Historically girls are raised with the idea that they should want to be a wife and a mom. Throw in to that mix is you can have it all by adding a successful career. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to have it all there is the problem of doing it all. Often it is doing it all with little help.

Three best friends have decided that they are going to keep doing it all but think it is time that women should be compensated for all of their work. The Wife App is born, or should I say developed? Through the app you can hire a wife to do all the jobs of life you don't like. Say you hate filling out school forms, there is a wife that will do it. Pay a monthly fee and have access to your own wife. Maybe you are a women who kind of likes filling out those forms. Sign up to be a wife and actually get paid to do it. Seems like a glorious win win. This is how our story begins.

You will follow the app development and the bumps along the way. Those of the app and those of our three protagonists. Overall, it is a pretty good read. I liked getting to know these characters and they are all pretty likeable. It just didn't seem to all flow well. The premise of this book is that life is messy and hard. I didn't really feel that with these women. The book is a slow burn until the last quarter of the book. A pretty good read,and if you want to make the Wife App a real thing, sign me up. I need someone to chauffeur my kids around.

A great story featuring three friends down on love- funny and smart, great banter and a fun plot. Felt similar to The First Wives Club- refreshing and different. This book was a good time.

Boring 😴 I tried both the physical copy and the audiobook and was bored by both. I didn’t have any engagement with the characters and didn’t care to continue so I’m DNFing. Thanks anyway for the ARC!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! Right off the bat, this book reminded me of The First Wive’s Club, a 1996 classic starring Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton. I’ve watched this countless times and was intrigued by the concept. Couldn’t go wrong.
Three divorced friends, burnt out by the never ending mental and physical load of motherhood and marriage decide to MONETIZE! Conveniently enough, one of the friends works in app development and puts the wheels in motion. There are rules, there are creeps and there are (not)surprisingly still a multitude of burdens shouldered by these women. The app grows quickly, taking on more than they can handle while balancing exes, potential new romances, financial woes and children in various stages of childhood.
There are a few lovely “F’ yous” to some exes throughout, and a hilariously ironic (albeit convenient) new relationship formed that had me laughing.
I rounded up to 4 stars. The story dragged a little for me in the middle. The ending was laughably unrealistic, but sweet enough if you are willing to suspend reality a bit. And what reader isn’t willing to do that once in a while?

Posted to Goodreads.

I am SO glad I read The Wife App because it is now one of my 2023 top picks! I loved the creativity and the witty banter. All three women were relatable, even though I am not divorced. They presented well as sympathetic characters and I cared about each of them. There was one situation Sophie had to deal with that reminded me so much of something I had to deal with over the past few years.

It had a vibe similar to the TV series And Just Like That. There were even some parts on the show that reminded me of the book, and vice versa. I also loved the New York feel throughout. There is a lot going on in the story and the abundance of supporting characters keeps the story flowing nicely and had me turning the pages without wanting to put it down. (Even though real life did tend to get in the way...)

My only concern is that the synopsis says that there are big consequences for the women, but I didn't really feel that such a thing actually happened. That didn't take away from my enjoyment but I was all nervous for them and I didn't really have to be.

Mental load is a real thing and I would love an app that would take some of that off my shoulders. (I am currently dreading having to call the dry cleaner about a shirt they didn't clean.) However, I'm in a wonderful group on Facebook called Balanced Working Moms Community. We address the mental loads in our lives and also find ways to make things easier and stress-free for ourselves. Stay-at-home moms could also join this group as they have just as much to balance as the working moms do.

Funny moment: There was a mention of Alan Ginsberg's poem "Howl". I read that part in the book right after I saw an episode of Riverdale that talked about it a few times. What are the odds?!?

Overall, The Wife App was an enjoyable read and I highly recommended this one! (Someone I recently recommended it to loved it as much as I did.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Lauren: Mila Kunis
Sophie: Jaime King
Madeline: Elyse Levesque
Beatrice: Kathleen Munroe
Joshua: Kyle Schmid
Colin: Theo James
Eric: Sean Faris
Gideon: Bob Morley
Arabella: Catherine Ashmore Bradley

The premise of this book sounded great. It gave me the idea that it was basically a remake of the first wives club. It was a decree to women that they didn’t need those pesky husbands to find something worthwhile because it was within them this whole time. And while that did happen, and we read about how the development of the wife app grew, it really gave too much detail in the minutia of day to day and we got less about their relationships. Even their relationships as friends seemed a little lacking. The last 25% of the book I absolutely loved. This is where the ladies finally get their happy ending and start being their most authentic selves. I loved the idea of Lauren reconnecting with an old flame and that Sophie embraced her sexuality to find love with her husbands second wife (risqué but totally awesome). I do wish they had fleshed out Madeline’s relationship with Colin….what happened after they hooked up? Overall it was a good read, I just there was more focus on their friendship (while we were told how they met, they had very few interactions outside of messaging and phone calls about the app).

This was a very clever plot and I had a rollicking good time reading it. A few pages made me chuckle.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really tried to get into this book. I loved the concept and thought it had funny parts. However, it was a DNF for me. It just kept dragging on and I wasn’t the biggest fan. I’m still rating a 3 because I think it did have some good qualities to it. I like the friendships in the book!

I received this book as an advance reader copy from NetGalley. I thought this was a fun take on the digital age of dating apps and womanhood.

I usually read dark thriller books so I was excited to read this. This book isn't what I thought it would be. The book is about inequalities between the different sexes, divorce, gender identity and basically all of society's hot issues right now.

This book took me a while to get into. I struggled with the name of the app “the WIFE app”. To me “the MOM app” seemed more appropriate. A lot of couples don’t struggle with mental load until they have kids and it seemed like that was the bulk of the issues as to why a wife app was needed. Anyway, I am so glad I kept reading because it’s not really about being a wife or mom - it’s being able to offload mental load which is genius!

I found myself really loving the 3 characters and was rooting for the all to succeed. I love how it ended too but wanted to hear a little more about how their lives turned out.


This book was great!

I thought the concept of <i>The Wife App</i> was inventive and intriguing. I was interested in reading more. While the writing was good, there was too much trying to get accomplished. The characters and themes all tried to cover the hot topics of what's going on in society today. Gender identity, recognition for all that a wife/mom does in a day, divorce, cheating, female empowerment. It was overboard. To the point where I felt like this wasn't doing anyone any favors. Instead of recognizing red flags and drawing attention to them in a positive and productive way, I feel like this did the opposite.

I really want to give this book 2.5 stars, but I'm rounding up to 3.

The Wife App follows a group of female friends as they find themselves single with kids and feeling unappreciated for the work they put into being parents, wives, and just people. The Wife App uses multiple POVs as each friend experiences the app and the adventures they take because of it. I loved the uplifting attitude throughout this read and the dynamic between the friends and the other characters.

"The Wife App" should be a real app. What a brilliant way to get things accomplished. Mackler shares some interesting insight into just how much responsibility for a family's well being falls to the "Mother Figure". Her characters are well written and believable. The kind of women I would love to have as friends.

If you're looking for an entertaining story with more friend time than boyfriend time check out this book.

A really fun book for the summer that was such an interesting concept . It was well written and will recommend to others !

It all begins as a joke at a divorce dinner. Lauren, Sophie and Madeline are best friends out to commemorate Lauren’s signing of the final papers. Even though she had a rough day, her girls truly understand and always manage to cheer her up. Going down the painful memory lane of what went wrong - the friends are reminded repeatedly how little appreciation they received for the “mental load” that comes with being a “good” wife. The unseen and unsung heroes that it takes to get the many jobs done. Children, career, house, parents and yes, taking care of their husbands as their jobs take precedence over the mundane every day chores of life. Together they conjure up the answer - women need a wife too. With Lauren’s tech background she takes the humor a step further and creates The Wife App, an online task application that pays “Wives” to do these jobs for a set fee. The days of undervalued free labor are over! As the three women put their business smarts and very pretty heads together what started on a whim becomes a huge sensation. Whether drowning in social media FOMO, raising children in this fast paced world of technology or uncoupling as only Gwyneth can do - is a happy modern marriage attainable? Love, friendship, and motherhood in the digital age sends these three women on the ride of their life.

I love a good multi POV and The Wife App had it! As a new(ish) mom myself who works full time I totally empathize and deal with the mental load of MOM. This book was stellar.

The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler was fun to read, The concept of an app where women could higher someone to help complete tasks that a lot of Mom's just can't get done because most duties fall on the shoulders of the wife. The three friends are so different from each other yet they work well together. The Wife App had great character development. It was nice to see how creating the Wife App changed all three characters in their private lives. I also loved how Carolyn handled a teenager struggle with her identity. Very well written.

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Difficult to follow at times and a little slow. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved the girl power feel of this one. As a mom and wife, I could relate to feeling unappreciated over all the stuff a woman is expected to do. Who wouldn't want to get paid for all the invisible work a woman does in the house? The book really explores the complexities of divorce, motherhood, and friendship. It was fairly predictable, but I still liked how the ending tied everything up.