I really liked this book. It had great characters, suspense, humor and unending plot twists. Kept me guessing until the very end. Highly recommended

This book was pretty good and engaging, if not predictable. It was really hard for me to be invested in the main character though.

The Wife Upstairs is filled with so many twist and turns.  It is filled with devious characters that I hope I will be reading more about in future books.  This storyline is different than anything I’ve read lately.   I thoroughly enjoyed and can’t wait to read more books by Rachel Hawkins.

This book provides lots of twists and turns. I could not put down! I’d give this book 4 stars any day.

Wow! This story just kept providing twists and kept me reading with enthusiasm. The main character is both likable and unappealing at the same time. The reader is unsure whether to root for her or not from moment to moment. The characters are made to be so visible in the head of the reader, the writing is very good.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the Wife Upstairs.  This book drew me in and I couldn’t stop! I would give this book 4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

An amazing take on the classic Jane Eyre. I was fortunate enough to get to listen to it as well as read an ARC and I absolutely loved it.

This book was a great twist on the old classic Jane Eyre. The several twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The ending took me by surprise. This was a really good psychological thriller.

This Jane Eyre retelling set in a Southern town was super entertaining.  Lots of twists and turns that I didn't expect.  I discussed this a lot more in depth in my reading vlog on my YT channel: https://youtu.be/SO4qbsPxecY

Perfect book, really enjoyable story despite unlikeable characters. Full of twists and turns and kept me gripped till the end.

I can’t say I loved this book, but I didn’t hate it either.  I liked the premise of the story.  It just seemed to take a long time to get anywhere.  The main character is unlikeable.  Several times the past that she is running from (including police involvement) is hinted at but once it is revealed turns out to be nothing significant.  It took me several tries to get into reading the book, yet there were times when I couldn’t wait to get back to it.  I didn’t like the ending.  It was too superficial and felt thrown together to meet a deadline.

I enjoyed the narration with the exception of the voice of Emily.  It grated on my nerves.  Fortunately, she didn’t have a lot of dialogue.

I would say that this book is worth a read (or listen), just don’t expect it to knock your socks off.


I received an ARC through St. Martin Press and Macmillan Audio.  This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book.  I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

Oh mannnnnnn this ended up being pretty underwhelming. I was so excited when I saw that this was a modern day Jane Eyre retelling, but I just feel like Hawkins could have gone so much further with this one. The plot twists were very easy to guess and the story and characters were just pretty meh. Not a terrible book, but not great either.

**Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review**

Not a big fan of this book. The pacing felt weird between all the different perspectives and I seen the "twist" coming a mile away. Janes past was also alluded to for so long and then glossed over super quick and it felt like a big let down. Will check out this authors other work but this was a fail for me.

3.5** okay, okay...don't call me out. I did enjoy this book, but the retelling of Jane Eyre, the main characters both having a mysterious past, and the overall vagueness of the entire story left me wanting more. It definitely played into the psychological thriller fiction role, making you want to turn through the pages and hope all your internal guesswork is correct, so if that's your vice for mystery books you will enjoy this one.
 
Never having read Jane Eyre, I can't actually compare or contrast the two, other than knowing the character names are mimicked. However, since the intention of the story was to leave us wondering the entire time what the main characters were up to, their past indiscretions, and who might be a murderer - it did just that and drove the plot. They were all trying to escape (or even ignore) things that were catching up to them, and it felt a bit holey to me, that these characters would be driven together by fate, must less be blind to all the red flags (neighbors included). There's multiple points of view and flashbacks that verged on feeling...jumbled is the best way I can describe it - I get the details were mostly necessary but the delivery could be better?

The ending gives you closure for one character but leaves you wondering what the future holds for the others, which I don't often mind; but I'm a bit uncertain in this case because they seem to always be a few steps ahead.

I'm not letting this one deter me from future reads by this author though as she held my attention throughout, and I feel it's a book I'll to recommend to select thriller mystery lovers.

I absolutely LOVE a retelling, and this modern, Southern twist on Jane Eyre was everything I could have ever wanted! 

Plain Jane, running from a past in Arizona, has made it to Birmingham, Alabama, where she is working as a dog walker in the affluent neighborhood of Thornfield Estates.

One day, as she’s out walking a clients dogs, she almost gets hit by a car by none other than Eddie Rochester.

What follows is a twisty, twirly loose adaptation of Jane Eyre and a very fun ending to wrap it all up!

Quick and easy, a bit predictable, (and I don’t just mean if you’ve actually read Jane Eyre) I had so much fun reading this! 

Secrets, lies, and a madwoman in the attic all made this a great first book for the new year!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the early copy!

Wow, so many twists in this modern day rendition of Jane Eyre/Rebecca.  The writing  really kept you enthralled and I enjoyed how the chapters provided past experiences of Jane and Bea. Definitely a page turner with an ending I wasn’t expecting.

A story told from several points of view, The Wife Upstairs is a decent suspense with a lot of twists and turns. I enjoyed 90% of the book.. The end of the book seemed as if the author wasn't sure how she wanted to end it. I was disappointed.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dog-walker Jane meets widower Rochester, who just recently lost his wife. A new twist on a classic gothic story and I loved the heck out of it. Great writing, great twists and a fabulous ending! I didn't like the characters all that much, but most of my favorite books are that way. Look for ward to reading more

I re-read Jane Eyre a few years ago in anticipation of another retelling of sorts about Mr. Rochester (appropriately, called Mr. Rochester). Since it was relatively fresh on my mind, I was excited to pick this book up, which is a modern-day thriller loosely based on the classic Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Honestly, this book wasn't what I expected it to be, but I did enjoy it. In the story, we follow three narrators - Jane, Eddie, and Bea (Bertha) - as we slowly learn what happened on the night of a tragic boat accident where Bea and her friend were both lost and presumed dead. I thought the three narrators format lent insight into each of the characters, even though most of the story focused on Jane. However, the characters themselves lacked depth and weren't that likeable (though I guess that was the point), and a lot of the story read as cliche.

It was a pretty fast read, and overall it was good.

3.5 stars, but rounded down.

Although this was an interesting modern take on the classic novel Jane Eyre, I found the gratuitous profanity to be sloppy and distracting. I am not a prude, and I understand that some cursing was used to build Jane's character, but unnecessary f-bombs on every other page felt like lazy writing to me. I also found the end to leave too many unanswered questions, which I will not get into to avoid spoilers, but again, it comes down to sloppy plot building.