The Husbands

Meh. Big Meh. I am having a serious reading slump, and I cannot help but wonder if it's September, or me, or the books, or all of the above. Come October, perhaps my mindest will change, but this one I just could not get into. dnf.

The timing of me picking up this book was too perfect. I'm an attorney who just quit my job to be a SAHM for a little while. This book 100% worked for me and so did the writing. Really good.

Very boring book with a ridiculously stupid main character and mostly bland side characters. Very early on you can guess the entire plot including how reveals are going to be handled and you're exactly correct - no surprises. Strange social media themed interludes between chapters that basically just list the book's themes (this is so common and I don't get it - authors of the world I PROMISE that women are capable of understanding themes without interludes or footnotes or characters just listing them). There's also a secret that hangs over the main character for a lot of the book that turns out to be boring and revealed in a really anti climactic way.

I had such a hard time with this book. I'm a mother. I have two daughters, 5 years apart. Of course there were times I wish my husband was more involved with their every day life, but I was also a stay at home mom until my youngest was 5, so I really do feel like it was my job to handle most of the every day stuff. I don't know what it's like to work a high stress job and raise a child, but this woman.....she whined CONSTANTLY. This book was 98% whining and 2% mystery. The mystery was what is the mystery, but whatever. Even after the resolution of the book SHE IS STILL WHINING. She didn't want to stand up for herself with anyone, “friends”, her boss, her coworkers, her husband, her child....and then she would explode and scream-whine to her husband. It was just frustrating.

I absolutely loved her first book, and had high expectations about this one. Although it's very well written and engrossing, all the time all I thought of was “it can't be a version of Stepford wives, can it? she wouldn't do it, right?”... and well, to my dismay, not only I saw exactly that, but also the ending was terrible - I mean, after all the ordeal people went through, she just moved and it was all hunky dory? the villains gave up on her? come on. something is off. And that attempt to a twist with the clicking at the end? oof. could have gone without it.So, basically, the three stars are because I was in a good mood and the narrative was really good. But had I read this one first, I would never pursue a second book by her.

This book surprised me. Started as a suburban fiction book and ended kinda thriller/horror???
SOO good.

The Husbands and [b:Stepford Wives|52350|The Stepford Wives|Ira Levin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554371721l/52350.SY75.jpg|1534281] pose the same questions:

How is household labor divided by gender? Whose career aspirations are treated as an inevitable priority, while the others' are collateral damage? Who is ultimately to blame when things don't get done? What does it take to make both spouses happy with the effort the other is putting in on a daily basis?

This was entertaining and I flew through it. Admittedly, the social commentary is incessant and hamfisted. I found the broad questions raised kind of compelling, but I can see how others might find it grating, and I don't know that it would win over anyone unreceptive.

Great cover and good audiobook production. I wish it had been in first person instead of third. Some twists were kind of predictable letdowns, but that's not the first time I've felt that way about contemporary thrillers (see also Gone Girl and The Woman in the Window).

If you like [b:Little Fires Everywhere|34273236|Little Fires Everywhere|Celeste Ng|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522684533l/34273236.SY75.jpg|52959357], [b:Such a Fun Age|43923951|Such a Fun Age|Kiley Reid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1557181911l/43923951.SY75.jpg|63995465], [b:Big Little Lies|33516773|Big Little Lies|Liane Moriarty|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559835163l/33516773.SY75.jpg|27570886] (cards on the table, I watched the first season on HBO but haven't read the book), [b:The Mere Wife|36332136|The Mere Wife|Maria Dahvana Headley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1517581442l/36332136.SY75.jpg|58009682], this graphic novel about [b:The Mental Load|39196352|The Mental Load A Feminist Comic|Emma|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529064620l/39196352.SX50.jpg|60776633], or the movie Get Out, you'll likely have fun with The Husbands. I may try [b:Whisper Network|41555931|Whisper Network|Chandler Baker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562758669l/41555931.SY75.jpg|61072596] soon.

4 stars

Nora is an attorney, a mother, and a wife, and struggling to excel at all three. She increasingly feels taken advantage of by her husband and her work, picking up the slack for the men in her life. When she falls in with a group of women who seem to have it all, she's intrigued. She wants what they have - luxury, free time, and husbands who actually help around the house. As she gets to know the neighbourhood more, she realises things aren't quite as perfect as they seem.

This book, like Baker's The Whisper Network is hard to review as while it's fun and gripping, it's also so real and frustrating. Baker's insightful commentary on the modern female experience really resonated with me and surely will with other women - we want more than the 1950s housewife narrative, but now we're expected to do that and still have a career. Things are better for women, but also worse.

A slowburn at first, the final third of the book is exhilarating and gripping. Domestic noir meets science fiction, The Husbands left me dying to read more of Baker's works.

Thank you to the author, Little Brown Book Group UK, and Netgalley for this ARC.