The Last Wife by Karen Hamilton is one of those books that reminds me of a car wreck you just can't take your eyes off of. A domestic suspense where every single character lies and commits heinous acts. The story is told by main character Marie who is completely psychotic and unlikable. The writing was a little disjointed but I almost felt like it was intentional because of Marie's nuttiness. It was honestly hard to go on because I just didn't care about her, but like I said it was like a car wreck! I had to finish to find out if she was going to get away with needling her way into her late friend's family. Overall, the story itself was shocking and twisty and at the end I was sort of rooting for Marie.
*Thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy. All my opinions are my own.

This is my first Karen Hamilton book and honestly I am still trying to figure out how I feel about it. It is in the domestic style that is trendy right now. For my part I didn't really feel connected to the main character at all and didn't even really like or think she was that interesting. I pushed forward to find out how this book would go nonethless.

The flow was fine and it kept me reading, but to be really honest, there wasn't a lot of mystery here. It was full of lies and people that I didn't really want to know more about. Maybe this is the unpopular opinion but I had a hard time enjoying this.

So, I feel like this book is more of a family drama than a thriller. There was really nothing thrilling about this book. At least there wasn't until towards the ending of the book unfortunately. I'm also sure Karen wanted her this way but I found it so hard to like the main character. I found her annoying and that made it hard for me to really even get into the book. Despite this the book does flow really well and it is interesting. It just wasn't exactly for me like I was hoping.

This was my second Karen Hamilton book and while I didn’t love it as much as her first one, I still enjoyed it. I’d call it more of a mystery/family drama than a thriller, which seems to be a trend right now, for better or for worse. I struggled with if I should call Marie an unlikable narrator. She is manipulative, selfish and has boundary issues. But I also feel for her at times, even when she makes the wrong decision. It does seem like her heart is in the right place sometimes, but she doesn’t know how to act like a “normal” person would. As I mentioned before, there’s a lot of family drama and a little mystery regarding the big accident from Marie’s past. It was a fairly quick-paced story and it kept my attention, but I could see how others could be turned off by the lack of intrigue and mystery. The ending does land a bit of a punch, but it takes a while to get there.

When Marie’s best friend Nina dies, Marie immediately makes good on her promise to take care of Nina’s family. Before she passed, Nina insisted Marie make sure everyone remembers the good about her and that her family is taken care of. Marie was always jealous of Nina and when things in her own life aren’t working out, it’s clear the life she’s meant to have is with Nina’s family, whatever it takes. Nina had two children and a doting husband as well as a great group of friends, but she also had secrets.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book. Marie acted like a child at times or an unhinged woman, which is great for thrillers/suspense novels, yet with no history of why or how she became the way she was, it just didn’t make sense. Camilla was an absolute wild card thrown into the book that still has me reeling. The whole novel was disjointed and it didn’t flow. It was like there were two stories and they didn’t really seem to add up or ultimately connect.

My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A multilayered domestic thriller pushing the boundaries of the devotion one has to friends and family.

THE LAST WIFE is one hell of a ride. What is lacking in action it certainly makes up for in intrigue, deceit, and mind games. Hamilton has given her readers all the elements for an addictive story complete with long-hidden secrets, death-bed promises, and a bit of salaciousness all will a looming threat.

What I loved about this particular book is the way the author carefully peels back the layers of lies. As the reader, we are not hit with it all at once. Obviously, there is an urgency to Nina’s desire to find out the truth, but there is also a delicious slowness to the way it all comes out. The ominous danger is always there, but there are also questions. Who are these characters really? Can we trust Nina? I love it when I don’t know who to believe as the characters being to reveal their true nature. So good!

From the beginning until the end, I was completely engrossed in this book. It sucked me in with the promise of a web of lies and it delivered.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

I know there are a lot of mix reviews about this book but I actually enjoyed it. Nina is battling cancer and she makes her best friend Marie promise her that she will take care of her husband and her kids. But both of these friends have so so many secrets its almost hard to believe. ALMOST. There is betrayal and neither woman truly knew the other one.

Loved this and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

I just couldn't get into this one. I finished it, but kept asking myself why. It was FINE but there are so many other GOOD books that I would've rather picked something up with better character development and a more engaging and interesting plot line.

This sounded great from the synopsis: Nina and Marie are best friends until Nina passes away from a terminal illness. On her deathbed Nina makes Marie promise to take care of her family. However, what Nina didn’t realise is just how far Marie would go to fulfil that wish. What Marie didn’t know is that Nina had secrets of her own. Dark and terrible secrets that all stemmed back to one fateful night in Ibiza.

It sounded good but in practice, but sadly I just found The Last Wife dull. Marie as the single narrator just seemed to drone on in a monotonous tone. I couldn’t bring myself to like a single character in the book and the only people I felt sorry for the entire way through were the kids. Who were really only treated like plot tools.

There were some beautiful passages which were incredibly written, but overall this was a bit of a miss for me. I am not someone who as to like the narrator to enjoy the book, but I do feel like there has to be something about them worth reading about. While Marie’s back story was definitely interesting, there was just not enough of it to save this book for me.

I think if Hamilton had provided details of Marie, Nina and Camilla’s back story as flashbacks (rather than Marie’s single tone internal monologue reflecting back) it would have helped to give a much needed additional depth to the story. It would have also worked to build up their friendship to be able to use that as the foundation for the narrative. The dichotomy of how friendships can be both nurturing and toxic would have been a great angle to take, as the lack of a foundation to the story meant that The Last Wife became a little lost. As for Ben…..well I just have no idea what that dimension added to the story at all.

This genre keeps the reader wondering what is really going on. A character driven story that keeps one’s attention off and on. Although the ending is somewhat predictable, it is still a read for that rainy afternoon.

I want to start this review with a disclaimer. I read this book when a LOT was going on around me. I had to read it when I could catch a few minutes here and there. I was intrigued by the set-up. You can read the synopsis elsewhere, but let’s just say that Marie (the main character) finds out that she is not the only one with secrets. Frankly, I didn’t like her. I thought she was manipulative and an opportunist. There were some twists and curves, and the book did pick up after a while. I wish that I had been able to devote more attention to the book because I think I would have appreciated it a lot more. You may have a completely different experience. For a detailed review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for a digital ARC of the book.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

Karen Hamilton is a new-to-me author. But after reading this book, I am definitely going to reading more of her books. There was such an engaging style to this book and I was hooked right from the start.

This is one of those unique books where I found myself not necessarily liking any of the characters but at the same time, I found myself completely obsessed with the story line. It's very weird, but as soon as I started this one, I knew something wasn't not as it seems with Marie and I needed to know what it was. And the deeper I got into the story, the crazier things get. Nothing in this book is what it appears to be and I absolutely love books like that...they just get under my skin because I have this burning need to find out what the heck is really going on.

I loved that ever so slowly the suspense builds in this book and at the same time, layers are peeled back to reveal secrets and quite the web of deceit amongst this group of friends. All the characters have something to hide and it gives you the sense that you don't really know who is trustworthy and who is not.

These are the types of books that I love to read...they are completely binge-worthy and it almost doesn't even matter if you like the characters or not. You just want to get to the bottom of things. Obsession can make us quite jealous and here it turns out that things aren't always better on the other side.

This would make a great summer read - it's a quick, addicting one that once you start, you really don't want to put down. And if all of Karen Hamilton's books are like this, I definitely will be reading more of her and soon!

Wishing to Have Your Friend’s Life

Marie has always admired her friend Nina and wishes she had her life. It’s the life she wants for herself. When Nina dies of a terminal illness, she makes Marie promise to take care of her husband, Stuart, and her children, Felix and Emily. Marie enjoys being needed by Nina’s family. When her marriage comes apart, she moves to become even more central in their lives.

At first it seems Marie will have her heart’s desire. She can actually live Nina’s life, but Nina wasn’t perfect, and Marie discovers that she kept secrets. As Marie uncovers the secrets, she finds them entwined with her own life.

The story is told through Marie’s eyes. At times she seems to give the straight facts, but at others you wonder if she’s a faulty narrator. She a character I found hard to empathize with. In many ways, she seemed callous wanting to take over someone else’s life.

The story has many twists. Trying to figure out where the narrative was headed kept me reading. I admit I was surprised at the ending. I also found that I liked Marie less at the end. Her character didn’t improve for me.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, you may enjoy this one. It can hold your attention even if the characters are not compelling.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

The premise for The Last Wife is certainly a good one - the story is more domestic drama than thriller in my opinion, but it still has a solid foundation. Marie is an intriguing character who kept me bouncing back and forth for a bit. I'd almost feel for her and then, not so much. As the story progresses, Marie became harder and harder to like. Fortunately, I don't have to like a main character to enjoy the story. That said, I really would've liked to have seen a little more suspense, maybe a bit more danger for Marie, but the book is still an entertaining read, especially as things start to come together. I will caution that the story is more predictable than I prefer, which again, isn't always a bad thing, and the writing style is good, as is the flow, so predictable or not, I enjoyed the read.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆
M/F Psychological Thriller

Marie has always been good friends with Nina. When Nina is diagnosed with a terminal illness, she makes Marie promise to take care of her family. Marie is trying very hard to fulfill that promise, but with everyone around them with their own agenda, Marie isn't quite sure what to believe.

As people and events from their past creep up, Marie has to decide who she can trust. As you catch glimpses of the past and see how it melds in the future, you're left wondering who is keeping which secrets.

There are twists and turns in this story that definitely keep you guessing. It's not a fast-paced novel, but more of a slow burn instead. And while I found it a little predictable, it wasn't in an annoying way. It did make me want more from the book – the story in general. Everyone was bad and nobody was good, which made for a somewhat confusing storyline. Overall, while I enjoyed it, it wasn't your typical thriller.

Triggers: Death

The Last Wife is the latest domestic thriller by Karen Hamilton, author of The Perfect Girlfriend. Initially, I really loved the writing and the tense suspenseful mood of the book. I felt like Marie was a complex character with lots of secrets and I was interested to figure out what she was hiding.

Unfortunately, the book kind of stagnated in the middle and I found myself wishing more was happening or it just skipped ahead to the good stuff.

There were quite a few twists at the end, but none of them really had the wow-factor for me.

If you love a really slow burn and enjoy this author you may get more out of The Last Wife.

Many thanks to Graydon House and NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Last Wife by Karen Hamilton is a thriller that centers around jealousy and deceit. This one is the story of two women who were once best friends, or so it seemed.

Marie and Nina had been friends forever so when Nina is diagnosed with a terminal illness she turns to her friend Marie and requests that Marie look after her family when she’s gone. Marie of course is more than happy to do so, however, Marie is quick to agree to suite an agenda of her own.

Marie is desperate for a child and after Nina’s passing she finds her own relationship at an end. Marie quickly moves on from her failed relationship though by starting another with Nina’s husband as she quickly moves into her best friend’s life. That move for Marie however unleashes a bombshell from Nina’s past she wasn’t expecting.

The Last Wife was a story that to me seemed to move at an incredibly slow pace which ended up for me a fight to hold my attention. It is also one you have a somewhat unlikable and unrealiable narrator so that didn’t help my enjoyment. It seemed to take forever to get passed the opening obsession with the late best friend and move to other things so in the end I felt this one only came in at 2 1/2 stars for me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

When I read Karen Hamilton’s last book – The Perfect Girlfriend, I was blown away by how utterly deceptive the main character was. From the moment I read the book I knew she was deceptive, it was a fact the author didn’t shy away from. Every chapter, every scene led me down a darker path and it was thrilling!

Which meant I couldn’t wait to read The Last Wife!

I was prepared to discover a character I couldn’t trust…in fact, I was ready for it, it was all I could think about when I wasn’t reading this book. What I didn’t expect was that not only could I not trust the main character, but every single character in this book was untrustworthy! Who was I to trust? What was the real story? I had no idea, which made me turn page after page after page.
Every character is deceptively flawed with a past that’s so dark and twisted, you’re not sure what to believe.
While the story wasn’t quite what I was expecting (especially after reading The Perfect Girlfriend), it was quite an enjoyable read that left me questioning everyone and everything I’d read.
If I had to give it a rating – it would be 4 out of 5 for me. If you were to ask which story to read first…you won’t go wrong reading either one!

The Last Wife takes us into our main character, Marie's head, after the death of her best friend, Nina, who had what Marie wants most. A tangled, messy, twisty web of obsession, jealousy, possession and secrets start to form. Being in Marie's head is intense, and her thoughts are a bit much at times. I wasn't sure how to feel about her, and, at times, I felt empathy for her, and she entertained me and other times I was rolling my eyes at her.

There are a few unlikeable characters here with secrets of their own weaved into the story making this a twisty one. It's all about those secrets and the story takes on a lighter feel to it then this dark and twisted reader is used to. The drama to the story moves it forward and there's are a few strings to the storyline. I became tangled up in the strings trying to figure out what direction the story was going and just when I thought I untangled the line, it got tried up in another one. Around the halfway mark, the story goes in a direction I was not expecting, and buried secrets start to come to light. Marie is determined to find the answers, and the tension begins to rise, and I was exhausted from looking for answers to my questions.

Things wrap up well and this one makes for a lighter, suspenseful read with some drama to it!

Two women. A dying wish. And a web of lies that will bring their world crashing down.

With a tagline like that, I went into The Last Wife expecting an absolute roller coaster of a ride, a page-turned that would leave me guessing and gasping until the final page. Unfortunately, what I got...wasn't that. The entire time I was reading I felt two steps behind, as though I was missing several beginning chapters - this feeling was so strong I began wondering if my copy really WAS missing parts.

Unreliable narrators and unpleasant characters can be great if handled by the right author, but here I felt yanked along from scene to scene, it was all extremely choppy and a chore to get through.

I'm so disappointed this one didn't work out for me!