This was my first Rachel Hawkins book and I really enjoyed it! As most everyone knows by now, this book is a retelling of Jane Eyre, flipping the original script. I've never read Jane Eyre so I can't speak to what inspired this story, but I thought this was a fun, fast read.

None of the characters were likeable, but I got the most laughs from reading Jane's chapters. She was so snarky and her sassy internal and external dialogue kept me snort-laughing. Throughout the book, I felt like I was getting a big lead-up to something Jane had done, but her past wasn't nearly as sinister as I had predicted.

Overall, I had anticipated this book to be darker than it was. The title led me to believe the worst! And while there were certainly disturbing parts, it was a "light" thriller in my mind. More of a whodunit in the end.

One character was introduced into the story much sooner than I had expected. I didn't think I'd be reading their side of the story until the end. This book kept me reading because of some of these unexpected twists!

The ending was the only big part I didn't like. There were a few plot points that weren't my favorite, but I didn't really dislike anything until the end. I want my endings tidy and wrapped up and this one isn't conclusive at all. It did lead for a great book discussion though when we theorized what happened with a few of the characters!

I really loved this book!! It had so many twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next!! This was my first book by this Author, and it won’t be the last!! Quick read!! Highly recommended!! You won’t be disappointed!!

While I didn’t love all the characters in this book, I found the plot and the major question marks in this thriller enticing enough to send me through the book quickly. This was a great foray back into the thriller/mystery genre for me. An easy read, there were enough secrets to uncover to hold my attention despite the lack of depth and rounded character development. I found myself excited to dive in and learn about each next step every time I picked up this book. It was definitely an effective and welcomed escape from these trying times! Thank you very much to NetGalley for providing me with this Arc!

I received a free audio copy of this book from Macmillan Audio in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Wife Upstairs was a very fast-paced domestic thriller. It uses the same names as characters from Jane Eyre, but it's been a long time since I've read Jane Eyre, so I can't say how similar the storylines are, besides the whole "wife upstairs" aspect. This story is set in Birmingham, Alabama in a ritzy neighborhood. "Jane" Bell is on the run from her abusive childhood, and she lands in Thornfield Estates with a job as a dog-walker. She ingratiates herself into a circle of stay-at-home wives who busy themselves with charity functions and leisurely activities all day. When her eyes land on Eddie Rochester, she realizes this is the lifestyle she wants. But let's just say Eddie comes with a LOT of baggage.

One thing I have to say about this book is that the characters are ALL unlikeable. I understand that it's just that type of novel, but damn. Couldn't I at least root for someone? That being said, at least it held my interest the entire time. If you like books with unreliable narrators and twists and turns, this is the book for you.

A great thriller in the manner of Gone Girl. The pacing was good, and the ending not predictable. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Jane, running from her own past, moves across the country to the south. She begins a dog walking gig in an upscale, wealthy neighborhood. It is there she meets widow, Eddie. Eddie’s wife died in a boating accident the year before, and after Jane and Eddie become engaged Jane spends her time living up to his deceased wife Bea.
This book has a number of twists and definitely keeps you reading to find out where the story is headed.
*thank you NetGalley for the ARC

This story is a retelling of Jane Eyre, and while retellings can be tricky—and in my experience, not always very well done—I thought this one was fabulous! it has just the right amount of grit and enough twists and turns to keep you going all the way through. In fact, it had me hooked from the start and I couldn’t stop listening so I binged the whole audiobook in a day.

Jane is new to Birmingham, Alabama and is walking dogs in a ritzy housing estate called Thornfield. She’s frustrated, wants more from her life, and hates being treated like ‘the help. Enter Eddie Rochester. He’s a handsome widower, and they hit it off pretty quickly. But their new relationship is haunted by his previous wife Bea, and both Jane and Eddie have enough secrets of their own to fuel the gossip-mongers of Thornfield for years.

I loved that this story was told from multiple points of view, and the audiobook has different people narrating each part, so I found myself completely immersed in the world they created. Emily Shaffer, Kirby Heyborne, and Lauren Fortgang were the narrators. While Heyborne and Fortgang were new to me, I recognized Shaffer’s voice from Tweet Cute. The audio comes in at just over eight and a half hours, so you’ll scream through it in no time (pun intended).

It had definite Verity (by Colleen Hoover) vibes to me, so if you enjoyed that book you’ll want to pick this one up for sure!

I was definitely underwhelmed by this book =- maybe that's my own fault for hyping it up in my head. First off, this is supposed to be a Jane Eyre retelling but I have never read Jane Eyre so I have no clue if that's correct. This is a southern gothic book about Jane, who was a foster child years prior, and is now broke and walks dogs for a living. She moved to a rich neighborhood so she can steal jewelry from the housewives, but unexpectedly she meets Eddie, who is a widow, and a relationship quickly ensues. Eddie's dead wife, Bea, keeps haunting Jane as she pieces together more of the story and starts taking over Bea's old life - including acting like a gossipy southern housewife herself. This book has the same vibes as The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and I think the southern gothic vibe isn't for me. I can only handle one book like that. What I didn't enjoy: the timelines were confusing as well as Blanche and Bea's relationship. Knowing that the wife is upstairs also gives away too much fo the story. So I felt like this thriller was lacking on twists. I didn't care or connect with the characters and I felt like the ending was pretty lazy. The story was quick, but I think there are better domestic thrillers out there.

The Wife Upstairs
By Rachel Hawkins


An enjoyable and entertaining story

SUMMARY
Jane is a broke, twenty-three year-old dog-walker who only recently moved to Birmingham, Alabama. She walks dogs for several families in a high-end neighborhood on the rich side of town. Thornfield Estates’ is a gated community full of McMansions, it’s a place where a dog walker is nothing more than the hired help. When Jane is in need of money she not above lifting an item or two from her employers. They won’t even notice, she rationalizes.

But when Jane meets the handsome Eddie Rochester he is like a dream come true. Eddie is a recent widower. His deceased wife, Bea, owned her own successful Southern lifestyle company. Unfortunately, she drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies are both lost in the deep lake.

Eddie is rich, handsome and exactly what Jane, who grew up in a foster home, is looking for. Maybe fairy tales really do come true. But can she ever really fit in at Thornfield Estates or measure up to the beautiful and talented Bea? Jane has secrets all her own and they may just be catching up to her.

REVIEW
The Wife Upstairs is an entertaining and highly readable story. Author Rachel Hawkins lures you in with Jane’s intriguing character and her potential relationship with Eddie. Her writing is practiced, well-structured and skillfully crafted.

The Wife Upstairs is marketed as a modern twist of the Jane Eyre classic. I think that is unfortunate and may set the book up for false expectation. It’s really hard for anyone to do justice in comparison to such a classic, and this one doesn't even come close But that doesn’t mean it’s not a good book. It is. It’s a quick read with several interesting subplots.

I really enjoyed this thrilling retelling of Jane Eyre. I did feel a tad let down by the ending (I wanted bigger or more shocking) but overall it was a great thriller and kept me on my toes! I would recommend it to anyone looking for their next thriller.

The audio was well done and I thought the narrator did a great job.

Taking a step up into a world so vastly different from the on the run life she had before. As she becomes engaged to a man who she now fears has killed his own wife, she discovers secrets about him that lead her to re think this change in her lifestyle. Will she survive to take advantage of the wealth she has fallen into?

THE WIFE UPSTAIRS’ Jane is a young woman trying to make ends meet as a dog walker in an expensive gated community. It is the type of community where the wives don’t work at anything except one upping each other on the latest gossip. When Jane meets Eddie, things seem to be turning in her favor. Eddie’s wife Bea was presumed dead by drowning along with her best friend. When she’s hired to walk Eddie’s dog, Jane sees an opportunity in the wealthy widower, but the memory of Bea and all of her past successes is still looming.

I think in many ways this is a book that is great to go into pretty blind. I knew going in that this retold the story of Jane Eyre, but the author did a fantastic job of paying homage to the original story while writing something completely new and different. If you’ve read the original you will definitely see similarities, but reading JANE EYRE certainly isn’t needed to love this one! I really loved the twists she put into this novel, going in entirely different directions with her character and plot development.

This isn’t a book where you can go in expecting to love the characters themselves (in the buddy read chat, we decided that the dogs really were the most loveable), but you will love to read about them. We get multiple perspectives with present day narratives and flashbacks to gain knowledge of the past as well and I was really hooked to all of the perspectives.

This is a quick and fun read with some intriguing twists along the way that I absolutely recommend! The audio was very well done and I recommend that format as well! It made for a fantastic discussion book as well!

This is a good thriller for listeners that enjoy the suspense and pace of a thriller. The narration was very nice to listen to and overall a good audio book. The storyline was a bit too generic and didn't leave the listener to have to guess - it was a very obvious ending. With a suspense book, the reader/listener is looking to keep reading to find out the end, that was not the case with this one.

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins is a beautifully twisty suspense novel that keeps you guessing who the murderer is until the end.

Jane is a young dog walker who is running away from something. She settles in Birmingham, Alabama where she meets Eddie, a recent widower who lives in the gated community where most of her customers live. He buys a dog just so he can hire her and their relationship quickly develops into love. However, Eddie is keeping a secret about his deceased wife that could blow his new engagement to Jane wide open.

I totally enjoyed the twists and turns of this novel. The readers were enjoyable, although it was a bit of a shock at the end when Eddie came in with a male voice, throughout the novel he had been spoken of from the womens' points of view so they had done his voice. When it switched to his point of view it was unexpected, but a nice touch.

Thank you to the author, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for an audio file of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

When I read, first and foremost, I want to be entertained. Rachel Hawkins accomplishes that from beginning to end. I have to admit that at a point, I kind of hated Jane, but that dissolved pretty quickly. This is a mystery/thriller of its own standing, a page turner of its own. It's not what I would consider a 'frightening' thriller but full of twists and really interesting characters. Every time a 'stereotype' revealed itself, Hawkins took them to a new level, creating something new.

I found myself alternately cheering and booing many of the characters which is also to Hawkins' credit. The layered characters propel and drive the plot. I really loved it.

In the audiobook version, the use of three narrators worked well. All three giving great readings, or performances.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I just finished listening to the audiobook and my head is spinning from all the twists and turns. What a twisted storyline that will keep you guessing until the very end even then you’re left with quite a few “what if’s”. The story is a twisted tale of love gone wrong and will leave you trying to figure out who’s the victim and who is the guilty one. I absolutely loved this book a d will be anxiously awaiting another book by this author.

OH MY GOSH THIS WAS INSANE!!! I'm hanging my head with shame since I've never read Jane Eyre - I understand that this is a modern twisty version of it - so now I have ANOTHER book to add to my TBR pile lol You never know which character to cheer for, when to be suspicious of and you would be hard pressed to figure out the ending!! I was a touch put off by the excessive f*bombs, but I enjoyed the story and genuinely loved the character of Jane. Ms. Hawkins is a new to me author and I really enjoyed her book. The narrators were FABULOUS!!! Thank you to Netgalley for an audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for my advance listeners copy of The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book! It will definitely end up going on the list for one of my favorite thrillers of the year! The three Points Of View and fast pace of the book created the perfect mix of suspense and drama for me. I had my suspicions of the outcome and several factors were predictable, but I was still blown away by how it all went down. I actually didn't realized that this was a retelling of Jane Eyre until after I had finished the book. I have never read the classic before, and I think that probably made the experience of this book better for me. I loved the way it all unfolded. It wasn't an overly dark and suspenseful book, but I was caught up in it quickly and hooked till the last pages.

Jane was slightly unlikeable, but in just the right ways for me. She is always looking for an opportunity and works hard to worm her way in to the inner circle. You couldn't say that she didn't work for what she got, but it definitely wasn't honest work either! She has a lot of backbone and determination. Bea was a tricky character, I was never trusting of her and always felt like she was a master manipulator. Eddie had a naivity to him, but not totally trustworthy either. I was able to look at him seperately from the story that was being told by Bea, and see him in more that one light at a time.

I also really loved the narration on this one by Emily Shaffer, Kirby Heyborne, and Lauren Fortgang. The audiobook would not have been the same without three seperate narrators for each part. I know for sure that I have previously listened to Kirby Heyborne before, but I would be thrilled to listen to a book by all three of them again sometime.

This one kept me on my toes! I can usually guess what is going to happen, but the final thrill kept me guessing until the end.

The audiobook kept me on the hook the whole time. Great narration.

I received a copy of the audiobook to listen to from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thank you to Netgalley for access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to listen to this book but may have had too high of expectations. The narrator was good and overall I thought the story was ok but it wasn't amazing. Part of my excitement for reading it was that it is billed as a modern retelling of Jane Eyre which is one of my all-time favorite books.