A women’s fiction, a domestic drama that is creatively written as a thriller. This is the genre The Husbands belongs to. I did enjoy the audio that mixed familial responsibilities with feminism and brutal truths about home duties that always “fall” on a woman’s head. Its not that bad to expect more help for the husband right? The articles and feminist views written into the story felt a bit preachy for me, but I understand how necessary it is for the plot.

I haven’t read The Whisper Network, Baker is a new to me author whose writing style is uniquely cool. The author’s note at the end is a must read. Thank you Macmillan audio, Flat iron books via Netgalley for the alc. 3.75/5

I listened to this last month and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since!

What I was expecting: A Stepford Wives role reversal

What I was not expecting: to be blown away by the nuanced, insightful look at modern marriage, motherhood and feminism. As a working, bread-winning, married mother of 2 I felt SEEN! If I’d had a physical copy I probably could have highlighted half the book. I think this would make an excellent book club pick for a small group to discuss, especially for mothers of all kinds.

While I felt the plot left a little to be desired and wasn’t quite the “mystery” or “thriller” as advertised, I won’t stop thinking about this book for quite a while thanks to its forced introspection on the current (and longtime) burden on women.

Thank you for my early review copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. I believe this audiobook will be a huge bestseller.

Oh! I will be recommending this book for our next read with my book club. This would be so fun to talk about with other people.

Honestly I was a bit nervous about this one since I felt like Chandler Baker’s Whisper Network wasn’t my favorite read. But wow! That’s now the case for this one. I absolutely loved this one. Great story with weaved in humor and had me nodding a lot with what she was saying.

Nora Spangler has a super relatable balancing act of a life — she's a rising star at her law firm, plus a mom to Liv and wife to Haydon. She's got another family member on the way, so it's time for the Spangler's to house hunt. Nora ends up falling in love with a seemingly idyllic community outside Austin called Dynasty Ranch. In each home resides professionally successful wives and mothers — a tech CEO, a neurosurgeon, an award-winning therapist, a bestselling author — and their dutiful husbands who seem to completely keep up with their (actually equal) share of parenting and housework. As Nora gets involved with the community, her eyes are opened to the secrets that make Dynasty Ranch the gender-role-reversed version of Stepford Wives.

This book is SUCH A RIDE! I had read Chandler Baker's other book, Whisper Network, so I wasn't surprised with her insanely accurate depiction of the husband/wife dynamic and gender roles in the workplace and at home. But I felt Whisper Network kinda fell flat for me in some ways, whereas The Husbands was a homerun. It was perfectly creepy with a build up that was so satisfying. The book dabbles on the dark side, but I will definitely be recommending this one to all my married/mom friends!

I actually cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed the social commentary Chandler Baker is able to weave into her narrative. Like, holy crap. She nails it. And she nails it because she — a working mom and wife — lives it just like all of the other working moms and wives. I swear, I'm neither of those things and I found myself nodding so hard through the novel. There was one part where Hayden tells Nora something like, "I help you! You can't say that I don't help you way more than most husbands." And she kind of snaps like, "why is raising OUR daughter and cleaning up around OUR house helping ME?" and like DANG where's the lie?! I'm practically begging my book club to pick this as our September read because I need to discuss. I am also GLADLY accepting DMs to discuss. Plz.

Have you ever felt over-worked and under-appreciated at home. Have you ever felt like you are carrying more than your fair share of the household duties? If so this is the book for you. Is it self-help? No...it is a book that will make you feel seen and heard. It is a book that will have you nodding along and saying, hmm she's saying exactly what I feel but in a much more eloquent manner.

Nora Spangler is feeling the weight of life. With baby #2 on the way and trying to make partner at her law firm she needs some help. She feels the mental burden so many moms carry and just wants her husband to be more aware.

When a house hunting expedition brings them to the exclusive Dynasty Ranch she finds a group of high powered women who seem to have it all. How can she get what they have?

While usually a fan of Chandler Baker, this one did not quite hit the mark for me. Labeled as a feminist thriller, I definitely agree with the feminist angle but not necessarily the thriller (maybe partially in the end). To me, it was more of a slow-build drama with a heavy emphasis on women empowerment and heavy criticism of men.

This was the story of Nora, a pregnant mother of two-year-old Liv who is a successful, busy lawyer. Her and her husband, Hayden, were looking for houses and came across a beautiful home in Dynasty Ranch, an exclusive neighborhood with a seemingly close-knit society of strong, powerful women and their families. As the story goes on, a significant amount of time is spent on how husbands and fathers are not helpful enough, and how overwhelmed women/mothers are. Maybe this angle was more relatable to mothers, but as someone married without children I simply could not relate and found these parts to drag on, to the point where I was struggling to see the story underneath.

Eventually, secrets are revealed as Nora digs further into the mystery that occurred at Dynasty Ranch and puts together the pieces of the puzzle. Ultimately, culminating in an intense climax of the story that finally maintained my interest.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If there was an option for half star ratings, I’d bump this to 3.5. I liked this book better than The Whisper Network. Ms. Baker has working moms everywhere nodding their heads with regard to the relatability and hard truths her books always feature. I still found aspects of the story hard to believe, but this one took a jaw dropping turn at the end that kept me interested. I listened to this as an audiobook (complimentary from the publisher) and would have appreciated the narrator fine tuning her pronunciation of legal jargon. 🤷🏻‍♀️

All of a sudden this isn't in my app and I am very sad. I will check it out at the library! Thanks for the chance.

As I started this entertaining read by Chandler Baker, I took an immediate dislike to Nora Spangler's husband Hayden. Nora is a succesful attorney and has been seeing advertisements to an exclusive community called Dynasty Ranch. She deserves a home there. After all, she works hard as a very successful attorney. Then she comes home and does everything from cooking, cleaning, bath time, trips to the dry cleaners and more. Hayden just glides along.

When they do go look at a house at Dynasty Ranch, Nora feels like she has found her people. The other successful women, including a CEO, a neurosurgeon and more. If they can have it all, why can't she? After meeting with a real estate agent, it is discovered that she is an attorney, Nora is asked to help with a resident's wrongful death case. She agrees, feeling that it will get her in the door to the house she wants.

As a reader all I could see was the Stepford Wives - in reverse! The husbands all seem to be domesticated, something Hayden could definitely learn from. How do all of these successful women have husbands who share the load, even taking more of it than would possibly be expected? Nora has her doubts to be sure, but she also knows what she wants. Can she push her nagging concerns aside and represent the case, get the house, and get her husband to pick up his feet?

I loved this book, finding myself surprised at the twists as they were occurring, and especially the ending! In fact, I reread the last chapter because of how expertly the author brought this enjoyable book to a close.

Many thanks to Macmillan and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Chalder has done it again! I loved this audio. I loved the narrator. Sometimes a voice can really make or break a book, but this narrator helped. A lot. Made me feel what she was saying. Super enjoyable!

I had enjoyed Baker’s previous book, the Whisper Network, so I was interested in reading this one. The beginning of the book spends a lot of time with Nora trying to juggle her life between a legal career, demands as a mom, and being a wife. Although I am no longer in the rat race work world or a young mother and was fortunate to have had a husband who did a lot more than most by helping with meals and laundry, I could still identify with her struggle. I did feel that Baker overdid that part and drug it out a bit too long. About 3/4 of the way through the book there was a scene where I had the thought, “those husbands are like Stepford Husbands.” Then I realized after reading the book blurb and some reviews that is exactly where the book was heading. I might not have read it if I had realized that sooner. Overall, I enjoyed it well enough, but I probably would have picked something else.

DNF @ 54%

I'm going to start off by saying The Husbands is very similar to Baker's other novel Whisper Network, which I did not enjoy. The Husbands followed the same pacing, and once again featured a female lawyer navigating the patriarchy.

Nora, the MC, was extremely unlikeable for me. She complained a lot, and as the whole premise of the story was to point out her husband should be participating more with chores and childcare, I felt like siding with him- she was always unhappy!

The social commentary in this book felt extremely forced and rubbed me the wrong way. I also didn't find the audio narrator intriguing, I wish she varied her voice more while changing characters as it was hard to follow while multi tasking.

Overall, I don't think I'll be picking up another book by this author.

Thank you so dang much NetGalley and Flatiron Books for The Husbands by Baker!

The Husbands I was approved for the audio version!
And I'm so happy I was able to get my hands on this story!
I was patiently waiting LoL

I loved the murder mystery element in this book. Chandler does such an extraordinary job with her books.
This is a fast, easy read that once you start reading you seriously will have issues not being able to stop!
At least I did!
I loved the family drama and the suspense.
These characters are top notch! Loved them

Y'all read this because you won't be disappointed! Swear!

3 1/2 stars. This was well-written & very thorough, but for a suspenseful story, it dragged on & the big suspenseful reveal was when the book was almost over. I listened to this as a digital audio ARC courtesy of NetGalley. Bonus points for being set in Austin, Texas.

Chandler Baker is hilarious. So 100% on point with the humor and characterizations of this story. I laughed, I sighed, I contemplated my own marriage, and I laughed some more. Portions of this book are definitely fantasy. ;-) I didn't see the ending coming, although I probably should have. Definitely recommend for those seeking humor with a twist.

A fun thriller with amazing commentary on social expectations. This is a book you'll read and think, "something isn't quite right here..." It's been awhile since I read a book and wanted to clap and cheer while reading the social commentary! This book will go far with book clubs! Chandler Baker does an amazing job analyzing the role that women play as wives, mothers, and professionals compared to what is expected of men.

Similar theme to her first novel: modern women juggling the professional and domestic. I love how she weaves in the setting of Austin (similar to Dallas in The Whisper Network), if you know the area you can really appreciate the nods she makes to the local culture. The dystopian twist was a major departure from The Whisper Network. Reminded me in many ways to The Other Black Girl. A thoroughly enjoyable read, not excellent, but far from bad.

Thanks to NetGalley, Flatiron, and Macmillan Audio for the ARCs!

Think Stepford husbands of Dynasty Ranch.
The old concept of ‘can a woman have it all’ ? A successful prolific career and a perfect house life without compromise ? What does it takes ?

I found the main Character Nora a little naive for being an attorney and an investigator. Nonetheless the characters can be identified with in an unlikely scenario.
The ending of the book felt a little too obvious and rushed to me. However the author’s trademark of using social media at the end of each chapter to introduce opposite perspectives was very clever and interesting.

The narrator is very effective in conveying the story but I found her range a little limited.
It is definitively a rewarding entertaining story, with the perfect setting for sooo sooo much to talk about in a book club.
Would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and Chandler Baker for this ARC.

Okay, this book needs to be read or listened to by anyone, especially fathers, husbands, partners, boyfriends, men.

I laughed so many times during this book, and also got a little sad a few times. I related completely, as I’m sure a lot of moms, wives, girlfriends, partners will. It also made me feel good enough.

The Husbands was just *good.* It was witty. It was deep. It was dark. It was hilarious. It was good. This is easily one of my favorites and definitely one of my go-to recommendations now.