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.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this eBook by Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A definite page turner!

Rating: 4/5

Book Insight: Diane is a wife and doting mother that has been through a lot, and after a recent breakdown her memory seems to have blocked quite a bit out. So much so that it starts interfering with her day to day life. She starts forgetting simple tasks and finds sleep doesn't come easily anymore. Is something dark going on right under her nose? Or is she losing her mind and headed for another breakdown?

The Good: This story line was gripping from the first page. I immediately wanted to know what was going on. Valerie Keogh did an amazing job of building an addictive plot. The main characters were described flawlessly and I was really able to picture them and the story playing out as I was reading. And OMG y'all...the epilogue gave me chills. It was executed brilliantly.

The Bad: Although the plot of the book was extremely interesting there were quite a few parts that were very slow moving. Also, it was quite a predictable ending, but still enjoyable nonetheless.

Should you buy it?: I say go for it! I'd love to have it on my shelf! 😊

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.

Perfect for fans of Girl on a Train!!!! This story followed a very similar formula. Diane is having black outs and can't seem to have a probable cause. It was a bit slow for me through the middle - but the ending made it all worth it. I found the characters to be slightly unbelievable. They all seemed a little too ready to agree with whatever Diane suggested. Despite this, she is able to find the truth about the past year - one she can no longer remember.  What is causing Diane's blackouts?  Was three weeks in an institution enough time to heal? Can you ever trust anyone but yourself?

Great book! Twist that i didn't see coming near the end. Was a thriller for sure!


Thanks to net galley and the publisher for an early release of this book

I was really excited to dig into this novel. The synopsis sounded really good and I was expecting to be sitting on the edge of my seat while reading this book...Well it turns out it was not my cup of tea (*sight*). However I need to be honest and say that I am rarely happy with mystery/thriller/suspense novels...It seems that my taste in this genre is a little too demanding or I am just a reader that is hard to satisfy.  There are not a lot of books out there in this genre that I would give 5 starts to, so this said I would give 3 starts to “The Housewife”.  What did not work for me is the drawn out and repetitive behavior of the main character.  Also it seems that lately I’ve read a lot of novels where the main heroine drinks a lot of alcohol (mostly wine) and takes a lot of different pills which causes her to blackout and sleep a lot (go figure *gasp*). Maybe this is the new formula for the main character of mystery/thriller/suspense novels, but sadly, it is not working for me anymore. What I really liked about this book is the finale. I think the author did good job at getting everything tied up and she even left a little cliffhanger at the end (maybe a sequel is in works?).  
I would like to thank NetGalley, Valerie Keogh, and Bookouture Publisher for giving me a chance to read an advance reader copy of this novel.

A suspense book that pulled me  in from the first page to the last . With twists I didn’t see coming, the plot moves forward at breakneck speed, and a surprise ending. My only complaint is the epilogue because I feel like we’re left hanging without a final resolution between Diane and Paul, and Diane’s character seems to have unpleasantly changed.
Still, a wonderful read, and I highly recommend

**This was an advance copy provided to me by Netgalley for review. 

It was well-written and engaging for the most part, although I didn't really find myself being too emotionally invested in the characters.  If you're a fan of psychological thrillers/mysteries, then you'll see all the clues as you're led along the garden path the author wants you to take.  There wasn't really anything 'new' or original about the plot line, and it was fairly obvious as to what was happening. 
I liked it well enough that I would recommend it! It was a nicely told story and it wasn't overblown or annoying.  
The ending was a little weak and unfinished for me - I am left wondering if the author was trying to add/imply a final twist or if it was just a Stephen King ending (seemingly unfinished). 
Overall I put this one in the PLUS column.

Thank you to net galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this copy.

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…

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of The Housewife.  I was anticipating this book because I loved Secrets Between Us but I was disappointed,  it was very repetitive and drawn out.  The ending was good but I figured it out about a third of the book. I stuck with it because it held a bit of my attention but I expected better.

This was a well written psychological thriller, it grabbed you and kept you guessing from the beginning and didn't let go until the end. I would recommend this book.

Well done domestic suspenser.  I guessed the plot quickly and determined who the "bad" guy was.  The suspense and tension came from the players around the main character - was one of them out to get her?  Who can she trust?  Is she really losing her mind - again?

Satisfying ending but the Epilogue - hmmmm…..

2.5
Perfect for fans of C.L.Taylor and B.A.Parris.

I liked the premise of this book and it was interesting to see how quickly Diane’s mind started to unravel, but I honestly felt like 1. 3 weeks in a clinic does not solve an existing mental health issue, that’s far too quickly for her to be released if she was genuinely having these blackouts after something traumatic sparked it, and 2, it was so incredibly obvious what had happened in the past and what was happening now that I didn’t get that sense of tension.

Her husband is an awful character but really he’s barely in it other than to come home for dinner so he didn’t add anything to the plot. She found out more going through his things than by any interaction with him.

It’s a quick read and the pacing is good, I just wanted the reveals to be shocking not something that was obvious from the outset.

I was absolutely drawn in by this book, what an amazing, cleverly written  read, with a twist that will leave you gob smacked, I loved every minute of this book, it's a definitely a highly recommended read.

Diane and Paul married after a 2 month courtship. Diane stopped working in IT when she has her baby, Emma, who is now 3 years old. The problem is that Diana lost over a year of memories... She knew that she had been in a private hospital for a few weeks: that's about it

Paul has been less than amorous toward Diane and would like to see his daughter go to nursery school (and for his wife to get a job). This all happens quickly; Emma likes "school" and Diane's paranoia and panic attacks return. (As do the blackouts?) Diane volunteers for one day and falls from a blackout. She does not return to the charity shop she volunteered at. Instead, she feeds her paranoia with wine and painkillers. Eventually, Anne, from the charity shop, is the only one Diane can trust. Anne makes a living writing fantasy fiction.

Soon paranoia becomes Diane's best friend and she spirals down the road to insanity. She (?) imagines a strange woman, her husband's affairs, baby cries and falls prey to negative thoughts.

What will happen?

An EXCELLENT story with a great plot and well developed characters!
Many Thanks yo Bookouture and NetGalley for an extremely interesting read!

The Housewife by Valerie Keogh is a fabulous domestic noir.  I could not turn the pages quickly enough through the slow building tension that raised the hairs on the back of my neck from the very start.

Diane meets Paul, and the two marry weeks later folowing a whirwind courtship.  Daughter Emma joins the couple very shortly afterward.  Four years on, we learn that Diane has had a very difficult time over the last year, with large gaps in her memory, and a stint in a psychiatric facility.  Tension and almost unbearable suspense build when Diane is convinced that a woman is stalking her, turning up at both her daughter's school, and on her own street.  Further adding to her confusion and unease, Diane is convinced that she can hear a baby crying in the house, yet husband Paul denies hearing any such thing.  Is Diane having a relapse or is Paul, for whatever reason, trying to push her over the edge?

This was a wonderful read, and I was enthralled from the first page.  I honestly did not know which way things were going to swing for Diane until the very end.  I would love to read more from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this wonderful ARC.

Now this is how a book should be done!! The Housewife gripped me quickly and refused to let go until I'd reached the final page. Valerie has such a way with words, I felt myself going crazy reading this..I just needed to know how it all came together and when it did it was brilliant. Overall it was a dramatic read and I would highly recommend. 5/5!