Gosh! I related to a lot of this book, especially when my boys were younger. At times, I think it dug up some old wounds from disagreements with my husband on sharing the work load. There are so many things outside of cleaning, cooking and laundry that is overlooked and often fall on the Moms to cover. This book took being an empowered female to the extreme. It truly left me feeling angry some nights.

There is the mystery of someone in an elite neighborhood who has died. I felt like this book was BiG Little Lies with role reversals.

I really loved The Whisper Network by this author, but this book left me feeling frustrated.

The narrator did a great job in the audio version that I received.

3.5 Stars – Rounding to 4 stars for Goodreads

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillianaudio for a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Such a relatable book! As a mom and wife, i can completely understand the frustrations and i have the same ones! As a mom, most things fall on your shoulders. Whether you want them to or not. And asking for help is difficult. Either you do and don’t get it. Or end up doing it yourself waiting for the help to ever come. I loved how i can put myself in the characters shoes. Although i did find it to get annoying after awhile. The constant annoyance of the husband and the inner complaining about him. I get it. But also it got to be a lot. And the mystery was interesting… but it was a bit of a back burner.

I think it was more about women shoulder a lot and feel unappreciated and how wonderful it would be to have more help without having to ask. Because everything shouldn’t all be on one persons shoulders and given the opportunity would you brain wash your partner to be more helpful?

This book was frustrating for me. It really felt like the book was too focused on how women feel that their husbands don’t do enough around the house to help. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I was in a different stage of my life. I am currently single and do not have children. I am at a stage where a lot of my peers are working hard to find a husband so it felt strange to read a book that was so negative about husbands. However, as the book went on it seemed to shift from being negative to being more about some of the social differences between men and women (for example, women tend to talk more about their day while men tend not to share as many details). If it hadn’t been for the mystery about the fire investigation I probably would have stopped reading this book before reaching page 100. Ultimately I was glad I stuck with this book. The mystery aspect made it completely worth finishing. It was a great book overall, it just was geared toward a group at a different life stage than where I am at now. I am not saying the women’s feelings are not valid, just that it was strange for me reading with where I am at now in my life. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Husbands" and all opinions expressed are my own. I thought this book was okay. It was ... different. I think I just didn't like it about 3/4 of the way though. I ended up finishing but not thrilled with it.

Nora Spangler is like many working mothers, she has a successful career and still manages to juggle the majority of the cooking, cleaning, doctor appointments and taking charge everything that is necessary for making a household run smoothly, all while her husband does?? When she goes house hunting in an exclusive neighborhood, she quickly finds herself infused in a community where the women all have high powered jobs with Stepford husbands.
This domestic drama/thriller has a very culty feel to it. The lives of the women are intriguing. There are a few different mysteries that need to be uncovered along the way. I would not suggest listening to this audiobook on a trip with your husband - it may make you a little angry with him!

A great follow-up to the Whisper Network for this author. Funny and cringe worthy - will leave you happy it's not you! Strong female leads that get shit done, whatever the task is.

Nora is overwhelmed. She's educated, accomplished, but has way too much on her plate. (Sounds like my life!). To top it off, Nora's husband manages to disappear whenever she needs him the most. He just doesn't get it - he's just not paying attention (male privilege!). When Nora meets her potential neighbors at an open house she's impressed with their ability to balance it all. She has to find out what their secret is.

I was so excited about this book, had it marked on my TBR list for months, so I was super excited to receive an advanced copy right before an 15 hour drive to a vacation. Unfortunately I ended up so disappointed.

The premise of the novel is wonderful. "A Stepford Wives gender-swap". Imagine a world where all husband treat their wives careers with full respect, take on household tasks, child rearing, and the entire mental load of domestic life. Perhaps because I already have a husband who respects my career, time, and actively participates in household and child tasks (he's actually at a kids' doctors appointment now), but I couldn't relate to the overbearing women in the book, and the emasculated husbands. Surely there is a middle ground where this story could have gone, while still adding in a good mystery.

Perhaps it will resonate more with another reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Holy Stepford Wives.

I loved Chandler Baker's first novel and was excited to read The Husbands. However, I think the book fell short for me as a whole.

While I love Baker's writing style and dry humor, I found the plot predictable and basic. I am still excited to read any future work that Chandler Baker produces, even if this book wasn't 100% for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC

I listened to The Husbands by Chandler Baker on audiobook. This was a domestic thriller that I was really excited about, but did not have that wow factor I was hoping for. Good story, but nothing spectacular.

It is hard to read any part of this book without comparing it to the Stepford Wives, albeit in reverse. While the reversal was interesting, it was also stereotypical and predictable. The ending was a bit of a mind-blower and iit was what made me raise the rating a star.

i really agreed with all the internal dialogue between the characters? the articulation of what is so frustrating with men? it was extra saddening when i saw how the author fell into the same trope of turning aggravated women into monsters and thought there was a justification for murder?

Nora and Hayden Spangler are your typical busy family. They both have successful, time-consuming careers and a toddler. And Nora is pregnant again. Nora loves her husband, but she just wishes that he would help more around the house. Nora just wishes that he would see just how exhausted she is. They talk about buying a bigger house. That will make it easier for Nora, right? Dynasty Ranch is the perfect community. The women are all successful working mothers, just like Nora. And all the husbands are doting, supportive spouses who take care of the home while their wives further their careers. Their real estate agent calls on Nora's legal abilities to help a recent widow in the neighborhood. And as she digs further into the cause of death, she realizes Dynasty Ranch may not be as perfect as it appears.

The Husbands is a new twist on an old book, The Stepford Wives. One thing I don't like about books like The Husbands is the way it plays into stereotypes. Not all men leave their wives to do everything. Not all men prioritize their career over their wife's. Some men don't need extreme measures in order to be good men. Hayden's behavior clearly frustrated Nora and I understand why. The fact there was an HOA approval was my first warning flag that Dynasty Ranch was not what it appeared. There is a reason I will never buy a home with an active HOA. Nothing about the end surprised me. Even the last sentence was predictable. CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.


Bottom Line - If you aren't familiar with The Stepford Wives, I can see where The Husbands would be an innovative story. However, I found it annoyingly predictable.

Details:
The Husbands by Chandler Baker
On Instagram
Pages: 352
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: 8/3/2021
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for a review.

Most women would envy Nora Spangler. She is a successful attorney with a loving husband, a software designer. The couple have a young daughter and Nora is pregnant with their second child. They are looking for a new house as their family expands.
But Nora doesn't necessarily feel like someone who others should envy. She has all that but it seems like she is always running a hundred miles an hour to keep all the parts of her life going. She works long hours but still there is a suggestion at her law firm that she should be able to drop everything and work late or on weekends whenever the firm finds it necessary, which is often. Her daughter loves her school but school means monitoring projects, packing lunches, making sure there is a new cute outfit ready each day. The house still has to be cleaned, laundry has to be done, cooking the meals and cleaning up is a daily chore and then there are the other items such as grocery shopping, doctors' visits, dentist, playdates, birthday parties, school trips and parties. The list goes on and on. Dylan would say he helps and he does but the responsibility falls mainly on Nora.

The couple finds a great house in a subdivision called Dynasty Ranch. The house is great but Nora is even more impressed with the women she meets from the neighborhood. They are all highly successful, doctors, CEOs, and other professionals. Yet they seem calm and happy and they all have highly supportive husbands who take on an equal share of the second shit work if not the majority of it. Nora wonders how did they come to this arrangement? As she gets to know the women better, she realizes that this lifestyle is the one she wants. Or is it?

Chandler Baker has written a story that reverses the well known book, The Stepford Wives. The tension in the book builds slowly, from Nora meeting the other women to envying them to finally fearing them. Baker taps into the resentment that most married women with families feel; that they are shouldering the majority of the household work while men come home to relax, and that something needs to change in their lives. Many readers will be surprised at the book's ending and final twists. This book is recommended for thriller readers.

I wasn’t sure I was going to love the initial husband/man bashing that takes place in the beginning, but I thought the author did an excellent job balancing the issues facing modern day families/marriages in this reverse-stepford ish type thriller that kept me hooked! I listened to this in practically one day this summer because I had to know what happened!!

This reverse Stepford wives-ish vibe had me listening intently. I ultimately enjoyed this one and end the narrator does an excellent job on keeping you entertained and focused . I enjoyed the discussion of stereotypes and tropes . A fun one to listen to, a great beach read.

A really intriguing premise that fell short in the delivery. I kept waiting and waiting for this book to grab me and unfortunately, that never happened. The storyline re Nora and her husband bored me to tears as did the lifestyle of those living at the ranch. Seeing as I loved the Whisper Network I will tune into this author's next book, even though this one didn't quite made the grade.

not-so-thrilling thriller meets the whitest feminism. I disliked WHISPER NETWORK but disliked HUSBANDS more, meaning that I shouldn’t read any more Baker. while WHISPER NETWORK is white feminism in the workplace, HUSBANDS offers white-feminist issues within a marriage. not totally worthless thanks to compelling dialogue at times.

This is my second Chandler Baker book that I just couldn’t finishing I am so bummed to say this. I am so intrigued by the premise (as I was with Whisper Network), but simply could not get into it. Baker’s writing, while filled with talent, always feels a bit slow to me and I don’t find myself attached with the characters. For those who love Baker, they are sure to love The Husbands. It just didn’t do it for me.

The Husbands IS The Stepford Wives for the next generation. Baker was able to write a novel where you were getting just scared enough by the plot, but at the same time wondering why you were nodding your head and agreeing with the "villains" of the series. The more I read, the more I couldn't figure out if it was something wrong with me, or if Baker had managed to write a thriller so brilliant that I needed to know what would happen next and convince myself I wasn't crazy.

3.5 stars
This was an understated literary thriller that delved into female versus male roles when raising children and balancing work responsibilities. It is told from a feminist perspective using a twist on the Stepford wives theme.

Nora, a lawyer, and her husband get entwined with a group of suburbia couples when looking for their new home. Nora is asked to represent one of the neighborhood residents, Penny, to help settle an insurance claim after her husband died in a recent fire at their home. It soon becomes apparent that the neighborhood dynamic is not typical. All of the women are high flying professionals, working full time, while their obedient husbands take care of the domestic duties. As Nora starts to dig deeper into the mystery of Penny’s husband, she becomes more drawn to this seemingly idealistic community but also more suspicious as puzzle pieces start to come together..

I enjoyed this book more than the author’s last one. I thought it was conceived and executed much better. From the start, the reader is drawn in to this intriguing mystery. It was also easy to relate to as a women with two children trying to balance a career. I loved the Stepford husband analogy.

It lost stars only because I found the pacing slow, and, at times, even stalled for a bit. I also got confused by the many characters as they weren’t all carved out so some blended into the background and I couldn’t recall who they were as the story progressed. The audio performance was solid with the narrator using a range of character voices that were pleasing.

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.