Book Review #113: The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

 

This is probably the only book I've ever bought and read based solely on negative reviews. I knew the entire plot before reading and only bought it because I actually really liked the idea of the plot twist that a lot of people seemed to hate.

Thursday's husband has two other wives. She is happy with this arrangement, happy to know nothing about the others. But when she accidentally finds out too much about one of the wives, she discovers that maybe her husband isn't the man she thought he was.

This was okay. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it as much as a lot of other people seemed to.

As stated, I really liked the plot. It was really interesting, though not entirely realistic. It's easy to suspend your disbelief about the events while you're in Thursday's head.

Speaking of being in Thursday's head, I also liked seeing the other characters through her eyes. We learn about the other wives as she does, and it really feels like we are on this journey with her, rather than passively watching her. This unfortunately didn't continue throughout the entire book, but it was great while it lasted.

The one thing that took me out of the story was that I never really got a true picture of Seth, Thursday's husband. I never felt like I got to know him or understood who he was, outside of being a good looking polygamist. Even when we finally find out everything at the end of the book, I still had no idea who Seth was. I definitely think the story would have benefitted from further development of that character.

While I liked the beginning, where Thursday was finding out more about her husband's wives, when the story changed and became something different, I liked it a lot less. 

As mentioned, I already knew the plot twist and how everything was going to end, but I didn't like how it got there. 

Overall, I definitely don't regret reading this book, but I also wouldn't necessarily recommend it. It took a weird turn about halfway through and never really recovered, but I did enjoy the first half.

2/5