a blonde California singer-songwriter who also happens to be the showrunner’s (Eden’s) cousin. Hope is both “other” AND not Italian so she is in for a treat with Carmela and the others.

🎬 Eden’s motives and how she treats her cousin feel strange all along, almost as if she’s looking to humiliate or expose her.

🎬 Hope obviously has secrets she’s carrying with her, which is never a good idea when you’re in a reality show! The truth will come out!

🎬 I enjoyed that the book often includes transcripts from the 1:1 reality interviews.

🎬 The book seemed to be moving at one speed and timeline, but once certain things happened, I found it a little jarring where some parts (ie a character affair) felt really rushed and without detail after what was a non-rushed and very detailed first half of the book.

🎬 Then…a death (or more) happens! Hence, the title. It’s in the title and synopsis so I promise this is not a spoiler 😂. The plot really escalates from there!

🎬 I thought it was quite a predictable ending, but it was still fun and I’d recommend the read, especially if you’re a Jersey Shore or RHoNJ fan!

*Thank you to the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review*
I will never get enough of Astrid Dahl. I'm hooked immediately. This is a story full of twists, turns, murder??!!! betrayal, love, television, house wives. And it's a story I loved. My biggest critique is there is a sudden plot twist I think about halfway through - I don't want to leave any spoilers, but I felt that it was too sudden and changed the book for me a bit more than I would've liked, but I did still enjoy it and finished it. For that reason I'm leaving four stars. And at the same time, I loved the writing, the excitement, and the different personalities of the characters. Whatever Astrid Dahl writes, I'll be back for.

As an absolute Bravo addicted fan I was honored to receive this book. I was ugly laughing when I saw that they put the opening lines for each character and that the characters are in fact based off of the almost current housewives (I would be careful because you know how nasty one of them can be when they see something not in their favor :) ). The fact that Andy, the host in the book is solving the mystery was even better. I 100% hope that they get to see this book! Definitely purchasing and hoping that Andy puts a copy in the Bravo Clubhouse!

I am a huge fangirl of anything Bravo, including all the housewives franchises. This book was made up of all the housewives past and current and all the most notable quotes, incidents, tantrums, and scandals of all the Bravo franchises. Even the author looks like a cast member from one of the shows (Maddie from Southern Hospitality)

As someone who watches all the shows it was really fun to sit and identify everything and from whom. I will say though book is organized poorly though. There are "parts" that start new chapters over. But they didn't section off the chapters of "Three years later". Also, it was so redundant at the end. It's mystery after mystery, and too much inner dialogue.

The book ends with a cliffhanger that is Monica from Salt Lake City with the social media accounts. I hope this author keeps going with more books. One from each franchise!

The opening reviews and praise of others can go. As a reader I have no interest in seeing someone's favorite reviews. Put bookart in the front and summaries on the back of the book. Reviews do nothing but waste paper.

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.