Cover Image: A Boring Wife Settles the Score

A Boring Wife Settles the Score

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Loved this book! The story will really speak to just about every woman out there. We have all experienced some of what the main character has in this story.

Was this review helpful?

A Boring Wife Settles the Score is the sequel to Autopsy of a Boring Wife.. this has been translated from French to English. Diane is settling into her new normal. She is well passed her mess of divorce and is finally happy.. in a good place.. She finds a new job.. and has drinks with her girlfriends and as she is close to turning 50.. she wonders about love.. maybe even a Jew relationship.. Can her ex.. still creep into her life and cause problems.. This is a very witty book.. I didn’t read the first book but I wasn’t lost.. actually I was able to follow along, very easily.. this was a quick, fun read and makes you think, why does it always seem like men regroup way quicker than women?

Was this review helpful?

In the first book, you follow Diane's journey through a separation and trying to adjust to her new life alone. In this book, I loved reading about Diane's new confidence and determination to make positive changes for herself. She comes full circle, and I felt that empowerment! The friendship between Diane and Claudine is truly remarkable and I wish this bond for everyone!

This book is a sequel to Autopsy of a Boring Wife, which was such a great read! This one was a little too slow for me and I actually paused my reading for quite some time. Thankfully, the second half was really good and it picked up speed. I was also hoping to see a little more heat in Diane's relationship.

If you enjoyed the first book, you'll most likely like this one too.

Was this review helpful?

Diane is making her way one cocktail at a time. She knows she needs to keep busy and what better way than at her local school. Hired as daycare assistant she views the world skewed by her comic world view. A view this reader agreed with often. We are privy to her lustful take on men at large,in closets ,in trees , her eye roams everywhere. And all are fair game to a point. It’s a fun follow up and a generous read.

Was this review helpful?

A sequel just as wonderful as the first book! I was happy to catch up with Diane and laugh as she settles the score and had bottles of temporary solutions with Claudine. Thank you to NetGalley and Anansi Press for the opportunity to review an advanced copy.

Was this review helpful?

Witty, hilarious in all the right ways!
Just as in the first book, the characters are entertaining, candid and feel so “real”.
Diane is incredibly relatable with her candid humour and delicate vulnerability as she continues to navigate through a broken marriage, understanding her children, learning to trust and to love herself just the way she is.

Diane & Claudine are friendship goals!

Kudos to translation ~ Being French Canadian I could see how well the humour was portrayed from what would originally be written.

Was this review helpful?

Quirky and very entertaining! Diane is a middle-aged recently divorced woman who decides to get a new job and turn up the excitement level in her life. I enjoyed seeing her change her life by becoming more open to new ideas! This was a fun, quick read!

Was this review helpful?

Charming, and at times laugh out loud funny. The narrative is loosely episodic, which made it less compelling for me.

Was this review helpful?

I didn’t realize how much I had missed Diane and Claudine, and their determination to take on the world after middle-age divorce. In the sequel to Autopsy of a Boring Wife, the two friends have settled into their routines: cassoulet at the local bistro, bottles of wine to settle the current concerns, and time spent with their evolving families.

Diane continues to worry about her place in the world and her chances at love and romance as she reaches the age of 50. And yet, the world seems to be determined to offer her new moments and chances. A new job working at the local school leads to a reconnection with a handsome acquaintance. Her ex-husband Jacques seems to be realizing the error of his ways… or has he? And a chance meeting with an elderly woman provides a moment of reflecting on her own luck and luxury.

I giggled and snorted at the shenanigans and mishaps that Diane inevitably finds herself in. I cheered at the new chances she finds.. And I swooned as a new swing at romance takes hold.

Lavoie has worked her magic again, providing a realistic and humorous look at restarting life when it seems like the walls are crashing down around you. Her characters are flawed and funny, and the situations they face are realistic, everyday moments. My only complaint would have been the ending, which felt rushed and abrupt for me. I wanted just a bit more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is available now..

Was this review helpful?

Oh how I missed Diane and Claudine from Autopsy of a Boring Wife. I was so happy to see them again in A Boring Wife Settles the Score by Marie-Renée Lavoie and translated by Arielle Aaronson who also translated the first book.

The book begins with Diane going to the doctor’s office about her dry and cracked heels. The doctor tells her she has Housewife Syndrome and should use a special cream and wear socks more often because housewives, because they don’t go to work, typically wear bare feet with slippers and their feet dry out. This is just the beginning of many humorous and laugh out loud moments in Diane’s life.

She is nearing 50 and takes a job as a before and after school care aide. Her best friend Claudine and Claudine’s daughter live below Diane in a shared duplex. Diane’s lack of a love life hasn’t gone unnoticed by her best friend and the pair go to a local bar for drinks to meet men and have fun.

When a child at the school gets a bump on his head, it has Diane searching out an ice pack which has her running into an old acquaintance. At the same time her ex husband Jacques seems to be playing games and Diane wonders if she is strong enough to not fall back into a rhythm with him.

There were many moments I could relate to Diane. This book is both funny and tender and I highly recommend grabbing some wine or whatever your preferred drink is and picking this one up.

Thank you to @houseofanansi and @netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. A Boring Wife Settles the Score is out now.

Was this review helpful?

I felt okay closing Autopsy of a Boring Wife, but having read this one, I realize, the story was not full circle. I felt A Boring Wife Settles the Score brought it full circle. I enjoyed the story while I was reading it and the adventures of Diane and Claudine, but I can't say much has stuck with me. If you picked up the first, the second is worth it.

Was this review helpful?

A Boring Wife Settles the Score is the second book in the series. Diane is recently divorced and learning to live with her new normal. Although it would appear there is nothing normal about Diane. This book has more conversations that are hard to follow. Having not read the first book I had a difficult time relating and understanding what the conversations were about. This book was not what I thought it was going to be.

Was this review helpful?

A Boring Wife Settles the Score by Marie-Renée Lavoie

Sequel to the highly entertaining and heartfelt Autopsy of a Boring Wife, I enjoyed this follow-up to Diane’s story very much. In the first book, Diane’s husband of 25 years leaves her for a (much) younger woman, and she’s left reeling; she works through the messy aftermath in raw, relatable and at times hilarious ways. In this new story, the dust has settled, and Diane is ready for new experiences.

I’m a big fan of Diane. She’s feisty, continually learning and doesn’t take herself too seriously. I’d for sure have some cassoulet and rosé with Di & Claudine any night!! What I liked most in revisiting Diane is seeing her growth and how she has changed. This one is a bit sappier, more warm & fuzzy. She’s more assertive, and as she proved in the first novel, she’s anything but “boring”.

Overall, a really solid sequel in my opinion, and I so appreciated the moments Diane had me laughing. A French to English translation, I’d be more than happy to see a third book translated with Diane and her friends & family. These books are short and delightful - I’d recommend for those looking for something with both humour and emotion.

Thank you so much to House of Anansi Press and to Netgalley for an e-ARC of this lovely book. It’s out now!

Was this review helpful?

I loved Autopsy of a Boring Wife, and it’s sequel A Boring Wife Settles the score did not disappoint!

Marie-Renée’s writing was hilarious as always and she gave the sequel we’d all want to see in my opinion! I found myself cheering Diane on and being so proud of her journey haha!

I probably would’ve given this another 5⭐️ review, but the ending was just meh. It felt like she didn’t really know how to end it and just kinda stopped writing lol. Other than those last few pages though, I really enjoyed this one!

Was this review helpful?

This is an entertaining entry into the genre of scorned woman discovering and valuing herself. Diane has finally broken free (not entirely at her initiative but nonetheless) of her husband and she's moving forward to live life on her terms. Some of it is funny, some of it is poignant but she's a vibrant creation. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Was this review helpful?

This was a delight to read. A fitting sequel to such a wonderful start to a series. I think it helped me understand a lot more on the politics surrounding older women, and it was just overall insightful.

Was this review helpful?

Marie-Renée Lavoie has mastered the ultra-relatable, über-redeeming Cheated On Wife persona, in this her second showing following Autopsy of a Boring Wife. Scorned French-Canadian Housewife Diane Delaunais "a boring and oblivious wife", is so believable in her tchotchke-smashing rage, trauma induced vulnerability, hesitancy, and psychosis, that it's like I could be her, I so get her. I fully understood her interactions and frustrations with her unctuous ex and husband of decades Jacques Valois, and my heart melted reading about her mother-child relations with grown children Alexandre, Charlotte and Antoine, especially when they chose Team Mom over Team Dad-and-New-Wife-And Baby. Diane's raucous friend Claudine with her philandering husband Philippe however, didn't work for me, maybe as I can't picture myself spending time with somebody so over-the-top audacious.

I hated when Diane stood up her guy "built like a tank who'd f*ck her in every position imaginable because" she "was done being so g*ddamn faithful." And instead "bought a pair of socks with reinforced heels... (for Jacques in the hospital). Like a fool" But I understood it. I am so thankful though, that she didn't end the book with a lesbian tryst with Claudine on their solo vacation.

I'm not sure if it's Lavoie or her translator, but there were a few things I'm not a fan of, the almost liquid "that's-its" jiggling under her arms? And while I understand it's humor and in jest, I didn't feel right about the school secretary's throwaway racist comment to the little hispanic boy; I just don't see any upside to that kind of noise, only downside. For fans of this kind of slapstick chick-lit, I recommend After Happily Ever After by Leslie Rasmussen.

Was this review helpful?

I was just delighted to find that there was a sequel to AUTOPSY OF A BORING WIFE. Well, Diane is far from boring now! This was highly entertaining but had many poignant moments as well. Superb!

Was this review helpful?

Funny book about a divorced woman learning to love and live after a divorce and being happy with herself

Was this review helpful?