I love this author! The stories she tells, the characters she creates and the writing style all work really well for me.

This story was also awesome, until it wasn’t. The sad thing is that I enjoyed, really enjoyed 95%, but then that ending. Ugh!

There’s a lot going on in this tale that is narrated by three very interesting women. Unlike other stories I’ve read, these voices were so well crafted and completely different.

I won’t go into more of the story or conclusion details because there’s more than enough out there already but I will say, as a woman, I hated it. I see the fact that it’s a clever twist and it turned the story on its head but it just didn’t sit well with me.

I still would recommend this, with a bit of hesitation, but also urge you to check out prior work by this author. I still will look forward to the next story. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and St. Martin’s Press for a copy in exchange for a review.

Compulsively readable but, like the last Hepworth release, this novel falls flat in its conclusion. The characters are interesting (to a point), the novel well-paced, but the ending is a let-down. I love the atmosphere/world that Hepworth's characters inhabit, and her work is beginning to seem in the same vein as Liane Moriarty, but with less punch. Lots of personal drama, but to what end? What would have been a four-star read is dropped to a 3 because of an unsatisfying conclusion.

I enjoyed this story. The family dynamics were relatable. The writing and the pacing were excellent. The changing points of view for each chapter kept me on the edge of my seat.

This was a quick paced read for me. I enjoyed the suspense and family drama. I liked the relationship of the three women in the story was not what was expected based on the title. I was not a big fan of the ending. I couldn't help but feel like it glossed over some very serious issues women experience and cast doubt on survivor's stories.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc. All opinions are my own.

I was hooked pretty quickly with The Younger Wife. As a big Sally Hepworth fan, I was so excited to read her latest (and possibly greatest) book. This book had lots of twists and truly original storylines - which is hard to pull off in the psychology thriller genre. Plus The Younger Wife was far from predictable! Five stars!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Aston daughters, Tully and Rachel have a lot to deal with. Their mother has dementia and is becoming less coherent every day. Their father Stephen is introducing them to his girlfriend, scratch that, new fiancée Heather who is the same age as Rachel. Plus they are dealing with challenges in their personal lives that they are keeping secret. As the wedding gets closer they start to question what they know about their family. Will the family survive the wedding?

Very nicely done with lots of surprises. The author knows how to set up readers to anticipate one event, then deliver another. Great job!

ow, to add to their overflowing plates, their father has announced that he will be getting married again. While he is still married to their mom. To a woman who is nearer their age than his. What they don't know is things are about to get a lot tougher as secrets from all parties start to surface.

This was a fun one. It was a very quick read. Multi POV makes it so hard to put books down! Adding in the angle of Tully and Rachel's mom being mentally unreliable was a great method of burying the family secrets. Heather, the new fiancé, was a great character. She was complex but delivered as the opposite. She reminded me of Kate Upton's character in the movie The Other Woman.

On top of multi POV, we also get a bit of timeline jumping which can be confusing, but in this instance it was super easy to follow the story. Not to mention, the story opens at the beginning of the end which immediately sucked me in.

This was my first Sally Hepworth novel. It was a suspenseful read, and I enjoyed it, until I didn't. It left me saying, wait, what? The majority of the characters are neurotic for one reason of another. The only normal person is Stephen, or is he neurotic too? This story line is complicated, and just when I think I know where it is going, new truth is reveled. It is worth a read, just to understand what I am writing about. Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for opportunity to read and provide my honest feedback on this book.

This is not my first time reading this authors work and I’ve enjoyed every one so far. This book is marked as mystery/thriller but I do feel it was more of a domestic drama. I didn’t feel like there was a lot of thriller in the story but I was invested with the characters. I enjoyed them all and the flow of the story progressed well and was easy to follow and get through. Overall I’d recommend this book to others.

4.5 stars. I am happy to have received a comp copy from the publisher, St Martin's Publishing Group through NetGalley.

Hepworth is so darn good, but I'm just not sure what we're supposed to make of that ending. It's left a little vague and some may think they know what happened, while others will argue the opposite. But that's OK sometimes, when everything else is superb.

A family where everyone seems to need a bit of counseling. Other elements are Alzheimer's, domestic abuse, eating disorders, and keeping secrets from your loved ones. I thought Hepworth handled them with her usual aplomb. An engaging read that will stay on your mind long after finishing. .

Stephen is getting married again, even though his first wife is still alive. She is currently in a nursing home with dementia. When he introduces his fiancé Heather to his daughters Rachel and Tully, both girls have an immediate dislike for her. She is younger than both of them! And their mom is still alive! The secrets seem to be stacking up though. will the girls be able to find the truth?

I have loved Sally Hepworths past books and she has quickly become an auto buy author for me! I was so excited to get an arc of this one! I thought the relationships between the characters was so realistic. I did figure out what was going on pretty early, but I still needed to know if everyone else would figure it out, so I could not stop reading As always I flew through Hepworths latest read and cant wait to see what she does next.

Sally Hepworth has a talent for writing stories around family dynamics that appear simple at the start of the book and get increasingly complicated and darker as the story goes on. The Younger Wife is no exception, revolving around grown daughters Tully and Rachel and their dad Stephen’s fiancé, Heather. Tully and Rachel are understandably upset about their father’s engagement to Heather. She’s younger than both of them and not least of all, he’s still married to their mother Pam, who’s suffering from dementia. As the story progresses the reader learns that Tully is a kleptomaniac that can’t quit stealing things, and both Rachel and Heather suffered major trauma earlier in their lives. So when things seem a little off with Stephen, are the three women imagining something because of their own personal struggles or are they seeing hints of something that he’s been able to very cleverly hide from everyone? This is a bit of a slow burn, but it also reads incredibly quickly which makes it easier to stay engaged. It also features Hepworth’s trademark of women acknowledging their faults and traumas and coming out stronger as a result of it. This takes her books a step above the traditional psychological thriller where a woman has a vulnerability that gets her in a bad spot, but she never evolves from it. The ending is interesting and will likely have you second-guessing (or perhaps third-guessing) the truth versus perception. A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sucked me in from the very beginning. A lot of different characters to relate to, and spot-on with the eccentricities of each. One of my favorite authors and I'm so glad I got to read this book before it was published.

4.5 stars, rounded up
Anyone looking for a delicious, psychological thriller? This is the one for you. Told from multiple POVs, the story starts with a wedding where someone is hurt and then backtracks to when Tully and Rachel learn their dad is planning to marry a much younger woman. Like their age. And oh, he’s still married to his current wife, although she does have Alzheimer’s.
Tully is a mother to two young boys, married to a barrister. She’s also a total neurotic. Rachel is her gorgeous sister, a successful baker who has also developed a problem with overeating. As you would expect, everyone is hiding secrets. Heather, the young fiancée, is hiding the story of her family. We also hear from an unknown narrator at the wedding who hypotheses as to who has done what to whom.
The writing is vibrant. Things move at a fast pace as the book switches gears between the three young women. And I was engaged in each of their lives. So often, psychological thrillers are just over the top. But this book has a great subdued sense of suspense, which makes it imminently believable. Each woman is questioning what she knows. I had no clue as to the ending until it was revealed. And I LOVED the ambiguous ending.
Usually I don’t think mysteries or thrillers make for good book club selections. But this might be the exception. There are several deeper themes to be explored - body image, rape domestic abuse, mental health issues.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

4.0 stars

I received a complimentary Kindle book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This was an intriguing, fun, and wild ride of a book. It was a very DIFFERENT and INTERESTING ending!! Now, some reviewers are saying that it wasn't a good ending. Honestly, I thought it was AWESOME because it was real life and what really happens in a family - one or two things can change how our life path turns!!

I have read all of Sally Hepworth's books and this was a fun one. The characters were interesting (some intriguing backstories), true, and what families are like. It definitely was NOT cookie-cutter characters from television.

RECOMMEND! This will be an excellent read for by the pool or at the beach - light easy and fun!!

Hepworth''s The Younger Wife sounded fascinating and the domestic suspense story has an interesting storyline - younger wife, older man, his 2 daughters, a wife with dementia in a nursing home what could go wrong. It's all about what are the family secrets. I stuck with the story wondering who the narrator was that opened story and what part she played in the father's life, followed along with the story as told by the daughters and the young wife and wondered how so many messed up individuals could come from one story. What was it in their lives that messed them up so much, what did they have to say. For some who love domestic suspense the characters will be written well but to me I couldn't like them. The ending was quite the surprise. Those who love domestic stories with a level of suspense will enjoy. I give it a 3 as I just didn't like the characters and was glad their story came to an end.

3.25 stars

This is a hard book to rate because I really enjoyed most of it, but I did not like the ending one bit.
This book is more of a family story/drama with a hint of mystery. We have two sisters who are from a well of family. Sadly their mom, Pam, gets very sick and she is committed to home where she can be treated properly. However their father decides to move on with his life with a new conquest that is the same age as his daughters.

The book is exploring a lot of interesting aspects, like abuse and addiction and gas-lighting and violence, but in a captivating way. It is very well written and the reader will be drawn into the story wanting to know more. The chapters are being told from the perspective of the two sisters, Rachel and Tully and the new wife Heather.

Some things are a bit farfetched. I could have thought of easier ways to find out one thing or another, like installing a hidden camera, but Sally Hepworth decided to take the story in a different direction creating a very foggy, confusing atmosphere, which in the end, that is the goal.

The ending, although it explains a lot of things, it felt like it demolished everything the book constructed.

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this great book!!

How is this my 1st book by Sally?! She writes the perfect dysfunctional family dynamic and always kept me guessing as to who did what with what motives. I have sense read another title of hers, The Mother-In -Law and found it equally enjoyable and full of twists.

This book was so fun and entertaining. It kept me guessing and wanting to pick it back up and see where it was going with all the twists and turns in the story. The writing made this book go down easy, which was just what I needed after a bit of a reading slump. By the end, there were a few things with the plot that didn’t quite wrap up in as satisfying a way as I had hoped, but not enough that I didn’t still thoroughly enjoy this book.

If you like a family drama mixed with a thriller that you won’t want to put down, I highly recommend adding The Younger Wife to your TBR.