Some aspects of this book were really good, some far less enjoyable. It basically teetered out to be an overall OK read if you enjoy the thrillers/mysteries.

The characters are sort of ambiguous in that you're not really sure if you are supposed to like them or not - which I actually think totally works for this genre. The prose was fine to read - nothing particularly bad or good, though maybe a little repetitive at times. (Seriously though authors, can we please stop with the having to mention every time a character gets a cup of coffee.)

The part that really fell flat for me, however, was the ending. The tension in the book was built up pretty well even though you get confirmation pretty early on of what is happening. I assumed the rest of the time would be spent figuring everything out and building a plan, but the plot kind of just putters out. I was hoping for some big bang at the end and got what I felt was a bit of a rush job with a wrap up that felt unbelievable (not in a good way).

This is an engrossing book. It’s is a little slow and repetitive in the beginning but yet the need to keep reading and trying to understand what happened is unavoidable. Diane’s past is very mysterious, you keep reading more and yet have no idea what happened to Diane and how she ended up in the clinic. It is a dark psychological mystery that you simply can’t put down.
I enjoyed this book but I have serious issues with the lead character Diane. I don’t understand the irresponsible behavior shown by Diane; she’s just out of a clinic, has no idea how she ended up there, feels like she’s losing her grip on sanity and yet she’ll take more sleeping pills and painkillers than she should and she’ll mix them with alcohol too! It makes no sense to me to see someone desperate to find their truth yet so reckless with medication knowing fully well that it makes it harder for them to be alert and aware. Her behavior made me actually like her less instead of making me feel sympathetic to her. Also hard for me to swallow was how she hid things from her husband and how instead of being honest or even confrontational about the distance Paul put between them she chose to ignore it or play along so to say. She decides to put her trust in Anne but not once does she actually look her up on the internet to find out more about her especially when she says she’s an author of 8 books! She registers that Anne must be successful only when she sees her house. All of this behavior is beyond the realm of reality for me. I found that I was getting more and more annoyed by Diane as the plot moved along. Kudos to the author for creating an unlikable yet vulnerable character.
At the climax I did feel sympathy for Diane and I truly felt bad for her. The epilogue was a good way to leave the book almost hanging and a perfect segue to a sequel perhaps.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley, #TheHousewife

Also shared on: https://romasharma.blogspot.com

At first I wasn't enjoying this book, it seemed rather mundane and pedestrian but then it picked up pace and began a roller coaster ride of mistrust and misdirection. Who was telling the truth? What was real? Was Diane still mentally unstable? Then the gripping conclusion. I do feel that both the book cover and the title are a bit mumsy to draw readers in to purchase the book.

“There’s no place like home” – that’s what I tell myself as I pull another flawless meal from the oven. This perfect house on a quiet street was supposed to be my sanctuary, a place to recover. But everything changed the moment I saw that woman in the charity shop. She triggered something dark, buried deep within my memory…

Now I’ve started forgetting small things, like locking the front door. And bigger things, like remembering to pick my little girl up from nursery. I feel terrified every time I pass through a particular spot in our living room.

And sometimes, when I’m alone, I’m sure I can hear a baby crying… I think the woman in the shop knows what happened to me. But if I can’t trust myself to believe she’s real, who will?

One of my new favorites!! I loved this book so much, it has all of my favorite parts of a psychological thriller... This is one that will sit with you even after you read it. It gave me an uneasy feeling and the ending was fantastic! I highly recommend this one.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheHousewife
Pub Date: 27 Feb 2019

Being someone who reads a ton of books sometimes I find that while a story seems a bit familiar it still ends up being an extremely entertaining read. The Housewife by Valerie Keogh is one of those psychological thrillers that may not have seemed overly original but still pulled me in and kept the pages turning.

What we begin with is Diane who to a stranger would be a housewife with a wonderful life but things are not always what they seem. Diane is actually recovering from a break down that she really can’t even remember much about but after a few weeks in therapy she and her husband hope that she is on the mend.

As Diane goes about her day to day caring for her child and trying to get back out and start living her life again she begins to notice signs of things not quite being right. When she encounters a mystery woman that keeps showing up in various places she begins to wonder if she is slowly losing her mind.

Even though as I said before that I’ve read novels similar to this set up the characters and plot stilled pulled me in. While it does progress somewhat slowly it has that air of distrust that kept my attention which is a plus as I’m one to begin to lose interest if things are moving too slowly. After finishing this story I would definitely try another book from this author in the future.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Diane and Paul are working through a rough patch where Diane suffered a breakdown. Now Paul wants their 3 year old daughter, Emma, to go to nursery and for Diane to get out more and start living but she can’t remember a large portion of her life. Strange things keep happening and she needs to get to the bottom of it.

I struggled with this at first. I plodded along and it didn’t make much impact on me but the last 30% of the book was worth it. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Housewife by Valerie Keogh is an interesting book, a bit different which is nice. First of all it has a gorgeous cover! I really got into this story of mental illness, family and trust. It wasn't completely obvious who was messing with Diane's Mandy mind. My only real complaint was that the ending was a bit rushed compared to the rest of the book. But other than that I really liked it.

Diane and Paul used to be a happy couple. They have their daughter and a lovely home and Paul makes good money. But things changed when Diane had a breakdown and spent some time in hospital recovering. SInce she has come home things have not been the same. She has started to drink more and is starting to hear and see things. Her memory is not what it used to be and her life seems to be a series of disasters. She isn't even sure she can trust her husband. Is she losing her mind again or is somebody out to get her?

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

Thank you for this ARC!

I really wanted to love this book. However, I kept putting it down and then kept trying to get back into it. Very slow, hard to get through.

Sorry! I really struggled to engage with anything in this book. I found the writing style tedious and the storyline slow and monotonous. It was such a good premise and I so wanted to enjoy it, but, I'm afraid it just didn't happen.

I'm grateful to the publishers and net galley for the opportunity to preview.

Many thanks to Valerie Keogh, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I wish to thank Bookouture once again for the opportunity to read and review. The Housewife is an intriguing, twisty book that will keep you guessing till the last chapter. Diane is recovering from a breakdown and is unsure what triggered it. Is she still unwell and imagining all these weird things happening to her. Is her husband devoted to her or plotting against her.

I couldn't put this down. One to read.

The Housewife
Valerie Keogh
Description
“There’s no place like home” – that’s what I tell myself as I pull another flawless meal from the oven. This perfect house on a quiet street was supposed to be my sanctuary, a place to recover. But everything changed the moment I saw that woman in the charity shop. She triggered something dark, buried deep within my memory…

Now I’ve started forgetting small things, like locking the front door.

And bigger things, like remembering to pick my little girl up from nursery.

I feel terrified every time I pass through a particular spot in our living room.

And sometimes, when I’m alone, I’m sure I can hear a baby crying…

I think the woman in the shop knows what happened to me. But if I can’t trust myself to believe she’s real, who will?



Sadly for me, the book felt a bit drawn out. It felt like many books before. Same story different names. I could not connect or feel much. It was far too repetitious. I suppose after 3 days I finished and just felt it was so-so.

Thank you, NetGalley for the advance copy for my review.

Amazing I could not put this down! A bit creepy with well developed characters. Would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Tense chilling unputdownable. .I sat down to read a few pages & didn’t look up till the end.#netgalley #bookoture

I have just finished The Housewife, in fact I could not stop reading until I finished. Having read almost all of this authors books I found this one the most captivating book to date. The development of the characters was marvelous. The authors ability to bring you into the room when Diane the main character is experiencing her strange episodes is amazing,. The description of the character Anne is wonderful, you can visualize her appearance. I do not want to give too much away but this book is certainly worth reading, I was just sorry it had to come to an end. I would also like to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this latest book from Valerie Keogh

Absolutely fantastic, bit creepy but I couldn't put it down! Loved Diane and the way other characters weaved in, will be recommending to everyone.

Fab......u........lous, what a fantastic book, just how I like them, into the story straight away from the very first page. A well developed story with good characters, an edge of seat psychological thriller and a fantastic knicker gripper!

I can't rave any more about this only that it is a must read with a great ending I never saw coming.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture who publish some fantastic books with great covers.

The Housewife is a psychological thriller. Diane is said housewife. Her mind is unraveling. She has blackouts and can't remember things. She thinks someone is stalking her. She has hallucinations about things that aren't really there. Is she going crazy? Is she being stalked? What is causing the blackouts? Diane is a sympathetic character. She's intriguing and complex. The story unfolds slowly so that the tension builds until the twisty ending. This is a story of paranoia and mental illness. The question at the heart of it is, Can you trust your own mind? Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Well written thriller kept me hooked where I was even thinking about the characters whilst I was doing other things. Would recommend to anyone who likes this genre reminded me a little of Girl on the Train, where you are kept guessing until the end. 5 Stars!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy of ‘The Housewife’.
With the synopsis of the novel offering a promise of a gripping, heart pounding and jaw dropping read I have to say I was disappointed and feel the novel failed to match up to any of those things. Instead, it quickly became extremely repetitive as the main character ‘Diane’ seemed to be spinning in an endless loop of confusion about what was real life and what was a product of her imagination. In addition, I also found it difficult to connect with the characters as for me, their reactions (especially Diane’s) to situations just wasn’t believable. By 60% in I wanted to give up but I persevered and then unfortunately found the ending to be disappointing.

However, I did enjoy the authors writing style and found it to be very well written.

Thank you to Bookouture for approving me and Netgalley for the advanced copy of "The Housewife".
I am new to the author Valerie Keogh, so was unsure as to what to expect.

From the beginning of the book I couldn't connect to the Main Character "Diane" because of her name... Also her husband "Paul".  Now I know this is a very random thing to point out, but these names make me imagine someone to be in their late 40s early 50s, and it just didn't tally up with who they were supposed to be.
Then further into the book you have a character called "Sophie" who is a frail old lady. The names were not great for connecting me to the description of these people and this put me off, I like to be able to imagine my characters and I just couldn't shake off an unease about them, not being able to picture them. I have never had this disassociation by names before!.

The story starts out very slow indeed, at 21% in the book I wanted to give up, but I kept with it, even at 40% I still felt is there a point to this and felt impatient to find out why it was a Physcological Thriller.

That point never came. Anticlimax at its best.

Very drawn out and the anticipation of the twist just wasn't good enough of a shocker.