Synopsis:

Lore Rivera was married to two men at once until one of them found out and shot the other. A secret double life, a tragic murder - that's the story the world knows until true-crime writer Cassie Bowman enters the picture. She wants to know more about Lore - how did she balance the love and lies? Cassie finds that Lore is willing to talk, to tell her heartbreaking story. As they grow closer, Cassie can't help but confess her own darkest secrets. When she realizes there more to the night of the murder, can either woman face up to the truth?

Review:

This was an amazing story about two powerful, but flawed (as we all are!) women. I love strong FMCs and this book really delivered. I recently visited Mexico city and could vividly picture the settings as they were described. Hearing that a woman was married to two men at once sounds outlandish until you read Lore's story and her justifications. I loved getting to know Lore and uncovering her story. This is such a unique book, I highly recommend it for a refreshingly different domestic thriller.

Thank you to William Morrow for the eGalley!

3.5 stars. I looked forward to reading and reviewing MORE THAN YOU’LL EVER KNOW. A debut novel by Katie Gutierrez. I was drawn to this book with the premise of a woman, Lore Rivera,, who is a bigamist. I was totally engrossed in her story until the book started to drag, and I realized I was not even halfway through the book. I did like the relationship of Cassie who wants to write a true crime book about how Lore, the mother of twin boys, could carry on this double life. I finally set this ARC aside. Recently, I decided to get the Audible version to listen to on a long road trip on vacation. This was the key for me. Entertaining and I could pick it up and put down the book with ease. The Mexico City earthquake was very vivid in the audible version. I found myself gripping the my seat in the car as I listened to this section.

I do think this book could have been shortened by a good 100 pages. It did keep me guessing about who really killed Andres until the very end. I do think Katie Gutierrez has a future in writing true crime stories. My thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for an ARC of this book which led me to purchase the Audible version to enjoy listening to on my trip.

More Than You’ll Ever Know is a little bit of mystery and a whole lot of domestic affairs. It was an overall enjoyable read, but seemed a little over the top at times. I definitely wouldn’t classify this as a thriller as so many people originally believed.

This is an ambitious tale of domestic fiction with a hint of mystery at its core. The changing POV between modern-day Cassie and Lore's past provides a compelling narrative that ties in true crime to the identity of women, and in Lore's case a woman of colour.

While this is certainly a mystery in many ways, it offers many insights into motherhood and marriage. Lore's story makes you think, and it gets into your head.

This is a solid thought-provoking debut and I can't wait to see what the author writes next.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest review.There is a story within a story, which I found to be an engaging factor to why I resonated with this story. You'll catch yourself turning the pages and realizing that you just spent hours reading.

True crime shows are my favorite so finally getting to read this book I was excited to see if it gave me the same scared/disturbed feeling as some of the shows. I loved how it plays on the twist that men only live double lives and follows Lore Rivera’s secret and deadly double life. We learn about Lore’s life through the true crime writer Cassie - who is also dealing with her own issues. What an interesting question - what draws us all to the true crime stories and our obsession with them. This was a slow start for me but I became engrossed in the story halfway through. Good debut.

Lore Rivera lived a secret double life. She had her husband and children in Texas and in Mexico she had her husband and step-children. Then one husband shot the other husband. Cassie Bowman becomes fascinated with the story of Lore Rivera and she makes it her mission to be the first person with whom Lore shares her side of the story.

What secrets will Cassie discover? Why did Lore have these two families? What led to the murder? This is a well-written debut novel that will keep you guessing about who is telling the truth and who is not. I could not put it down.

I keep seeing a tweet going around that jokes that only men get caught having a secret family because women wouldn’t have the time—they’re too busy keeping their one family afloat. More Than You’ll Ever Know isn’t a rebuttal to that, exactly, but it offers an explanation of how—and why—a woman might choose to have a double life. We learn about Lore Rivera’s marriage to two different men at the same time, and her double life between Mexico and Laredo, Texas.

The novel also uses the character of Cassie, a true crime writer, to ponder the question of what draws us to true crime and the ethics of our obsession with it. Gutierrez is a gifted, sensitive writer with beautiful prose and a deft grasp of characterization. I loved this book and will eagerly read whatever she writes next.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

It is hard to believe that this is a debut novel, because it is a intricately woven novel with layers that are slowly peeled back and revealed to the reader. When Cassie Bowman, a true crime writer, reads a story that Lore Rivera was leading a double life. 30+ years earlier in 1986, Lore was married to 2 men at the same time, and when they found out, one killed the other. Cassie is intrigued and wants to find out more. She contacts Lore, who agrees to speak with Cassie.
As the details of the story come out, and Lore tells of her love for 2 men, Cassie is drawn into the story. Is Lore manipulating the truth? Is Cassie too close? Will Cassie discover what really happened on that fateful day in 1986?
This is a slow build, with a love story, revealing the lengths you will go to protect those you love. Very good, I look forward to her next book.

This book left me a little bit disappointed. I feel the synopsis set really high expectations and didn't quite meet them. For one, the story itself was much too long - I think it could have been cut by almost 100 pages. Those extra vignettes on the characters didn't really add much. We were on flat ground for a very large chunk of the book. I also felt that there wasn't much of a thriller aspect. It felt more mystery to me than anything with a touch of drama. In theory this story had really great bones and could have leaned much more heavily into the true crime aspect.

An interesting take on the popularity of true crime writing/podcasts. A little slow to get into, but I ended up really invested in this story of a young journalist working to uncover the truth of decades-old murder by interviewing the victim's wife... who was also married to another man and had been leading a double life. Who deserves the truth, and what even is true anyway?

My review, as posted on Goodreads:

I am grateful that the publisher allowed me to read and review this book. Overall I enjoyed it, although, if I’m honest, at times I got a little bored by it. During the last hundred pages it picked up again and I found I didn’t want to stop reading. I thought I had figured it out, but I did not! I liked the twist at the end.

Thank you to Netgalley, William Morrow Books, and Katie Gutierrez for a copy of More Than Youll Ever Know in exchange for an honest review. It took me way to long to get to this story and it was quite the book! It was very interesting to learn about Lore through Cassies interview process and I found myself immersed in both the past and the present on her story. I loved the multiple layers throughout this story and how they all came together in the end. I feel like the secrets throughout the book played out through the womens different traumas that they were and had experienced. This is a great and complex book that I would recommend to those who enjoy a family drama book. This is out now!

This book was EVERYTHING. It was such a wild ride, and so much more than it seemed to be on the surface. I loved the dual narrator style, and how the author helped us get to know the characters as the plot developed. I have recommended this book to several people and cannot say enough good things about it.

This was an interesting idea, but it could’ve been 150 pages shorter. The middle 30% felt like an absolute slog.

Great book with a slow start but a fiery ending! I would reread this book again and again I loved it and the twists and turns and how one minute you are sold it was Lore and then the next minute you think it was someone else that murdered Andres. Such a great book.

Struggled to rate this one, I did really enjoy the ride. Guessing until the end. There were some very unlikeable characters, and part of the relationship dynamics I just couldn't get past.
It was a fast read, enjoyable with some very thoughtful moments/phrases.

I loved Gutierrez's More than You'll Ever Know so much! What an original, creepy story. It is compulsively readable, as I read it in a couple days! The twists are amazing!

When true-crime writer, Cassie Bowman reads about the story of Lore Rivera she cannot resist diving deeper into this story. Lore was married to two men at once, living a double life, until one fateful day, one husband ends up dead and the other in jail guilty of murder. Cassie has had to carry around secrets of her family for years and feels a strong connection to Lore and this story. To Cassie’s surprise, Lore agrees to be interviewed and the two form a close bond, exchanging secret stories over hours of telephone calls. As the actions of what actually happened to Lore’s husband develops, I was completely in on both of the women’s stories.
This family drama was a great read for me. I loved the true-crime aspect of it and the interviews that took place. It was fascinating to relive the early days of Lore’s affair as she falls in love with another man and betrays her husband and sons. Also seeing Cassie’s current life and how many secrets she is hiding from her fiancé and what actually happened with her dad all those years ago that keeps them estranged. Great book for those who love some family drama and domestics thrillers!

Unfortunately, I struggled with this book. I did not find Lore interesting and I was forcing myself to read. I think this could have been a good 50-75 pages shorter.
This was not a book for me.