The ex-wife was a rollercoaster of a ride that kept me thrilled all the way through.
Its going to be hard to review this without giving anything away but the story kind of goes....Nick is married to Jen, Nick meets Natasha, Natasha gets pregnant, Nick divorces Jen, Natasha marries Nick and gives birth to Emily and Jen turns into the scorned ex wife whilst Natasha lives a life of luxury or does she....?????
This was an intense, twisty thriller that I devoured in a day and kept me on the edge of my seat, the chapters are split into Natasha, Jen and Anna and you'll find out who Anna is as you read!! They way this was split into the women different viewpoints in the various chapters worked really well for me as at first I sided with Jen, the ex wife then I bounced to Natasha and I was like this all the way through this thriller.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

You will probably fly through this one in a half a day. This fast paced rollercoaster of a psychological thriller will have you at the edge of your seat.
A perfect life literally ran into Natasha aka Tasha when millionaire stud man, Nick aka Nicky (referred to only by Jen) smashes his car into her on her way home from work one day. So… THAT’S a relationship red ⛳! Anyway, life is just Hunkey Dorey with her posh house, posh husband, and her beautiful daughter. Except for Jen! Ugh she’s so annoying (as every stereotypical ex-wife would be). She’s always… there, pushing her way into their family life, calling him “Nicky”! ‘Nicky, Nicky, Nicky’ (gag) Nick doesn’t help though. He’s always giving her the time of day! Well it seems Natasha does what she can to tolerate it all until one day…
Her world comes crashing down. Everything she knew about her life is rubbish, garbage, dust, gone! After she discovers that her husband might not be who she thinks he is, his ex may be more bat shit crazy than she thought, and there may be others she can’t trust to tell her the truth, she has to learn to toughen up and trust no one. Her daughter is her number one priority and she’ll stop at nothing to get her back!
I’m actually sweating as I type this review. It had my heart pounding and feathers ruffled! I believe any lover of psychological thrillers would agree… this is definitely another 5⭐ book by the wonderful Jess Ryder!

“Amazing, the narratives we spin to suit ourselves…”

Jen and Nick are happily married for 20 years, until Nick literally bumps into Natasha in the street and then everything changes. Jen becomes the ex and Natasha the new pregnant wife.
But Jen is not completely out of the picture and all is not as it appears. Natasha’s charming and peachy life is going to crumble and it seems she can trust no one.

This was a fast-paced and well-written psychological thriller, told from multiple points of view.
My first from this author but not my last. The story seemed to me unfinished though and some things stayed unresolved for me.
What happened to Sam?
Was Emily really Nick’s child?
Who was the narrator in the prologue?
Maybe there is going to be a sequel? Let’s hope so!

First and foremost thank you to Netgalley & to Bookouture for allowing me to read this novel for free in exchange for an honest review. This book is now available for purchase since June 5th. 🙏🏻❤️

Whew ....What a wild ride this book was!

End of part 1- MIND Blown! Yes...this Thriller "veteran" has been fooled! I didn't see that coming, and I actually thought to myself " Wait, what...?" I even contemplated rereading the ENTIRE first half of the book Again!!! Brilliant!

There is a quote that is used somewhere in the beginning 100 pages that reads , " Your heart led you into this mess, but you'll need your head to get you out!" I believe that this stands true for EVERY character that we meet in this book-- Sam, Natasha, Jen & Nick. What twisted webs we weave when it comes to something that the heart wants!

However, I do have to admit that I saw the twist at the end coming concerning the accident. I think I've read one too many thrillers! But it was still awesome nonetheless!

I would highly recommend this book to other thriller lovers, I read it within a 24 hour span and it never had a moment when the pace would slow down--- it certainly keeps you on the edge of your seat & craving more!

My only complaint was that there was a LOT of grammatical & punctuation errors throughout the entire book, these things stand out like a sore thumb to me since I've been an editor in two of my previous jobs. Hopefully they were all corrected before going to print a few days ago...


After that ending, I can only hope that there will be a sequel & I definitely look forward to reading more from this talented mastermind of an author!

I loved this author's first book. When I read the description for The Ex Wife, I wasn't so sure I'd enjoy it for some reason but I wanted to give it a try. So glad I did - this is a great book! It is gripping from the off and full of twists from the beginning. Even though I figured out one of the main twists, it was still beautifully revealed and tense. Well written and full of complex characters. Recommend!

I recommend everyone to read this novel. It's emotive and gripping. What I found most extraordinary is that I found myself liking and despising the characters in quick succession. It was a really weird experience as it was hard to figure out who was lying and who was genuine so it made you fluctuate like zig-zagging down a road. Alongside that your sympathies duck and dive. Natalie doesn't seem too smart or was so young, blinded and naive that she didn't anticipate. Never trust a liar and a cheat Natalie. Jen, the ex-wife can't leave Natalie and Nicky alone. She's lonely and needy. Nicky is immature and irresponsible. There are a few interesting issues raised like custody, solicitors, family court and PTSD. You are kept wondering about oblique references to an accident. What accident you wonder most of the way through? A really chilling story with a surprising ending. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

A roller coaster ride with amazingly fleshed out characters. If you are tired of reading thrillers where you just can't understand a character's motivation, give this one a shot. You'll question the characters in the beginning, but as the book goes on, Jess Ryder explains them so well and makes you understand their motivations, their weaknesses, their strengths... everything about them. There's plenty of crazy situations in this one, and lots of surprises to keep you on your toes.

Natasha has it all: a handsome, loving husband, an adorable child, and a beautiful home. No more working dead-end jobs and barely making rent. She doesn't have to worry about money at all, as Nick takes care of that. The one fly in the ointment is his ex-wife, Jen. She's always around... coming to family parties, sticking her nose in their business, taking up the little free time Nick has... and she's beyond tired of it. Yes, she began her relationship with him before they were separated... but she agreed to leave so quickly without a fuss, and it's time for her to move on so they can live their happily ever after.

That fairy tale is not. Happening. Suddenly, Nick and little Emily are gone. He's taken their things and simply vanished, leaving Natasha with nothing but an empty house for company. She's desperate to get her daughter back, but knows she's in for the fight of her life any way you look at it. Nick can afford the best lawyers and make her look unfit. But why would he do that, why would he want to? And how will she even find out where they've gone? Jen is offering to help her, but who can she trust?

We get mostly perspectives from the two women, plus the mysterious Anna... who the reader isn't quite sure about right away. This is a nice thriller with great, interesting characters. I loved the bits of reality about caring for a small child (it's not all fun) and the never-ending twists and turns the story took.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and Bookouture, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

Oh my bleeping goodness! THIS BOOK!!!! My nerves are still frayed and my heart rate has only just returned to normal - I'm still struggling to digest what I read!!

So, Natasha feels that she has landed on her feet with her husband, daughter, pre-made house, and pretty much a bottomless pit of money. How does the saying go? 'If it seems too good to be true then it usually is'. Whilst there are people around Natasha who have taken their rose tinted glasses off and can see the situation for what it is, Natasha hasn't gotten round to taking hers off yet. That's if she even does, of course. Even though Natasha believes that her life is perfect, she still can't get rid of the itch that has been with her from the moment she married her husband; his ex-wife, Jen.

A woman scorned perhaps? Jealousy? Whatever it is, Jen refuses to be forgotten, doing anything she can to keep her foot in the door of her ex-marital home. Literally.

Whose side do you go on? The scorned ex-wife, or the new wife who is living in the shadow of the ex-wife who is well and truly alive? Of course we're going to pick sides as readers, we're only human! At first I sided with Natasha. Then, as soon as more information came to light, I ended up switching sides and pretty much kept doing that until the very last page. Whilst the author, Jess Ryder, has put a lot of the focus onto the women, the husband doesn't get as much airtime because, conveniently, he is always out of town on business.

I am trying to be so careful and not give anything away, but it is so hard to keep quiet about a ticking time bomb such as this one.

If I had to sum up 'The Ex-wife' in one word it would be - compelling. Everything about this storyline seized me from the get go, as though I was getting arrested. Some parts were heart-breaking to read I'm not going to lie, but, whilst I struggled to swallow the lump in my throat as I read them, the depth of the storyline increased dramatically and I was blown away by the magnetism of the intensity that followed. Jess Ryder hasn't just written a story, she has written a two tiered,  highly charged, addictive, compelling, and severely shocking story which took me prisoner until the very last page.

'The Ex-wife' is such a dark and dramatic read, with multiple hard-hitting moments making my toes curl and my spine tingle. Hard to read in terms of the theme, but oh so brilliantly executed - I didn't see it coming at all.

I really enjoyed this one! The pace and twists kept me gripped, I would definitely recommend it. I will certainly be looking for more from this author.

Natasha is struggling to make it as a barista in the city. Living on a tight budget, she cycles to work daily until one fateful day dramatically changes her life for the better - or so she thought.

While racing down a steep street on her bike, Natasha accidentally swipes the side of a car and tumbles to the street. A handsome, older man steps out of the car to check on Natasha. She's fine, but the man, Nick, feels guilty and offers to take her out to dinner. Things seem innocent until Natasha finds herself falling hard for Nick. There's only one little problem: Nick is married to Jen, his high school sweetheart.

Natasha falls pregnant - something Jen never was able to do - and Nick casts aside Jen. He is eager to be a father and ready to welcome his new baby girl Emily into his life. Natasha moves into the house Nick and Jen shared and everything seems shockingly perfect beyond Jen's occasional lengthy phone calls to Nick. 

Things change when Nick gets one too many tickets and is under a court order not to drive. Jen suggests that he hire a private driver, which Natasha thinks is unnecessarily extravagant. Nick goes against Natasha's wishes and hires a driver, who ends up spending a great deal of time with Natasha. Natasha begins to question her reality as her driver suggests that Nick isn't being honest with her. Is Nick cheating on her? Is Jen somehow still involved with Nick? Is Nick really spending so much time on international business travel or is something else going on behind Natasha's back?

This book was an intense, hold-on-to-your seats ride from start to finish. The author drops hints here and there at what might be going on; clever suspense readers may figure out what's happening mid-way through the book, but that certainly won't spoil this tantalizing thriller for even the most seasoned mystery readers. This was a super quick read for me and so very difficult to put down! I loved how tension mounted in this book; it was there from the first page and continued to build with every turn of the page. 

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and Jess Ryder for an advanced reader copy of The Ex-Wife! I hope to read more of Ryder's books in the future!

It starts off slow and confusing. But after a few chapters The Ex Wife gets very suspenseful. You don’t know what will happen next. It beeps a fast based mystery what will happen next

My review is written with thanks to Noelle at Bookouture for inviting me to take part and for my copy of the book via Netgalley.
When Natasha married Nick and gave birth to daughter, Emily, she thought she had the perfect family. But Nick is still in touch with his ex wife, Jen, and one day, Natasha returns home to find herself locked out of the house with her husband and daughter nowhere to be found. She vows to find Emily and bring her home, but who can she trust to help her?
I've read and loved Ryder's previous novels, Lie To Me and The Good Sister, but The Ex Wife is on another level. It is told from several different points of view, and this allows the reader to get inside each character's head - and that's not always a nice place to be! It was impossible to separate the good guys from the bad guys and the people telling the truth from the people telling lies because the characters are so well constructed. Ryder is constantly working to make you change your mind about them.
I am simply in awe of the plotting in The Ex Wife. Every detail is meticulously planned and the twists are ridiculously clever. The first one is about half way through and from that point, they do not stop! Just when I thought I had something figured out, there was a twist to throw me off course and they kept coming time after time so that by the time I finished reading, I felt like I'd just stepped off a rollercoaster - and I was so gripped I had the white knuckles to prove it!

Thank you to Bookouture for letting me take part in this tour. This is the first book I have read by Jess but I do have her previous two on my TBR pile.

This book had multiple POV which I LOVE. I just love getting inside difference characters heads and seeing things from their perspective. First we have Natasha and then we have Anna. It took me a long time to work out the connection between the two and I thought I had it all worked out but I am glad to say I was wrong. The story flicks between not only these two POV bus also then and now. We don't know how long it is between then and now just that there has been some sort of time gap.

Natasha is married to Nick and they have a beautiful baby girl called Emily. Natasha has everything this could ever need and her life is perfect. I liked Natasha. I thought she was young and naive yes but I think she had a good heart. She was a likeable character despite her flaws. After her daughter had been taken I felt a lot of anguish for her.

Anna was a weird one and as the story unravelled you worked out why so I'm not going to say too much on her. She seemed nice enough but I got this odd feeling from her. Like something was off.

The story had a lot of twists and turns and it was hard to know who to trust. There were lots of layers to this story and it was clearly very well thought out. Sometimes I find psychological thrillers are extremely over hyped but for this one it is definitely not the case. I was gripped early on and struggled to put it down. Each character is very well written and you can easily feel all their emotions as you go through the situations with them.

I really enjoyed Jess' writing style and will be bumping her other books to the top of my TBR pile.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. Brilliant. I want to start by saying the cover is gorgeous (I like a good cover that catches the eye). The Ex-Wife will have you hooked just from reading the prologue, what a way to drag a reader in! I devoured this book within a day, I honestly was hooked and couldn’t put it down.

I DID NOT EXPECT THAT OUTCOME AT ALL. WOW… No spoilers here but your jaw will drop too. What a brilliant twist. A cleverly written suspense filled story with some very cunning and crafty characters within, who do you trust?

The story does highlight the bond between a mother and her child and as a mother myself I put myself into Natasha’s shoes and really felt for her character. If I was her I wouldn’t have coped at all! A brave, determined character. I was 50/50 about Nick from the start but what a nasty character he turned out to be.

A well deserved five stars, highly recommend! Gripping. I won’t forget this in a hurry. A fast paced story that you will want to finish in one sitting. Perfect.

The pace is fast and the tone is rather frantic (which I think worked well).

Here are the players–Game on…

Natasha – Current wife and mother to Emily

Emily– Young daughter of Natasha and Nick

Nick– Loving hubby and dad

Jen– Jealous ex-wife

Anna– You’ll find out when you read it! Yikes

The relationship between Natasha and Jen was very intriguing and I was curious about how it would play out. The ex, Jen was jealous that things worked out so beautifully for Natasha and Nick. I wanted to know more about her and why she behaved as she did. She seemed unable to move on after her divorce from Nick. Then, things take a turn and Natasha needs Jen’s help. Can she trust her though? After all, this is the woman who has been trying hard to tear her down.

I loved how this psychological thriller kept me asking myself, “What is going on?” and racing towards the end to find out. The twists were surprising and kept me on edge as they were revealed. I felt a shot of adrenaline as each chapter ended and compelled me to keep reading (which I did). Several times I literally sat straight up in bed and asked myself, “Did that just happen?” Who doesn’t love a “gotcha” moment!

Loads of fun! What a rocky suspenseful ride! I cruised through this one at lightening speed! 5 STARS of pure entertainment

The Ex-Wife by Jess Ryder an absolute page turner of a psychological thriller! If you want a fast-paced read, that will keep you on your toes and have no sleep.........this is a book for you. I was hooked from the first few pages and just had to finish this book as I could not put it down. This will be a book for you. It will leave you wondering what if? and what they are doing now when you come to the end of the book. A brilliant book I would highly recommend.

Big FAT 5 Stars from me.

Plus, a big Thank you to Jess Ryder, Bookouture, and Netgalley for providing me with this book for a review. I loved it

Review on my Goodreads and Amazon UK

5 Brilliantly Twisted Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Wow wow wow this book was simply brilliant! Jess Ryder Took me on one crazy ride.... this is my first book from this author, but it is definitely not my last! Admittedly up until about 35% I was a little unsure as to what was going on and then... BAM! huge swerve and then the twists kept coming!

Natasha has the perfect life, a doting husband, a beautiful daughter, the only problem.... the ex-wife... then one day Natasha arrives home to find no Nick, no Emily, no belongings... what is going on? Natasha is a terribly likable character and you just want her to figure all of this out, and get her daughter back....

The story is told from two points of view... Natasha then and Anna now... Anna is on the run, but from who? And why? And who is Anna? Oh what a well plotted story this is! As those layers start peeling away you start finding out secret after lie after secret after lie.... leaving you to believe absolutely nobody.... and the very end, creepy!

I read this book with my friend Mackenzie, who found a blog article written by the author.... to sum it up the author says the best way to create a good psychological thriller is to alter the readers perception and then let their imagination take over.... and that’s exactly what she did in this book, well done Miss Ryder 🥂

Absolutely recommend to fans of a good twisty psychological thriller... this is a must read!

*** many thanks too Bookouture for my copy of this book ***

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Debbie Krenzer
Debbie Krenzer's Reviews > The Ex-Wife
The Ex-Wife by Jess Ryder
The Ex-Wife
by Jess Ryder
12691311
Debbie Krenzer's review Jun 05, 2018 · edit
it was amazing
bookshelves: ebooks, net-galley-books

What a crazy ride this book was!! A twisted, complex and ever changing relationship between a husband, his wife and his ex-wife. I tore through these pages. I could not believe that someone could be that much of a psycho. One surprise . . . who is the real psycho in this story?

My opinions of a couple of these characters had me going back and forth as the author intended. However, my opinions never really changed regarding the psycho. I disliked that person from the very beginning. And, the more I read of that person, the more my dislike grew.

The twists in this book will have you (or at least it did me) looking up and thinking "OMG".

This was my first book by this author and if I have anything to do with it, it won't be my last. Excellent read!!

Thanks to Bookouture and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

OMG! Read this book! LIke now! It's a wild roller coaster of a ride where you have no idea where you are going or what's going to happen from one page to the next. Just when you think you have it figured out there's another twist or turn that will have you feverishly turning the pages so don't start this at night before bedtime because the next thing you know it's three o'clock in the morning when you have to be up at six. Definitely pick this up and remember to strap in for a wild ride. Happy reading!

This is the third book by Jess Ryder that I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing. Boy oh boy my first thoughts on finishing ‘The Ex-Wife’ were flipping hell (well ok maybe I used slightly stronger and ruder language) what a blooming fantastic book this is. I absolutely LOVED reading ‘The Ex-Wife’ but more about that in a bit.
I can’t honestly say that I took to the characters in this book, mainly because I just wasn’t sure which ones to believe!! Natasha is a young woman, who had an affair with Nick, when he was married to Jen. Nick leaves Jen for Natasha and moves in with her. They get married and they have a little girl called Emily. Natasha isn’t happy about the circumstances that led to her and Nick getting together and she seems to think that Jen wants Nick back. Natasha is paranoid that her husband’s family hate her and to be honest that doesn’t sound far from the truth. Nick’s family think an awful lot of Jen and don’t hesitate to let Natasha know exactly what they think of her and blame her for the end of Nick’s marriage to Jen. I did feel for Natasha at times as I know what it feels like to have alienated a whole branch of the family but at the same time I could see why they perhaps treated her the way that they did, especially given the circumstances that saw Natasha get together with Nick. Natasha is rather paranoid and I think that in a way Natasha’s behaviour does seem to drive Nick further towards Jen and his family. Natasha is bereft when Nick disappears with Emily and she is desperate to get them back, although it means that she might have to accept help from Jen. Jen does sound to be something of a nightmare. She doesn’t seem to want to let Nick go and she regularly makes some excuse to see him. Will Natasha get Emily back? Will Natasha and Jen ever see eye to eye? What is the truth? Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
Boy oh boy was this book good or was this book good? I became seriously addicted to reading ‘The Ex-Wife’ from the moment I picked it up and I binge read it over a couple of days. ‘The Ex-Wife’ is one of those ‘CPID’ (can’t put it down) books. The book wasn’t glued to my hand but it might as well have been because my Kindle came everywhere with me. I just had to read on and on to see how many more secrets would come tumbling out of the closet and how the latest twist in the tale would affect the different characters and what it meant for their futures. The story hits the ground running and maintains the pace throughout. Reading ‘The Ex-Wife’ was much like being on a rollercoaster ride with lots of twists, turns and moments that you don’t see coming until they happen and they leave you feeling as though you have been punched in the gut. There were also times when I almost had to read through my fingers as I genuinely feared what was going to happen next. This is one of those books that certainly messed with my head and kept me guessing all the way through.
To conclude, I have to say that for me, ‘The Ex-Wife’ is easily the best Of Jess’s books to date. I look forward to seeing what comes next from this fantastic author. Here’s hoping that we don’t have too long to wait. I would definitely recommend this author to other readers. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 5* out of 5*.