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The Second Wife

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Member Reviews

Fast-paced book about a man who marries again after losing his first wife to cancer. When he comes home to his house on fire, his wife safe outside but his daughter still inside the burning house, he starts to wonder about his new wife. The story then flashes back to two sisters who are very different with the older one feeling a sense of duty to protect her younger reckless sister. With the man's daughter in the hospital, he's left to figure out who his new wife really is and whether his marriage has been based on lies. A good page-turner with a few (slightly predictable) twists.

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I found the beginning of this book rather boring. It was hard to keep going. The ending was predictable. It was an okay book.

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This was an easy, fairly enjoyable read. I guessed the plot twist very early on, but I read a ton of thrillers, so maybe that's why? I never got attached to any characters, but I was compelled to finish the book. I liked the author's style, so will certainly give her another look!

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This was everything I look for in a book- well written, engrossing, suspenseful and twisty. I really enjoyed this one, but don't want to give too much away. Will absolutely recommend.

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Thank you NetGalley for providing this book for an honest review. This book will draw you in from the beginning with the fire. Each person in this story has a secret that they are hiding. The mystery of what happened that night was a twist and turn that makes this book hard to put down. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries or suspense.

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This was an interesting book. After reading the first bit, the book quickly changed and became something I wasn't quite expecting, but it was still engrossing to read. The mystery of what really happened the night a family home burned down was twisty, unexpected, and hard to put down. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mysteries, suspense, thrillers, or just a fun read.

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I wanted to love this book but the author did a disservice to readers but making the antogonist a first person voice and portraying them as innocent. Lots of plot holes and the end was kind of messy.

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I loved this book, it had some amazing twists and turns.

Filled with a bunch of lies, along with the danger that lies ahead.

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I tried to read this, I must have started it three or four times. But it just didn’t grab me or pull me in. The descrition was good but the chapters that I read moved so slowly. I’m sure some other readers will enjoy it, but it really wasn’t for me. Thank you for the copy.

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I had one more book on my "TO BE READ" list so I thought I would start it and read a chapter or two just to see what it was all about. That was yesterday morning and at about 2 a.m. last night I was finished. The Second Wife by Rebecca Fleet was one of those books that you think - "I'll just read a little more..." then find yourself up all night seeing how it's all going to turn out.

Natalie and Alex live in England with Alex's daughter Jade. The story begins with a fire that destroys their home when Alex is at work. Natalie barely gets herself out and can't rescue Jade. The firemen are able to get Jade safely outside but she has severe burns and lung damage. At first Alex is angry that Natalie didn't try harder to get Jade out but as Jade recovers and he hears more about the fire, he understands. That is what the story is about but it isn't about that at all. There are secret lives, back stories, history, and murder - and a whole other story that keeps unwrapping with twists and turns in every direction. Some was a tad predictable but other parts totally surprised me. Such as the end.

I loved the English setting. I could just see the little towns and villages and the seaside life. I loved the back story although I do still have some questions about some of the characters. This is a galloping mystery that will definitely keep you reading and will take your mind off any drama in your own life as you get sucked into the drama of the characters.

Thank you Netgalley,Penguin Random House, and Rebecca Fleet for the opportunity to read this book. It will be published in the US on August 18th.

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This was a long, drawn out story that was told in several voices. The story rotated between two time periods. It was hard to get in to and stay focused on. The characters were not likeable or believable. Just not one for me.

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First, a thank you to NetGalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

And, whew, the question is how to review? It was so much different than I expected (psychological thriller doesn't really do it justice) and it was honestly so much deeper and multi-layered, which far surpassed those very expectations, yet it's hard to go into detail because to do so would give to much away, and thus, ruin it for future readers. There are certainly components that lend itself to the psychological thriller trope- mind games, tangled web of lies (upon lies) and multiple truths as individuals know them to be - and murder of course. However, there are a lot of other issues simmering under the surface (family dysfunction, mental illness, love vs. sex) so it falls into the mystery/drama/cat & mouse genre definitions as well. It's a stay up late read, so start early.

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This is a twisting tale of lies. Full of suspense that keeps you turning the page to see what will happen next. The opening scene of the fire pulls you in immediately. All the characters have secrets that will reveal themselves throughout the book. Flashback and different narrators keep you guessing. Don't miss out on this book.

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Returning from work one evening Alex arrives home to find his house on fire and his wife Natalie in tears, however, his daughter Jade is still inside. Though Jade is rescued Alex can’t help but wonder had Natalie been Jade’s real mother would she have left the building at all without ensuring Jade’s safety.

Though he feels awful for having these thoughts, the seed has been planted and he can’t help but dig into his wife’s past which leads him down an ever winding trail of surprises as he realizes he never really knew his wife at all.

While this book starts with suspense immediately and draws the reader in, the characters are a bit one dimensional. The only character with any depth seems to be Natalie and the reader knows practically nothing about the character of Alex other than he is a doting father. Sometimes the plot seemed a bit too contrived and often times unrealistic and a bit juvenile in the plot devise. That being said, the story was entertaining and the ending fit well with the overall arc.

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This was a very captivating and thrilling book! There were many surprising twists and turns. The suspense kept building until a shocking conclusion. Highly recommend!

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The Second Wife by Rebecca Fleet is a novel that is well worth reading. The novel revolves around a man named Alex and his second wife named Natalie. Alex's first wife died of cancer and now Alex has remarried. He has a teenage daughter that Natalie and Alex are now raising together. Alex comes home one night to his home which is on fire. His wife, Natalie, is outside but his daughter is trapped in the house. He cannot understand how the fire started nor can he comes to terms with the fact that his wife got out without saving his daughter. Alex's daughter ends up surviving the fire and is put in the hospital with burns. As the novel progresses it is very unclear to Alex what exactly is happening to his wife. Alex's daughter states that she saw a strange man in the house during the fire. Natalie vehemently denies that there was an unknown man in the house. As the novel progresses it becomes clear that something is not right. What is happening to Natalie? The Second Wife reveals that Natalie has a significant past that Alex knows nothing about. Is Natalie really the woman he thought he married? What is hidden in her past and how does it relate to the fire? This mysterious novel takes unexpected twists and turns. I found it very enjoyable. This novel was given to me by Penguin Group Publishers along with Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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This book will have you guessing til the very end! This is a thriller with a great story, and characters. And so many twists. I can't recommend this enough!

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review

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Alex has finally met the woman of his dreams, Natalie, after his wife passes away. She is beautiful and smart and loves his teenage daughter, Jade. After a house fire, things get a little strange for all three of them. Who set the fire? Was it intentional or an accident? And why was Jade still in the house while it was ablaze but Natalie made it out safely? Alex has to figure this out. Nothing adds up from the very beginning.

This story flip flops back and forth between the past and present but Fleet does this in a way that is not confusing. The backstory is the only way for this present story to make sense. I found Natalie to be irritating from the start and as the story progressed I saw why. She is a mystery that needs to be unraveled. She refused to give much information throughout the story unless Alex extracted it from her.

The story progresses nice and smooth and all comes together about two-thirds of the way through. If you find yourself hearing enough of the backstory and just wanting more of the present story, that makes sense. I felt that way a couple of times but the book is well worth reading.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Viking and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I am thankful to be able to provide an honest review. This review will be posted on Barnes and Noble as soon as it is published and on Goodreads.com immediately.

#PENGUINGROUPViking
#TheSecondWife
#RebeccaFleet

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This novel started off intriguing and I enjoyed the flashbacks to get a better understanding of the characters. However, in trying to make it a thriller, I feel the story lost its way and became unbelievable and not as interesting. One example of this is Alex seems to be a completely devoted father to Jade which doesn’t mesh well with his rushes relationship with Natalie.

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I was excited to read The Second Wife from the moment I read the blurb. It definitely has all of the right ingredients. A seemingly happy family, a woman with a secret, a fire...and a mysterious intruder. Sounds excellent, right?

Unfortunately, it just didn't really come together for me. I was never invested in the characters and definitely never bought Alex and Natalie as a couple or how they interacted (or didn't) with each other. Like how Alex would ask Natalie a seemingly benign question about her past and Natalie would brush him off and Alex would accept the brush off...and then run head long into danger to find out what Natalie didn't tell him, instead of going back to her and, I don't know, maybe actually demanding an answer? For most of the book, he had no reason to believe that she was hiding anything super terrible. Which made her refusal to talk about her past even less believable. She never got defensive or angry, she just...refused...to talk. And Alex let that go? Sorry, it just didn't work for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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