THE WIFE APP - CAROLYN MACKLER

4⭐
PLOT
3 best friends decide they are finally done with their ex husband and on a night out they come up and idea about wife app where they can monetize the mental and physical work load borne essential by a wife by providing other wives to do the job for them. The app grows interfering with their lives with consequences which are bigger than anything the 3 women could have imagined.

MY THOUGHTS -
I absolutely loved the concept. As a wife and parent there are so many small things which we have to take care of and not getting enough dues..this book highlights well. The personal lives their resolution of each towards the end was also nicely done.
Loved the revenge and redemption the wives get from their ex totally deserving.
Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review .

This was so cute. I received it as an arc from netgalley but went into the longest depressive episode of earth and could only finish it today because electricity was out and it was on my kindle. Finished it in one sitting. It was honestly very nice, my mom would literally kill for the wife app (would definitely be recommending this read to her). Premise was very nice, most of the characters were likable but it just felt like something was missing for it to hit for me i think. But overall, a beautiful book. 3.5 stars!

The Wife App is such a thought provoking read. I expected it to be light and fluffy (for lack of a better phrase) based on a few blurbs I read about. I was wrong and am glad I was. This story follows three friends, Lauren, Madeline and Sophie, on their individual journeys as well as how they come together to empower each other and show other women what they are worth. This story was so unique and I will definitely recommend to a lot of women in my life.
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

I'm glad I read this! I don't think I would have picked it up on my own, so thanks to simon&schuster for the e-book! This book was a lot of fun to read, I flew through it! It was a lighthearted read about three divorced women who come together to make The Wife App- which is designed to monetize the Mental Load that (disproportionately) wives take on. I really appreciate this book and think it brings up important issues. Plus i really loved Sophie's happy ending :)

Absolutely loved this one. Definitely a “wife’s” binge read, and Mackler certainly made this about every woman’s dream….a wife app. No, you don’t order a wife online, but you do order services on line that a wife normally is stuck doing (without payment). No, don’t go there, it’s NOT for sex - though husbands have no problem paying for that so….. ok, yeah, back on topic Gina.

Based around 3 middle aged friends in NYC with kids, divorces, and ex’s with new girlfriends, this one has all the drama. What started out as just a joke at a drunken girls night ends up being a full blown up-and- running project, and these three ladies are not only the founders but are the first “wives” out for hire.

There’s plenty of ridiculous requests these ladies have to work through, (dear god what the wealthy will buy - sheesh) on top of still being moms to their own kids AND dealing with their own family issues. This one could certainly be a Netflix series because it’s spot on in every aspect and Mackler certainly knows exactly how to make us everyday wives finally feel “seen”. It was an easy binge on a hot afternoon with quite the satisfying ending, with a little unexpected “tweak” you didn’t see coming (and the perfect unplanned revenge if you ask me).
Another great binge for that “quick day at the beach” trip. Grab this one now!

Thank you to Simon Books and Carolyn Mackler for the advanced copy of The Wife App!

This book precisely captures the Mental Load of marriage and motherhood! Three female main characters, Lauren, Sophie, and Madeline, have all been affected by divorce and find themselves overwhelmed with the work of carrying on a family and having careers. Over a meal one evening, they brainstorm having other "wives" take care of many of the numerous tasks they do on a regular basis: taking kids to school, filling out forms, planning for vacations, packing kids for camp, etc. The rest of the book is about how The Wife App comes to fruition and the ups and downs it creates for them and their families. This book is so relatable for wives and mamas!

The premise of the book had me instantly drawn in, but I couldn't get attached to the story. The idea of the "wife app" is clever, and the writing itself was lighthearted and descriptive but felt like something was lacking in order to move things along nicely. Plus, I couldn't really identify with any of the characters which also made it hard to be invested. I'd like to say that maybe I was just not the right audience for this, as I feel like the story itself has so much potential and could be enjoyable for others.

✨ Book Review ✨

A big thank you to @simonandschuster @carolynmacklerbooks @netgalley for this #gifted copy of #thewifeapp !!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler

Three best friends create an app to monetize on the mental load.

What to expect:

🗣️ Multi POV
💔 Divorce
🐶 Underdogs
💋 Romance

Quick thoughts:

✨ Absorbing.
✨ Loved the LGBTQIA’s+ representation.
✨ Tackles common marital issues.
✨ Reminded me of the movie The First Wives Club!

Overall thoughts:

Lauren, Sophie and Madeline have all been unlucky in marriage. All three divorced for different reasons but all three have one thing in common, the mental load that comes with being a wife. On a whim they decide to develop an app where people could work as a Wife but be compensated for it.

I really loved this book. The writing was terrific and perfectly paced. The flow of the story really sucked me in and I read it in one sitting. I loved the multiple perspectives of all three women; it really made the story feel well rounded.

Divorce is a focal point throughout and is depicted in its various forms. There is also cheating, hurtful put downs and custody issues laid bare on the table. I felt like it was an honest depiction of divorce overall.

The app itself was so interesting. The idea of being able to hire someone to do all the little tasks that add up over time sounded really appealing. I loved being able to watch it grow and really change their lives. There was so much growth on so many levels in this story.

There is a bit of romance laced throughout which I appreciated. I was happy that all three women got their HEA. I don’t want to forget about the LGBTQIA’s+ representation. I loved how those storylines developed and played out. If you enjoy women’s fiction you should really read this one!

I enjoyed reading this book; it calls out the inherent inequity in most marriages, where household mental loads are almost always carried by women. The premise of the Wife App is to monetize and assign value to this mental load, to move away from unacknowledged, unpaid labor.

We follow the lives of three mom-friends: Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie. All three friends have storylines of their own in which they tackle the struggles of co-parenting in divorced households and at the same time work to make the Wife App a reality. This includes addressing a lot of the potential criticisms and questions that arise when grappling with the idea of the Wife App—who can be a wife? Is it okay to have direct contact with children since so much of being a wife and mom seems interconnected? Does the app include physical intimacy? (Spoiler: it doesn't.)

This book will remind you that most men are trash, but not all need to be, and that it takes active effort to make sure you're not accidentally succumbing to societal norms that don't fit your own desires for what you want out of life.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Publishing and Carolyn Macker for letting me read this ARC!

Three best friends decide they’re finally done with their ex-husbands taking their work as wives and moms for granted. They’re ready to monetize the mental load, stick it to their exes, and have a wild ride in the process.

I absolutely loved this book. There are so many great themes. First, and foremost, are three women creating something together that becomes hugely successful. While developing the Wife App, each woman finds herself along the way. They each have their own eye-opening journey and it's all so inspiring. The character development was just really spot on.

Thank you @netgalley and @simonandschuster for giving me the opportunity to review The Wife App.

The Wife App
By Carolyn Mackler

I loved the premise of this story and the fun way three divorced women have created an app to monetize the work women do in marriages. In all Mackler writes an uplifting and light hearted story that is unique and refreshing.

I also had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook - the full cast of characters was incredible and I found it fascinating to listen to.

A really fun listen that I recommend

I am a little torn on how to rank this book. On the surface, it was pretty standard chic lit - three divorced women who design an app meant to monitize the work every wife does for free. It was well written and I have to say that the characters are well drawn and relatable. The thing that elevated it a bit was the creativity and the deeper issues the characters deal with, especially later in the book. If I had a struggle, it was that I was constantly looking for more about the app. There was some, but for a book titled The Wife App, I was thinking there would be more to that story. Instead, we hear more about the stories of the three main characters. Overall - I'd give it a 3.5.

Can you imagine downloading an app where you can hire a person to basically do all the invisible and visible loads of work that a wife does on the daily basis? It would completely change the game for many women (me included).

Three best friends from totally different backgrounds and ideologies come together to create an app to lighten the mental load for other mothers and wives.

Lauren, the tech engineer, is newly divorced (with twin girls) after finding her husband was paying women for sex. She creates the app and runs it. Even though she’s not looking for love, she keeps running into her ex-boyfriend.

Madeleine is the trouts fund baby who’s happily divorced. Her world revolves around her daughter. So imagine her surprise when she finds out her daughter wants to live with her Dad in London next year. She spends the novel trying to deal with her feelings of abandonment and betrayal of the one person she loves most. She also provides the money and support for the Wife App.

Sophie has been divorced (with two sons) for a while and is used to living paycheck to paycheck while her ex-husband lives a glamorous life with his new wife and baby. Sophie joins to Wife App to help make a little bit more money so she can provide her son with the therapy treatment he needs for his anxiety.

My thoughts: I really really enjoyed this book! I hope to read more from Carolyn Mackler. I thought it was interesting the way that all three women were connected even though they had little in common. I loved the different storylines and POVs. I think Sophie was my favorite. I just loved how her story ended. I also loved Madeleine’s ending.

I loved the synopsis of this book and couldn’t wait to see how the app works and all the logistics. I loved the details Carolyn Mackler went into to make sure this Wife App was a sound idea

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

It was so beautifully written and I would recommend this to any woman who’s every wished they had a wife at some point

Lauren, Madeline and Sophia are tired of being the wives that carry on the mental load of their families. Just like so many other wives, doing the mental and emotional labor of any relationship and a family is exhausting. The three friends decide to build an app that monetizes the mental labor of wives, aptly calling it the Wife app. And oh how I want this to be a real thing. It should be a real thing.

I liked this book but felt that the plot otherwise is a bit weak. I liked Lauren, Madeline and Sophia’s close relationship and how the book interweaves their personal and professional lives. I liked that the book addresses privilege and features a bisexual main character but nothing else really sticks out about the plot.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this eARC. The Wife App is out now.

3.5 stars.

I'm not sure how it happened, but way too many Millennial women in the United States have been raised to be people-pleasers in a manner that horrifies my late Gen X/geriatric Millennial sensibilities. Somehow, they've been persuaded by "Lean In" and "yes and" culture (with a healthy dose of late-stage capitalism) to think that having it all means running yourself ragged and putting everyone but yourself first. Ironically, that's the kind of thing they'd pretend to disparage in Boomers while doing the very same themselves (and I know several Gen Xers who also fall into this trap yet, on balance, make up a much smaller percentage of our cohort.)

The three New York City women at the heart of this book exemplify this problem, all quietly seething at the perceived injustices of their lives. Lauren kicked out her husband after discovering his secret sexual life, and is further blindsided when he chooses to make inappropriate relationship choices after their divorce. Independently wealthy Madeline has spent most of her adult life being the mother she never had for her now-teenage daughter Arabella, and doesn't know what to do when her ex-husband in London starts talking about bringing their daughter to come live with him for a year. Sophie is struggling to pay the bills for her two kids while her deadbeat ex and his gorgeous, accomplished new wife and baby have the Instagram-perfect life she can't help obsessing over.

One drunken dinner between the three friends persuades Lauren to launch a service called The Wife App, sort of a Task Rabbit on steroids. After the women complain about the thankless Mental Load they've always taken on as wives and mothers -- mostly in planning, organizing, and mentally and emotionally supporting their families -- tech-oriented Lauren decides to build an app for a service that takes over. After all, if you can hire housekeepers and nannies, why not hire a family organizer and counselor, essentially a Wife without all the sex and romance? Gloria Steinem would be proud.

There are road bumps along the way, but this is ultimately a feel-good novel in the vein of the classic movie The First Wives Club. Our heroines go from being hot messes who can barely communicate their needs when it matters to confident women who finally understand that you have to take care of yourself in order to be able to take care of other people. To be honest, the first third or so of this book was almost unreadable for me. While our protagonists have legitimate grievances, a lot of their issues could have been resolved by not being a coward about having difficult but necessary conversations. At least they tend to communicate with their children in a mature manner, even though I think Sophie was definitely spoiling her eldest child by constantly cleaning up after him when he was being lazy and stinky.

The last two thirds of the book mostly make up for the dire first part, as the women learn to stop defining themselves by other people. While the mindset becomes more and more progressive as the novel continues, there are still parts regarding sex that betray a conservative worldview. And while I appreciate the nod to the fact that gig jobs are exploitative, as well as the presence of a sliding scale for people who wouldn't ordinarily be able to afford the services, I felt that those topics were less tackled than tacked on. Sure, addressing the evils of the afore-mentioned late-stage capitalism might be well outside the scope of a novel like this, but having the subjects essentially tied up neatly with a bow only made the book feel more like fantasy than contemporary fiction.

Overall, I'm glad I read this book, which affirmed my own life choices in being stubborn and "selfish" in having a relatively unconventional family life. Keeping up with the Joneses has never been of interest to my husband and me, and raising our kids to be considerate, happy and functioning members of society is our number one priority. Also, do schools in NYC (or anywhere for that matter) really insist on home-baked goods so often? Over in my Maryland county, store-bought is de rigeur, if only for the accurate ingredient and allergen information required by law.

Anyway, The Wife App is a fun, fluffy book with a well-meaning feminist bent that reinforces an important message: stop harming yourselves in order to make other people's lives easier. Relationships are give and take, not give until you're emptied out. Cost-benefits analyses do not make you a selfish person, and anyone who tells you otherwise is subscribing to a system intent on keeping you passive while others continue to exploit you. These are all crucial lessons conveyed by this novel in a light, lecture-free manner that lots of people, wives or otherwise, still need to learn.

The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler was published June 27 2023 by Simon & Schuster and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781982158798">Bookshop!</a>

Thanks to Simon Books for my copy!

A really creative idea for a story. The Wife App follows three friends navigating various stages of being divorced, single former wives in NYC, and becoming increasingly tired of the mental load being a wife puts on their lives. They decide that other wives must feel the same way, and want to do something about it.

I really enjoyed the different points of view and experienced of each friend. I’m also pleasantly surprised at how the story turned out. I was not expecting some of the events to happen!

Overall it’s a great summer read, and highly relatable for spouses, women reaching their 30’s and 40’s, or anyone who feels like they’re stuck and want to make some changes in their life for the better.

This book was such a fun read. I could relate to it on a number of different levels. It is definitely a book I will recommend to others!

Guys, this was one of those books that I probably should have DNF'd but I felt like I'd invested too much time to give up on it. By the time I was 65% in, I was pretty sure nothing was happening and I didn't particularly care what did. That's probably a me problem rather than a book problem.

This is a prime example of why I read almost exclusively romance and thrillers. I like knowing what arc to expect. I like knowing where I'm going. General fiction or women's fiction doesn't follow an arc, and therefore I find I often don't love it and am not satisfied.

rating: 3.5 STARS
genre: woman's fiction
steam: fade-to-black but spoken explicitly

In the WIFE APP, I had no idea where the story was leading me, and that led me to being disappointed more often than not that something more extreme wasn't happening. I'd write examples of what I meant, but it would spoil the book for those planning to read it.

That all being said: the audiobook was enjoyable and had multiple narrators. It was easy to listen to on 2x speeds, which is often important to us audiobook listeners, and I was able to multitask while listening. All key for me.

This one wasn't for me, but it might be for you! Give it a shot.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

This was unfortunately a dnf for me. at 20 %. I didn't like the characters and them together with the events felt exaggerated. Several of my friends on Instagram enjoyed it so I think I'm an outlier here :)

The Wife App is a wonderfully funny, creative thought-out story about three divorced women who are best friends trying to manage all the crap that goes along with being a single parent, while trying to deal with their significant exes, work and manage everybody’s life. As a mother knows, when one of your kids, husbands, exes have a problem, it becomes YOUR problem. While meeting for drinks and complaining about life, they come up with an extraordinary idea which will change their lives forever.

In the process of the creation of The Wife App, they all become stronger, wiser in their relationships with their children as well as their exes. They begin to see their former husbands in very different lights, some for the better and some for the worse.

Lauren is the mother of twins who always thought her marriage was on solid ground. Until she looked at her husband’s phone one day and discovered it absolutely was not! Hence, she joined her best friends in the I am a single parent club. So, when her friend Madeline throws out the idea of an app that allows women to give someone else all the crap jobs they always feel boggled down doing, Lauren who worked in IT when she had no children jumps at the chance to create something.

Madeline is a rich divorcee whose husband lives in England, and she has custody of their daughter who is an upcoming cello player. She is happy. She and her daughter connect on so many levels unlike she and her own mother. The distance between her and her ex works perfectly. Madeline is just into The Wife App for the ride! Until she discovers her daughter has been keeping a secret from her and she begins to see the world in a different light.

Sophie, the third bestie has a different family dynamic. Her husband has remarried and has a very young daughter. Although she likes Beatrice, the new wife, she feels overwhelmed by all the extra tasks she must take on because it seems her husband is too busy with his new family. So as Sophie delves deeper into work for The Wife App, she discovers a new sense of strength and realizes for once what she truly wants rather than what is expected of her, and that truth sets her free.

To their surprise the app takes off. They realize it’s not just for wives, but for single parents, overworked partners and older people who just want help. Overwhelmed they suddenly find themselves in an incredible position of power. Hopefully nothing will go wrong!

The Wife App is brilliant! It opens the door to what we all know. Exhaustion. No matter who you are or what your lifestyle, guarantee you are juggling everything, feeling guilty and of course there is never enough time in the day. The story will be relatable, humorous and touching to those who reads it and I look forward to the purchase of the app, because I imagine some strong woman will absolutely make this happen for real!

Thank you #NetGalley #Simon&Schuster #TheWifeApp #CarolynMackler for the advanced copy.