Review: My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney

Let me tell you, I was absolutely engaged with a majority of the story. It’s such a chilling premise, and I was so unsure of where it was going.

Unfortunately, the reveals were actually lackluster, and also didn’t make much sense within the larger context of the story. It just felt like twist upon twist, but without any regard for the earlier chapters. The author took the unreliable narrator track, which can work so well, but in this case, it is more of a manipulation of the audience.

It’s hard to try to figure out what’s happening when you’re actually being intentionally lied to, but not in the ‘oh, this makes sense for the character,’ but rather it was a way to generate shock value to the audience.

It doesn’t mean I still didn’t enjoy it for the most part, but the payoff certainly damped things.

What’s the Story About

Eden Fox is an artist about to have an art show in her small town, Hope Falls. However, when she returns home after a run, nothing is the same. Her key doesn’t work, and when someone opens the door, it’s a woman who looks very similar to her. But her husband, Harrison, insists this woman is his wife and that Eden is an imposter.

Six months earlier, we met a woman named Birdy who was struggling with the news of a life-altering diagnosis. She inherits a house in Hope Falls, where she grew up. Once she travels to Hope Falls, everything changes forever.

Lots of Threads

The premise is fantastic, and it’s utterly chilling when Eden returns home, and no one knows who she is, especially her husband. My mind was reeling, trying to figure out what was really going on.

Eden and Harrison share a child named Gabriella, who is disabled and nonverbal. Eden runs to her daughter, who is at a facility that cares for her, but when Gabriella sees Eden, she speaks and says that’s not her mother.

Birdy’s journey is also quite interesting and unexpected, especially as she makes her way back to Hope Falls.

I was completely engaged with both storylines and found it fascinating, also creepy for sure.

There’s also a storyline about a company called Thanatos (I keep wanting to type Thanos lol), which claims they can predict a person’s exact date of death. Birdy visits with this company and is horrified when she finds out the date she’ll die, and learns she may not have long left.

Eventually, we learn why the reader is following all these storylines.

Lackluster Ending

This story is twisty and even disturbing in parts for sure. It’s one of those readable novels that you don’t want to put down, and stay up way too late reading (or is that just me, ha)? I love it when books inspire that.

And while I keep these spoiler-free, I have to say the resolution of all the twists was such a letdown. What’s worse, it was bizarre and somewhat unfair to the reader. I can’t go into more detail without spoilers, so I do discuss it on my book club questions page. So if you’re curious, or if you have already read it, go visit the page here.

It’s just disappointing to have such an interesting story with a weak resolution and ending.

Verdict

I don’t regret reading it, and I see why the novel is popular. It was an entertaining journey for about 75% of the way. But as I said, the reveals and ending are weak overall. It’s one thing to have an unreliable narrator; it’s another to completely lie to your audience where there’s no way they will figure out what’s going on.

Once again, the illogical ideas that can be presented in this kind of novel always remind me why I don’t read a lot in this genre.

For book clubs, check out my discussion questions here.