While I was very excited about the premise for this book, I absolutely fell flat for me. My biggest gripe was that I hated every character in this book. I didn't even like hating them. Towards the end, it started to take twists and turns just for the sake of taking twists and turns. It's like the writer was trying too hard to surprise us. Overall, a disappointment.

This story is a retelling of Jane Eyer with a Southern twist. A tale of friends and lovers that lie and keep secrets from each other. How well can one play mind games well enough to pull off the biggest twist off all? This story is told between alternating POV of Jane (present) and Bea (past).
This is an easy read and I enjoyed the twists at the end. Since I grew up in the South, I personally did not enjoy the narrator of the audiobook. She was not able to pull off the Southern accent well.

This is a beautifully produced audiobook, but unfortunately the book itself didn't hold my interest. I eagerly requested it upon realizing that the author is the same Rachel Hawkins who wrote the delightful Prince Charming and Her Royal Highness. I did not, however, realize this was a retelling of Jane Eyre—if I had, I would have passed on it, as retellings seldom work for me. Unfortunately that was the case here—it felt both too close and too far from the source material, and while I hoped the domestic thriller angle would bring something new to the mix, it mostly fell flat.

This book was intriguing. I enjoyed the references back to the original Jane Eyre, and enjoyed that this was not just a retelling. The story was interesting, and I love unreliable narrators (which this definitely has). I did find that I enjoyed the narrator for Bea more than the narrator for Jane, which was unfortunate because Jane is definitely who you hear the most. However, she did fit the character well and particularly further into the book where you switch perspectives more, I did not mind it so much. I found myself wishing that there was a little more mystery to this story. I guessed pretty much everything before it actually happened. That did not mean that I disliked it, just that if you want a book that leaves you guessing to the last page, in my opinion this is not it. It did have a nice atmospheric quality to it, though, and I enjoyed listening to it.

I am here for all Jane Eyre themed books. This one was fantastic. I was sucked in right away. Every time I thought I had figured something out a new twist would occur. This story is told between three characters and the narrators did a fantastic job. Totally recommend the audio! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a fun new take on Jane Eyre, providing a thriller-feel that felt natural to the story. The audiobook was great and kept me interested throughout as the POV shifted among the three main characters. I think it holds up even if you haven't read the classic, as well.

Like Liv Constantine’s the Last Mrs. Parrish I could not deduce who was the unreliable narrator in this book! It kept me guessing until the end. I loved the narration so much that I kept walking mile after mile through town listening because I just HAD to know what was going to happen next. I a,m recommending this book to so many people!

In the mood for a book of suspense? Well, you might be interested in this one. It’s been mentioned as a nod to Jayne Eyre, and I must say that I was bothered in the beginning because I felt the title gave away too much information. Although it provided too much information, I also realized that there was more to it than I thought. I just think that it should have had a different title that didn’t raise the question. I finally was pacified with the direction the story took. For a book of suspense, this was a fun book, and I stayed interested in the story. It was not quite as twisty or suspenseful, though, as many are in this category. I also listened to this as an audiobook, and it was well-narrated. Although not the best in this category, I would still recommend it to people who enjoy this genre.

Finally a retelling of Jane Eyre. I loved the Wife Upstairs. It is a psychological thriller told by alternating perspectives between present time (Jane) and past (Bea). If you're looking for a good thriller, I definitely suggest adding this one to your shelf. The Wife Upstairs is Rachel Hawkins first adult novel and I am so hoping for more!

An interesting and suspenseful domestic suspense novel told in three different points of view. The ending is too far-fetched and, frankly, not realistic at all. Nevertheless, good writing and good narration.

Interesting book. Had some twists and turns. Didn’t see a few things coming. Lots of mind games in this one!

I really wanted to like this book because I'm a big audio book listener, but I didn't like the narrator. I couldn't get through the first 20 minutes of the audio book. So sorry because it seemed like my genre, but I never went back after listening to chapter one. Maybe I''ll read the book instead of listening to it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of “The Wife Upstairs” by Rachel Hawkins. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I don’t read a lot of thrillers but I have read Jane Eyre which is what appealed to me about this book. I think after reading this that maybe I’m not a fan of Jane Eyre retellings. While it was interesting to see which characters would pop and where, I just didn’t care for the way the Jane Eyre story elements were made into a thriller story. I couldn’t root for this Jane the way I could the original. She was just so spiteful and seemed to hate everyone. There were so many f-bombs it got annoying really fast.

I also read way too much into Jane’s actions. I thought she had some secret motivation for pursuing Eddie. Was she some sort of hired investigator trying to find out what happened to Bea? Not so much and I thought that would have been more interesting than the reveals that we did get.

The ending is ambiguous but it didn’t really bother me as I was just ready to be done with the story at that point. There wasn’t really anyone to root for and the character’s motivations were so shallow to the point where I was disappointed none of my theories came to pass.

The narrators did a great job.

3/5 stars

The voice of Jane felt like she was trying a little too hard. None of the character voices sounded authentic, which was distracting.
Without much ado, we’re immediately in the headspace of a dogwalker working in a very affluent neighborhood. Jane is in discussion with one of her dog-owning employers and is clearly annoyed with her happy-go-lucky personality that she can’t believe is sincere. Jane doesn’t believe any of these women care about her like which they pretend. Jane knows she hates them, and yet she wants to be one of them.

Needless to say, Jane is not an honest, true-of-heart person. I didn’t particularly care for her, nor was I hoping she’d succeed in joining the wives club of the neighborhood. She’s what I’d call an opportunist. She saw opportunities to make side money by taking “lost” jewelry of her employers to pawn shops. On a miserable rainy day, she was presented with an opportunity to upgrade her whole life when she crossed paths with an attractive widower named Eddie.

Can a marriage of two liars have a happy ending?
Jane may seem like a cold and ruthless woman looking for money and comfort, but Eddie doesn’t appear to be much better. He was suspiciously quick to mourn his dead wife and move along. He removed all of his wife’s photos and clothes soon after she disappeared. This didn’t trouble Jane much because it meant her path to wife-life would be at an accelerated amount of time. Any reader that has experienced a healthy relationship can see the flaws in their relationship. Jane and Eddie both have big secrets and ulterior motives to being together. Yet, despite how they came to find each other, it’s eventually clear that they genuinely care about each other.

Nothing, and no one, are what they seem to be.
I think the biggest surprises through out this story were the realization of people’s true natures. Some of the people in the story that seemed the most kind and caring were total leeches behind closed doors. One woman who seemed to be wronged by her friends was actually an evil doer herself. This really speaks to our perception of people around us.

Ultimately, what makes this story suspenseful is the ticking time bomb of truth. We know that eventually everyone’s truth will come out. It’s not knowing when/how that keeps you hooked. Very early in the series we learn Eddie’s biggest secret surrounding his wife’s death, but we don’t get the full story until the same moment that Jane does. By then, Jane’s not safe, and we’re in too deep with her.

I recommend this book as a read rather than listening to the audiobook.
Book: 4
Narration: 3.5

I LOVED how all the characters in this book were extremely flawed and untrustworthy. The author did a fantastic job of keeping me on toes all the way until the very end and desperately trying to figure out what the truth was. Just when I thought I had it figured out there was another layer added to the story making the twists and turns even more wild. The reason I had to bump my star rating down was because the ending was extremely frustrating to me and kind of ruined the whole story I had spent so much time enjoying.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a short read but good. The characters were well developed. The story flowed well. There were a few turns that surprised me. Overall, I liked it.

3.5

At the time I listened to The Wife Upstairs, I did not know it was a retelling of Jane Eyre. Not that it would have made much of a difference, as I never read Jane Eyre. 

I had an interesting time with this twisty and diabolical tale. The deeper I went into the story, I thought I knew how it would all play out. It turned out I was way off mark. 

The story introduces Jane, (not her actual name) a broke dog walker, with an affinity for taking things which don’t belong to her. She recently moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where she walks dogs in the affluent Thornton Estates. One day while carrying out her job she met Eddie, a charming and of course rich widower. This made him the perfect candidate to aid in uplifting her social status. Eddie’s wife Bea along with her best friend died in a boating accident a year ago and their bodies have yet to be found. However, Eddie is ready to move on and Jane provided the perfect opportunity.

Jane proved to be a calculating and rather captivating character. I had an interesting time being in her head. Her actions and thoughts never ceased to amaze me. Personally, I had a hard time buying into the relationship between Eddie and Jane. First off, I didn’t trust him. He gave off some real negative vibes.

As the story progressed, the events surrounding the fatal boat accident came to light. The revelations proved quite shocking. Even paced and compelling, the story made it difficult to set my listening device aside. I would definitely read more from this author.

I enjoyed the narration, which involved the use of three narrators. Namely Lauren Fortgang, Kirby Hayborne, and Emily Shaffer. This was my first time listening to all three, and I thought they did an excellent job in bringing the story to life.

Overall, The Wife Upstairs was an engaging listen and one I would recommend readers/listeners looking for a twisty ride.

Jane is a survivor and I feel for her. She's smart and sneaky but in a way that's sorta cool because she scored the big prize. There's POV between Jane and the deceased wife, Bea. I enjoy reading different POV between characters. It's always good to have get inside their perspective and you definitely learn a lot. Jane seems to be capable to survive and know what to say and act. Bea makes herself out to be this fragile woman who is nice and delicate, that's what I perceived. I likes Jane more. She's more honest, well in her thoughts lol. But you can easily see that they both have some things in common. The beginning of the chapters are pretty boring in my opinions but it starts to get better and I started to get hooked on the storyline of Bea's POV is introduced. The story's plot increases by each chapter of Bea's POV. I was like, "I got to know!" But of course there was a plot twist.. I will not say much for the ending because it wasn't all that grand or anything. It more like a downer because I needed some questions to be answered. Did I like this book overall? yes I did. I give it a five star rating because the narration was great and it got me hooked! I would much prefer to recommend you all to listen to it. I like the voices and it's more satisfactory in my opinion.

This book was so FUN!! What a twisted ride. The audio book narrator was phenomenal. I couldn't stop listening to this one to the point where I annoyed my whole family for ignoring them in order to keep listening. Ha! I highly recommend this book.

This thriller is fantastic and intriguing. I have recommended it to many of my friends. The audio was so satisfyingly spooky.