I have to say I struggled with this but I did finish it.   The synopsis sounded great but I just didn’t like how the story unfolded.
Diane lives with her husband Paul and three year old daughter Emma.  Diane is recovering from a breakdown which left her with memory loss.  One day she sees a woman who triggers something and from there her mental health declines.
I didn’t find the main character very likeable and didn’t like the story or ending but I finished it. You just feel very sorry for Emma who has two very disturbed parents.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC.
#NetGalley #TheGousewife

This started well but then stalled big time. I liked the writing and premise. I did finish it, so there’s that anyway. 

When one sentence gives away the plot way too early and basically ruins any further suspense I thought about pulling the plug. I didn’t, thinking there has to be more to this. Yeah, there isn’t. So from that point it is just reading about Diane drinking endless bottles of wine and popping pills while her asshat of a husband either ignores, berates or manipulates her.

I’m still not sure if the crying baby sounds were planted by Paul to push her over the edge or part of her memory starting to return (in her head). Also Paul grabs his stuff and says he will move out and then he is living in the house at the end?? And the epilogue was stupid. I would have preferred if she got him tossed in jail for embezzling vs that nonsense. And that embezzling thing come out of nowhere conveniently. Btw, where is Emma?!? 

This just was predictable and then a bit too ridiculous. The whole book Diane tries to convince herself and us that she is sane and then she goes batshit crazy in the epilogue - just doesn’t make sense. I think I would have behind this more with a more sensible epilogue...

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for a review.

It seems like most psychological thrillers I read are written by authors from the UK. This isn't a bad thing, but it does require learning new words. I found myself using Wikipedia to figure out what a "boot" was in a car (a trunk!). This book didn't pull me in immediately, but after a few pages I managed to get interested. 
It all starts off with Diane, a seemingly happy and perfect housewife. She met the man of her dreams and married him within months of meeting him. If it were me, red flags would've gone off in my head immediately. Her husband makes good money, which allows for a beautiful home and for Diane to be a stay at home mother. Diane did have some sort of a mental breakdown in the passed months and her husband seems to be super concerned about little things being "too much" for her, like volunteering at a donation clothing shop. MORE red flags.....it turns out, Diane had a mental breakdown for a reason. Read the book to find out what happened!

Diane and Paul are married, live in a lovely home in London and have a 3-year-old daughter named Emma. All should be wonderful in their world, but alas, things are not what they seem. Diane is recently returned from a short stay in a psychiatric center after having a breakdown. She can't remember what put her in the place and her husband says that the doctors want Diane's memories to return at her own pace. Diane tries to get back into her role as wife and mother but strange things start happening. She sees a woman hovering nearby and believes that she is being stalked. She drinks a lot, forgets things, and can't sleep so she's exhausted all the time. She hears the sound of a baby crying. Her one-loved lounge is a room that now fills her with fear. Diane is a freaking mess but somehow she knows that her husband is behind all of this and wonders, to what end? NO SPOILERS.

You've read this book before and there are no surprises here. It's typical psychological fiction -- the kind where you want to shake the main character and scoff at the unrealistic situations that keep occurring. I didn't like Diane nor any of the other one-dimensional characters in the book. This one just didn't do it for me though I was able to get through it quickly. Lots of repetition and the incessant mental angsting that I find hard to swallow. I may be reaching my last straw with domestic and psychological fiction so perhaps it's just me feeling like there's nothing new in this sub genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.

The Housewife was an addictive, gripping story from the very beginning. What better than a main character, Diane, who is unpredictable and unreliable. Diane has a spotty memory, and forgets things on a daily basis, and this only added to the thrill and excitement of the book. I found myself turning the pages to see what would happen next. I was unable to put this book down and I devoured it.

Diane had a previous breakdown of which she has no memory of. She was seeing a therapist and herself and her husband hope that she is on the road to recovery. Diane and her husband believe that slowly bits and pieces of her memory will start to come back to her and she will be able to get her memory back. However, things happen that make Diane paranoid, fearful and she believes she is beginning to lose her mind.

Will Diane recover her memory? What exactly happened for her to lose her memory? Why did she have a breakdown?

A great psychological thriller that is sure to be a hit with book lovers.

This is my first book by Valerie Keogh and i loved it i was really dragged into the story fealt really sorry for Diane and was so happy when emily talked to her, her husband is not a nice man i really wanted her to slap him the only thing was the ending.... i want to know more - well worth a read.

Diane is living a great life - great husband, Paul and wonderful daughter, Emma.  She is recovering from a nervous breakdown which had her hospitalized for a time and caused her to have some memory loss.  Her doctor's tell her she'll recover her memory in time.  She decides to volunteer at a local charity shop and one day encounters a strange woman that disturbs her.  She then begins to have anxiety attacks and even hears a baby crying somewhere in her house.  What has she forgotten?  And will it destroy her if she remembers?
This was a great thriller that started with a bang and ended with an awesome twist!  I really enjoyed reading it!
Thank you to Valerie Keogh, Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC of this great book!

Oooh this was a good one. Plenty of secrets, twists and turns. I really felt sorry for Diane throughout, she obviously had a hidden past she couldnt uncover and felt unloved. She is a strong, determined character. Emma is a little cutie! Anne is a great friend to have, I loved her character! 

Towards the end it starts to heat up and wow! A jaw dropping, shocking, unexpected outcome. Us mothers would do anything for our children and she did just that. Towards the end the story highlights an issue that is still evident and still happens to this day which is heart breaking and real. 

Brilliantly written. Easy to read. Short chapters. Fast paced. I needed to find out answers for poor Diane. A well deserved four stars. Highly recommend.

Happy release day!
Literally finished this book with a half an hour to spare. 
This has been the most interesting mystery thrillers I’ve ever read. I’ve never read anything like it. From the beginning you can tell that the main character is beyond insane and surprisingly she stays that way throughout the entire book. This is the main reason why it took me so long to read this because it was so hard to watch what she does next. It’s cringeworthy. I 100% believe that she is an unfit mother. 
   I gave this book a 2.5 star rating because it was a struggle to get through. I am, however, very impressed about some of the twists and turns at the end. I gave this rating the extra .5 star because of that. Another aspect that I did enjoy was that it touches upon mental illness a little. The author sheds a light on getting the help you need and how it can benefit from the people around you. 
   If I could get over how much I dislike the main character the I probably would have enjoyed the book more. Also want to make a note here about how the book was written. The author wrote in third person like someone else was talking about the the story. The person who is writing this story is made very clear at the end because Anne is a writer and if you put two and two together you’d get that she wrote this book about the main character. I give the author credit for that one. Very unique. 
  Overall, this wasn’t my favorite book to read but it does make you think about it after your finished reading it and that is what the author wanted. Talented writing and I knew the point she was trying to get across. I would recommend this book for someone who gets stuck in the endless loop of the same thriller over and over again. This will be a refreshing read because it’s different.

The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going!  The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down.  I cannot wait to read more from this author!

I was interested in the premise of this book and it was paced very well but the characters were not likeable , not just unreliable (which is fine, I love unreliable narrators). I love the topic of mental health but 3 weeks in treatment does not cure someone of their ailments especially with blackouts and a traumatic event.

 I was not a fan of her husband either as their interactions were quite sparse and added little to the story. 

It’s a quick read but not a pulse pounding thriller. I would have trouble recommending this to others.

Diane and Paul Andrews had first met at a cafe near where she worked in Bristol and he worked and lived in London.  Soon, they were spending weekends together and they quickly got married.  They moved into Paul’s beautiful home in London.  Diane got another job, but soon found she was pregnant.  She couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed as life has changed so quickly.  Now, they have Emma, age 3, and Paul has decided to enroll her at a local nursery.

Diane had been in a clinic for several weeks for a breakdown she suffered and now she cannot remember a large time period of the last year.  The doctors want her to remember things on her own at her own pace.  To help herself, she volunteers to work 3 days a week at a charity shop.  But when an encounter with a strange woman upsets her, making her think that the woman is stalking her,  things start to send her down a rabbit hole again.  Before long, she starts hearing a baby cry in the house and she thinks she may be having another breakdown.  

Wow!  This is a really good story that pulled me right into the plot.  I wondered about Diane’s sanity but admired her incredible love for her daughter, Emma.  What is happening to this poor woman?

I cannot give any more information out about this book but just know the ending will smack you upside the head.  It did me.  Well done!  Don’t miss reading this book.  It’s fabulous.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I enjoyed the Housewife, i wouldn't say it was a gripping book but it kept me entertained and was intrigued throughout to find out who the "stalker" was and didn't see it coming. All in all an enjoyable book and would be interested to read more the author.

Diane had a ‘ bit of a breakdown ‘ and had been admitted to a clinic for a few weeks until she felt better. But, she has lost months of memories and no one will tell her what happened leading up to her breakdown.

Her husband Paul, barely speaks to her and spends most evening in his office working, he keeps the door locked when he’s not in there. How much does his behaviour affect Emma’s state of mind?

Daughter, Emma, is a beautiful, happy child and is their world with both parents absolutely doting on her.

Paul persuades Diane that Emma is ready for nursery, to socialise with other children and while Emma agrees, she has doubts and her anxiety builds. To pass the time, Emma volunteers at a local charity shop and makes a friend in Anne, but her time there is short after a women approached her and then just ran away causing Emma to panic and get herself in a fluster.

As a result she doesn’t go back, but the same women keeps popping up everywhere but no one else seems to see her. She finally confides in Anne about her fears and even mentions the babies cries she hears during the nights. Poor Emma is drinking more and more to try to calm herself but she has now developed an irrational fear of her lounge.....is she heading for another breakdown?

I can’t and won’t say anymore because I would hate to spoil this marvellously tense tale. Valerie Keogh’s creative writing builds the tension so well, a cliche I know, but I really couldn’t put this down, great characters that I had real sympathy for and I could feel the panic building in this brilliant, believable psychological thriller.

I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review

Overall this is a good read. I felt empathy for what had happened to Diane but I found her hard to like as a character. I feel that the characters lacked depth. The plot idea was really good and what happened to Diane was heartbreaking. I just feel that there was something missing.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Holy smokes! This one blew me away! Powerful, Intricate, Intensive, and Dare I say Dangerously Disturbing to the Core! Triggering!
OMG! Diane and Paul seem just wonderful together to the normal outside world. I mean sure they have marital issues (who doesn't) but this relationship is different. After all he cares so much about her that she's now in therapy for her mental issues. 
However, is Paul a caring doting person in love with his wife or is there more sinister issues at play here.
You know many monsters aren't dressed as demons. Believe that! So what if he did have something else behind his actions, some other reasons, and what if her memory loss is for a reason?!
Hmmm makes you wonder.
This plot has played out before in numerous ways but this one has a uniqueness to it that captures readers no matter if you've read similar plots.
Twists and turns throughout this roller coaster ride.
Hold on tight!
Thank you Valerie, Bookouture, Netgalley, and Aldiko for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Diane is a twenty something working woman in Bristol, who meets Paul Andrews, an accountant and within two months of courtship they get married and move to his London home. Four years later, they have one daughter, Emma, who is almost three. The story begins with Diane having returned from a clinic after going through a nervous breakdown. She doesn't remember what happened that led to it and her relationship with Paul is strained though he is seemingly happy with Emma. She decides to go for volunteer work as Emma begins nursery and also because she is not ready for a full time job yet. But strange things begin to happen once she joins work. A woman who she suddenly meets at work begins to stalk her but she's not sure if it's real or hallucinations which leads to a chain of events as she starts lying more, begins to hear a baby crying and drink, basically go completely bonkers. But through sheer determination and love for her daughter she tries to reach the bottom of everything that's going on and she knows sooner or later she will have to face what her memory is trying to block from her.

I found the beginning to be pretty slow and it took me a couple of chapters to really hook in. This is my second book by this author following 'secrets between us'. There's definitely tons of improvement in this one and it pays off but again the characters were just annoying. For the longest time I couldn't connect with Diane. It was only in the last few chapters I began to root for her. The supporting characters Anne, Paul and few other characters make their mark but nothing significant. In the end what I really liked about the book was that it kept me hooked for a straight four hours.

Wow! I loved this book. At first I thought it was going to be a formulaic psychological suspense novel and couldn’t wait for it to come to the point. Paul Andrews, Diane’s husband, is almost a secondary character.  Not to much is known about him. Just returned from a psychiatric clinic Diane Andrews has no memories of what sent her there and doctors told her husband to let her recover the memories on her own. At first she seems weak and sickly and a bit paranoid but she develops into quite a strong and admirable character. The book flows along at a good pace and gave Diane and me enough red herrings to have us doubting everyone.  Perhaps because of the lack of details at the beginning, the climax was a shock to me, but the ending was oh so satisfactory. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book. I can’t wait to read more of Valerie Keough’s work!

My thanks to Bookouture for an eARC via NetGalley of Valerie Keogh’s domestic noir ‘The Housewife’.

Diane Andrews has recently had a breakdown though is now back home and getting herself together but has memory issues regarding the time leading up to her hospitalisation. Her husband, Paul, insists that their 3-year old Emma start attending a pre-school nursery even though Diane is a stay-at-home mum. 

After Emma begins to attend the nursery Diane decides to take on a part-time volunteer position at a charity shop. However, on her first day a customer has a strange reaction to her and flees the shop. After that Diane starts seeing the same woman everywhere: standing outside her house, watching as she picks up Emma from school. Other strange things keep happening which I won’t go into but Diane is pretty upset. Add to this Paul is very distant.

Once started I pretty much was unable to stop reading. Keogh really captures the sense of a cascade of thoughts and apparent events that are quickly driving her protagonist Diane to the edge of a relapse. I really felt for her. Plus, although Diane seemed to have a starry-eyed attitude towards Paul based upon their early relationship, I just found him a complete control freak. 

There was a fair amount of repetition in terms of Diane’s daily routine but for me this added to the sense of how trapped she was feeling and that cascade effect. I would have liked a bit more in the epilogue.

The housewife

I had the opportunity to read this book thanks to NetGalley. I love a good thriller and this one did not disappoint.

Diane and Paul are happily married with a daughter Emma. It seems Diane has had a mental breakdown and lost her memory for several weeks. Paul seems very odd and distant and soon Diane starts hearing things and believes a mysterious woman is following her. I honestly couldn’t put this book down and I loved how you suspected each character of sinister intentions. The ending blew me away. This is an amazing book and I highly recommend it! I will definitely seek out others from this author as well.
Thanks again NetGalley!