As someone who was raised Mormon and has oft been inaccurately accused of being a “tradwife,” this book triggered all of my itchy nerve endings. The veneer of perfectionism. The hidden secrets. The patriarchal society. The exhausted and underestimated but over-utilized women. The constant demand for children and meals and spotless houses. The unobtainable standards. And underneath? The Christian nationalism and right wing authoritarianism and censorship and historical revisionism and sexual deviancy and end of world prepping. I was thoroughly riveted, completely convinced, and utterly creeped out. This book, at this moment, hits hard. I could not put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley for this Advance Reader Copy.

Since watching the show featuring the Momtok women, I have been intrigued (and a little horrified) by the whole trad wife thing so I had high hopes about this book. And it did not disappoint! A really pacy thriller that kept me totally engaged throughout and guessing until the climax of the book. I would recommend.

You all know what a tradwife is, don’t you? An always smiling, beautiful, perfectly made up woman who believes in submitting to her husband. Sometimes she has an influencer career on Instagram where she features her with perfectly groomed and behaved children and her start from scratch home meals. That describes the public personage of Madison March @_TrulyMadison. Behind the scenes, it’s all a lie, a lie discovered by Cally, hired to be the children’s tutor. Two sets of lies, one in the present and one from the past, set the plot in motion.

The Tradwife’s Secret is a quick read, exposing the underside of the world of influencers. Madison works for hours with assistants and videographers to film a short film spotlighting Madison making a healthy breakfast for her husband or teaching a lesson to her home schooled children. Madison is under so much pressure to be perfect and to hide the deeply buried lies that threaten to surface. How far would you go for money, fame and glamour? 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, HQ and Liane Child for this ARC.

THE TRADWIFE'S SECRET BY LIANE CHILD.
5 HUGE STARS.
If i could give it 10 STARS i would.
The cover is stunning.
The blurb had me hooked.
As soon as this book landed on my kindle i instantly started reading.
The prologue alone sucked me right in.
I wish there were more books like this one.
Loved the whole settling of this story and how it was all laid out.
I found it thrilling, entertaining, mysterious, eye opening and i couldn't read this book fast enough.
It kept my attention on every page and every word.
Honestly can't wait to see what other books this author brings out as I'll be reading as soon as they come out.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for providing this book, with my honest review below.

I went into The Tradwife’s secret thinking it would plot out like a typical thriller with perhaps a woman slipping into the Tradwife role (which is gathering steam on social media right now) while hiding secrets and exposing herself as actually detesting the role. This is not what I got, and I must say I was surprised throughout because of the turns the plot took and the twists it threw out. Written from multiple points of view but majority focused on Madison, the tradwife (who loves it, even if her social media success doesn’t actually align) and Cally, a tutor who is still working out what she wants to do in life (and hiding a secret that led her to take the job tutoring Madison’s kids), these two ladies take us down a complicated path. Other points of view do give us intriguing glimpses into a wannabe tradwife who watches social media tradwives with envy, the mysteries in this one are multiple, the tragedies are poignant, and the inside look into a frankly weird domestic situation are fascinating.

The mysteries are too tied together and complex to artfully hint at, but this is definitely a good read if you enjoy a thriller and to perhaps hate follow the tradwife trend.

As someone that loves all things influencers and reality TV, this book was literal catnip for me! Scary and surprising, the ultimate reality thriller!