Imagine trading in your husband when he isn't the exact right fit, cool right? When Lauren returns to her flat and London and discovers she has a husband she is shocked and confused...because she's not married. It appears the basement can produce all types of husbands and if one doesn't match well she can send him back up to transform into someone new! The only problem is if Lauren thinks one isn't quite right and sends him away,then realizes he was the best match, how can she get him back. Lauren is not sure how this happening to her but so many wonderful things are happening in her life and also so many confusing ones too. When can she realize the path she should be on and avoid getting hurt, she'll just have to trust her heart.

The Husbands is about Lauren who upon returning home drunk one night finds a husband she didn’t have when she left. It’s the first of many husbands that get exchanged when one goes into the attic—each new husband’s emergence from the attic propelling her into a new version of her life with him. It’s completely outlandish and silly and wonderful. What would you do if your life had no real consequences? If you could exchange it for a new one just by luring your current husband back into the attic? Who would you want to spend your life with if you had an endless supply of husbands just waiting above? What might instantly give you the ick? In the process of answering some of these questions Holly Gramazio also probes deeper ones like what makes a successful marriage, what’s worth settling for, what are your most personal boundaries, what are the true limits of our identity and personality and what is based on circumstance, and is the dating world we’ve grown accustomed to serving us?

This was such a lovely book and I loved every second of it—trying to take my time and make it last. I love books about the multiverse, and I love how Gramazio executed this one. Of course you need to suspend your disbelief a bit, but it’s so easy to do it when it’s written in such an off-the-wall endearing way.

This book had such a creative premise and I was really looking forward to reading it. It started off strong, but the deeper it got the more repetitive it was. I wondered if she would ever stop getting new husbands. I thought Lauren was really vain, whiny and sometimes bratty. It somehow felt rushed that we never got to really know any of the husbands but then also felt like it was 100 pages too long. If it were shorter and maybe not as many husbands, I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more. I don't think we really got to learn much about Lauren as a character and that was a missed opportunity.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for my digital ARC of this book which publishes 4/2.

Thank you @prhaudio, @doubleday and @hollygramazio for the chance to Read/Listen to this early ARC

Are you a fan of Magical Realism? If yes, this is a good one for you

Lauren arrives home one night and is greeted by her husband, Michael - funny thing though, she’s not married. As she tries to figure out, Michael goes to the attic to change a lightbulb and disappears. But then, a different husband emerges. Realizing that her attic contains an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the questions: how do you know you’ve taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living?

This is a unique concept, and strange, and also somehow relatable. Anyone who has ever looked at their life, even in passing, and wondered, “What if I’d made another choice?” will find a thread of commonality. What resonates most, is the frenetic exploration of finding contentment in an age of vast choice and endless options - from groceries, to fast fashion, to online dating platforms, and more, more, MORE.

The concept was certainly interesting, but I’d like to keep my one and only husband. The audiobook held my attention and was well narrated. I do wish there had been fewer husbands and the as a result more character development of both Lauren and, maybe, at least a couple of the husbands.

Lauren, who lives in a flat in London, discovers that when she sends a husband up to the attic, a new husband comes back down. Once she decides that the new husband won't work, she sends him up to the attic. Some times she keeps husbands for mere minutes and other times she gets to know them. An interesting premise for a book but it was not the book for me.

It starts after her friend's hen do one night when she arrives home drunk only to find her husband Michael waiting for her. Only problem, she's not married and has no memory of this man even though her family seems to know him and their whole history together. The next day he goes to change a light bulb in the attic and another husband emerges in his place. And every time, her life resets-- new furniture, new job, money in the bank.... even any injuries are magically gone. As she cycles through different husbands searching for the perfect one, some only lasting seconds, others weeks, she starts to realize that there will always be little imperfections with every one and always searching for something better might not be living her best life at all.
This is such a unique story. I was fascinated by the endless variety of men popping out of the attic and how her life changes with every one. Time moves on and the people around her for the most part stay the same, never realizing how drastically her life is constantly changing. And the ending, while abrupt, left me with a feeling of hope for her future. This was a great debut novel and I look forward to more books by this author!
Thanks to Doubleday Books through Netgalley for the advance copy of this book. The opinions in this review are my own and given voluntarily.

Wow I read this book in two days & it is amazing!!!!!!!! It is thought provoking, entertaining, heartwarming, got great characters, every thing a great book needs. I will for sure be excited to read what Holly Gramazio gives us next to devour

Full disclosure: my four-star rating is really quite generous. Were I to break down my entire experience with Holly Gramazio's The Husbands, I'd have to give it five stars for concept, four for writing style, but just two for characterization and overall execution. Upon reflection, my loudest thought is this would have made one hell of a short story.

Yes, this book is far too long. The only thing that would have made it worthy of its final length is had readers somehow been able to champion one of the three husbands with any promise. To avoid spoilers, I'll identify them only as the husband she wanted to keep, the husband who understood her predicament, and the husband with whom she shared a history. Had any of those characters been approached slightly differently, then the ambiguous ending may have felt well-earned. Instead, it felt (like most of the husbands) arbitrary and halfhearted.

It's not that The Husbands was bad, exactly. It just felt like the author had maybe lost a bet about how many shallow characters she could cram into one novel.

Holly Gramazio's THE HUSBANDS is an entertaining romp through romantic relationships and what it means to share a life together. Who do you fall for -- and why -- and what do you do when the impossible keeps on climbing down from the attic, a different husband arriving with each ascent into that everyday, average storage area? I found it tough getting into the story, but when I did, I enjoyed seeing what Lauren would do next, laughing out loud and deeply moved by how she realizes what she wants and starts living in her here and now. I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased opinions.

3.5 rounded up to 4. This book was kind of nonsense to me, but I was fine with it? I did laugh out loud multiple times, but other than that I think I was confused more than anything. I wish there was more explanation of the 'why' or it was made clear if it was just two people in the whole world who had this kind of portal-ish magic?
 
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and PRH Audio for the advanced reader and listener copies of this title.

Synopsis:
Lauren returns to her flat one night to discover a husband she never knew existed - and when she sends him back up the ladder into the attic where he appeared from, that husband disappears and a new one arrives. What follows is Lauren over the course of a year-ish examining all the what-ifs and various loves and lives she could have had.

Thoughts:
Overall this book was entertaining enough for me, but not one I'd highly recommend. The premise is fascinating and I'm a sucker for any type of magical realism. All of the funny quirks of the hundreds of husbands Lauren tries out were really entertaining, and the introduction of Bohai (a husband who is experiencing the same thing just from the POV of being the one continually showing up at new places with a new spouse) made for an interesting twist that I thought we would get more of.

But the first half of the book felt very repetitive and surface-level. Lauren had nothing interesting herself as a character, and exhibited very little growth or true conflict. The second half, after she has met Bohai and finally starts showing some thinking behind the revolving door of husbands, picked up and held my attention longer. The climax and conclusion were creative, but abrupt. As a reader I was left with a lot of what-ifs about Lauren and her future life.

Additionally, I would categorize this as women's fiction, not romance. It is fairly light throughout, but it does not have the tone of a romcom.

I found this book rather delightful. I was afraid with the opening premise that the storyline might get stale, but it never did. Recommended for something light, but entertaining.

THE HUSBANDS is an entertaining and imaginative debut. As a fan of stories where magical realism and romance collide, I enjoyed the novel a lot and read it in one sitting. I believe everyone has had a "what if" moment in their life and this is the manifestation of that. There were some studs and some duds and some laugh out loud moments and some sighs, but the story carried itself along at a good pace. I agree that it would have been nice if there had been more development on some and less volume but I really did think that it was a unique way to describe how the life you live is impacted by the person (or people) you live it with. I would definitely read another novel by Gramazio in the future.

I received an advanced copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Imagine if dating was as easy as sending one husband up into your magical attic, and having a new one come down the stairs. Lauren finds herself coming home from a night out to a stranger in the house and discovers they're somehow married. She tries to adjust to this new reality, but when he goes up into the attic to change a lightbulb a new husband emerges. At the first sign of a flaw she continues to switch husbands and resets her life - but at what point do you stop? What makes a perfect relationship?

I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was really creative, all the unique husbands and personality quirks that the author was able to come up with were believable and even humorous. I enjoyed Lauren as a main character and found her relatable in most situations. The introduction of Bohai made it really interesting too! I will say I was not expecting the book to end when it did, it seemed a bit abrupt. I do wish Lauren had formed deeper relationships with several of the guys, as most seem like a revolving door. But I think it would be hard not to treat this magical attic situation like Tinder too!

Overall this was a really fun read! If you like butterfly effect type stories, or ever wonder how different your life would be depending on who you choose for a partner, definitely give this a try. I want to call it a rom-com, but I don't know if that's the best description. I received this book from NetGalley as an ARC for my review. 3.5 Stars rounded up to 4

Thank you so much for the ARC of this book. I might not have picked it up if I hadn't found it here; its cover gives off kind of romantic comedy vibes and that's not my usual jam. But this was different a lot of fun. I laughed a lot and just really enjoyed it, and I think our library patrons are going to enjoy it too! I think this is a great read if you are a little annoyed at your spouse.

This book was so much fun!

The premise of revolving husbands was giving alternate reality vibes but without time travel. Fans of This Time Tomorrow will enjoy this story, I think.

Bohai was such a breath of fresh air and I loved that he was included. Without him, things would have really started to drag. As it was, things were really starting to go off the rails at the end. The last chapter from Sam's pov was icing on the cake!

Will be recommending this one!

Coming home to her flat one night, Lauren is looking forward to getting a good night sleep alone. So she is surprised to be greeted at the door by her husband, most of all because she is not married and had never before encountered the person standing in her apartment. But the pictures on her phone and her text messages all indicate that they are indeed married. When her husband goes up to the attic, Lauren is again surprised when an entirely new man, who also seems to be her husband, emerges and Lauren herself seems also to have a new life.

Even though she cannot quite believe it, Lauren comes to the conclusion that she has a magic attic: it will generate a new husband, and a new life, every time the previous husband goes to the attic. Lauren finds herself grappling with what it means to be able to change husbands, and her whole life, with little effort, and the implications for her own happiness.

This was a fascinating, original, and engaging story. I am excited to see what comes next from this author.

Highly recommended!

First thank you to Doubleday books and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: Lauren comes home from a party and discovers a husband she doesn’t recall.. however when he goes up to the attic to change a lightbulb a new husband comes down. She soon realizes that she can swap out a husband anytime she wants by sending them up to the attic. Is this magic or something else?

What I liked: I thought this book was going to be a light rom com with a happily ever after but it is so much more. The author Holly Gramazio is a game designer in real life and really explored the gaming aspects of modern dating apps and butterfly theory. However she includes the human side of it including how the ease of getting a new husband/life lessens the value or satisfaction you get from it. She also plays with the idea of soulmates and how that can change quickly. There are some funny scenes but I really liked the whole picture including how this capacity impacts Lauren and others around her. I really liked her take on life when she switches husbands. So often in books or movies, that triggers many other actions that spiral but here she show how sometimes these actions might not dramatically change your life. It really made me think about how life can change quickly yet stay the same. One note is that I understood the point she was making with the switching of the husbands at first but thought she could have summed that quicker and devoted more time to the ending. I would have like some more at the end to see Lauren in a few months or years.

I would recommend that you read this book because it is such a unique perspective and concept. The writing is great and you will continue to think about long after it ends.

This book was a refreshing spin on a tale of parallel lives and infinite possibilities. I couldn't put it down! If you enjoy magical realism you will LOVE this book.

As a single girl, this book had such a cute and cheeky premise. However, with all the changes in Lauren's life (read: different husbands), it was hard to connect with any of the characters because so much time was spent adapting. However, it was fun and lighthearted and a pretty good palate cleanser from my usual thrillers.