The Broken Marriage was a roller coaster of a read! Rachel and Matt, a typical married couple on the outside, have major secrets! I enjoyed reading this book and was rooting for things to work out for the sake of their children. The author delivered twist after twist, making things unrealistic, but entertaining. It did seem like a long read, but was still interesting throughout. Thank you to Elena Wilkes, Storm Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book prior to publishing.

The Broken Marriage was a fairly good novel but a bit slow, but it did keep me wanting more.

The story is based on Rachel, Matt, who are a couple that is going through a rough patch, when suddenly and old friend Hannah, reappears on their doorstep. Hannah gets snowed in, and has full intentions of telling Rachel some information about Matt that she has waited far too long to tell her but feels she needs to know. There are some troubling things that happened in the past between the friends, that Hannah is still trying to work through. While she's in process of that, there are some surprises that come about.

I do feel this book could be made far better by adding in some additional twists and turns throughout the book vs having so much happen at the end. Leave readers trying to figure out whats happening throughout the book vs more at the end. For example, sprinkling in additional things happening via Matt with Hannah staying with them, additional little things besides just the snowman. And in regards to Emily, making her a more questionable person throughout the book, making folks wonder about her true identity.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I found the concept of this book to start really interesting. It definitely took an interesting turn as it got further into it. I did think that there was a bit of a break between some of the stories. There was so much going on in this book that it almost feels like a few different stories that got a little bit jumbled. It was like three different novels packed into one, with a bit much on the complexities and all of the bad packed into it.

One of the biggest issues for me in this book is that I did not genuinely like the characters. I just found them all irritating, frustrating, and ridiculous in some of their responses. I didn't connect with the main characters at all. I was a bit bothered by the abject toxicity that laced the whole novel, and sadly this one was not really for me.

I found this book a slow burn and the back and forth style was confusing and difficult to read.
The way the writing is going back and forth was so confusing and sometimes I wasnt sure whose POV it was. There was a lot going on and I felt that sometimes it didnt keep my attention and wasn't the best i have read. I was looking forward to reading this but i still don't understand what i read.

At times felt rushed and i was so looking forward to this book. It was just ok for me but i would give the author another try with another novel.

Hannah, Rachel, Allison, and Matt - college roommates, best friends. That is until jealousy starts unraveling their friendships. Then a traumatic experience truly derails things. Years later, the foursome lives apart but are still bound by that trauma. When their lives intersect a second time, things will be forever changed for all. A wild ride!

Mercifully short, this book consists of the thoughts of Hannah, a woman who turns up at the door of university flatmates from 17 years ago. As the book progresses, we come to understand that Hannah is obsessed by Rachel. Hannah had left after a year and after being raped there had been no contact since. It all stretches the bounds of credibility a little too far, especially the scenes set in the prison.
Hannah is at best, introspective and obsessed, at worst just strange. The other characters are seen from her point of view, so also coloured by her thoughts. I did finish, but cannot say I enjoyed this book and the plot was not interesting or believable enough for me. The friendships are immature and circumstances far fetched.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

This book was really good. It could be slow at times. The ending was simply amazing. Unexpected and very well executed. I would read more from this author.

I am sorry to say but this book bored me!!! I lost interest not even mid way through!!! I don’t know if it was because they were trapped in one place or how fake everyone seemed to be!!!

This book was a good psychological thriller. The plot moved quickly and kept my attention. Sometimes, it seemed a bit scattered, but it eventually fell into place. However, I genuinely enjoyed the unexpected turns in the plot. It was a solid read!

not the best psychological thriller I have read mainly because I didnt like any of the characters! I found them quite unpleasant, manipulative with no redeeming features but the author's story was good and I liked the pace x

This book had all the fixings for a great psychological thriller — complicated marriage, manipulative relationships, strange friendships, and secrets from the past — but it did not deliver. Unfortunately, this storyline was not captivating enough. It was a bit of a struggle trying to finish it.

Thank you to net galley for the eARC!

Thank you Storm Publishing and Netgalley for this arc. This is my honest review and opinion.

This one just didn't do it for me. I couldn't get into it, the characters are all not likeable and the title is completely miss leading.

I personally found the writing style quite chaotic (mostly at the beginning) so it hindered my ability to really get stuck into this book. Once I was about 20% in then it was a much quicker read

I would definitely recommend this for newer readers to thrillers as it’s a great starting point but if you’re a big thriller reader you may find it predictable


Thank you for the opportunity to read this book

Maybe it is just me but I would be a lot more suspicious of someone I hadn't seen for 17 years rocking up on my doorstep, regardless of what our friendship was like when we were last together!

All three of the main characters are fairly unlikeable, Rachel comes across as manipulative from the start and Matt as untrustworthy...Hannah is a little harder to get a handle on as she demands empathy from page one but become more and more unpleasant as the story progresses!
Told from multiple viewpoints and both time lines of now and then, there are some jumps that were initially confusing until you worked out both the voice and the period.

However as the book progresses so does the pace, the intrigue, the secrets and the lies- all in all making this a great read!

When Hannah shows up at Rachel’s house after 17 whole years, Rachel is pleasantly surprised but her partner Matt not so much – there’s history between him and Hannah & he does not want Rachel finding out what he has planned for their future.
Matt opens up to Hannah and says that Rachel has been unfaithful and he thinks that she will leave him soon. But Hannah is dealing with a trauma from her younger days and only Rachel knows what happened and what they did that day!
Hannah starts to see someone lurking around Rachel and Matt’s house, there’s someone who seems to be keeping an eye on her.
The book started slow, and for some reason I found it hard to keep track of the characters – but once it picked pace, there was just tension filled chapters and I could not put it down!
Thanks to NetGalley, Storm Publishing & Elena Wilkes for approving the ARC e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah decides to visit her college roommates after many years. She is looking to resolve the past. She had some trauma that few people knew about back then.

Told in multiple points of view and time lines. Normally I like this set up, but with this one I was often confused. Sideline characters were introduced that had no bearing on the story. I feel that some of the characters should have played a bigger part in the sections about the past. It would have made the overall story less confusing.

The main characters are all unlikable. I don't mind this but I do need someone to root for.

The ending may be surprising to some, but I guessed parts of it right from the beginning. That doesn't stop me from enjoying a good book.

Overall not a bad book, but not a great one.

Thanks to netgalley and Storm Publishing for the arc.

Wow, wow, wow! This was perfection itself! Sheer brilliance. Loved, loved loved this one and very highly recommend it to all.

The Broken Marriage by Elena Wilkes

Rachel and Matt have it all. They are the beautiful couple – from their tastefully renovated house to their highly successful careers. But beneath the happy façade lies a relationship strained by secrets and lies. While Rachel grows increasingly restless, Matt can’t stop thinking about Hannah, Rachel’s former best friend, who they haven’t seen for seventeen years…

When Hannah suddenly arrives on their doorstep in the middle of a snowstorm, Rachel and Matt’s perfect marriage begins to crack dangerously. As tensions mount to a breaking point, Hannah reveals her own dark secret – one she's been afraid to face. But has Hannah brought that darkness with her? Has it followed her to this place of safety? Trapped together while the snow falls heavily outside, it becomes clear that everyone has something to hide…

Really enjoyed this one. A great build up of a couple with something to Hide and a spanner in the works with the arrival of Hannah.
Maybe not believable in real life , but a page turner netherless. Enjoyed it.

Genre : Thriller
Rating : 3.8/5

Thank you NetGalley, Storm Publishing and author, Elena Wilkes for the gifted e-ARC.
The reveal at the end had me in! The book is insane, it took me a while to get into but about halfway, I was thoroughly invested. The characters gave me a whiplash of emotions - at one moment, I was mad at the protagonist and sympathizing with other, and at others, it was the opposite. But this was clear - none of the characters were meant to be the least likeable. Manipulative, complex and unreliable.

It kept me on my toes as I tried to figure out what was going on in the book. Initially, it seemed like it was meant to be primarily focused on Matt & Rachel, and their weird, strange love triangle with Hannah. But, that was only a small part of it. It was more focused on Hannah, her trauma, and the relationships she had at different points in her life - with one constant, Rachel.

There were several jumps in the timeline which occasionally made me confused, and I did have to re-read to better grasp it. The twists were fantastic and left me shocked at multiple points!

Read if you like :
~ Atmospheric vibes
~ Shocking twists
~ Gripping

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. Racheal and Matt have the perfect marriage from the outside. One day, Hannah, Racheal’s friend who she hasn’t seen in 17 years shows up. From there lies, manipulation and secrets keeps the story moving. In the middle, there’s a low point but afterwards it speeds up with an ending that made me gasp.