A perfect life sold to women every day on social media is really anything but. Madison is a social media influencer homesteading in Montana. She paints an idyllic picture of family life that unfolds in a suspenseful and enjoyable story.

The Tradwife’s Secret had potential, but the overwhelming number of characters made it hard to stay engaged. I often found myself confused and losing interest, even though the premise was intriguing. A tighter focus would have made the story more compelling. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

A reminder to not compare our lives to what we see on social media. Every single post has been chosen. We only see what the poster has chosen for us to see. This beautiful homes, loving marriages, and smiling children. But what happens behind the scenes? The bits we chose not to share? This was look into such a life and the secrets not shared.

I absolutely loved this book! I never wanted to put it down. I’ve always been interested by the fad of tradwives (definitely not one myself) but the entire concept of this book was why I wanted to read it. The plot and the twists at the end were so good!

This was kind of cringey. I don't really watch shows like this so I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I thought it was going to be more traditional domestic thriller. I finished it, but I can't say I'm happy with myself about that.

I was immediately interested in this book because I'm always curious about influencers, specifically the ones touting the tradwife life.
I enjoyed the twists in the book but it did take a while for me to get into too.

Things I liked about the book;
The insight-behind the scenes look at what it takes to be a social media influencer and how it's definitely not perfect.
The multiple POVs of the book

Things I didn't enjoy
I found the ending to be kind of clunky and despite the book seemingly being really long, the ended felt rushed.
I didn't find Madison's and Lori's story at the end believable, it seemed really odd when it all came out as to why they were connected
Cally's reason for being the tutor was so far fetched it was goofy. Every time she brought it up, I rolled my eyes.

Madison March is the perfect Montana “trad wife”. With a handsome rancher husband, 4 beautiful children and one on the way, she lives a life of domestic bliss. Or at least that is the image she projects to her millions of Instagram followers.

Cally is a young woman with a predicament, and the job at the March ranch as the family’s tutor seems to be the answer to all her problems. But seeing the life behind the screen is a shock. The ease at which Madison projects a wholesome image online is in fact carefully curated. The reality is much different, and there is a sinister undercurrent to the March’s marriage.

Brianna is a young woman trying to live out the dreamy homesteading life she sees online with her boyfriend, Jonah. But homesteading is a lot harder than influencers make it seem, and her confidence wanes as tension between her and Jonah grows.

In The Trad Wife’s Secret, we follow these 3 women as they navigate the choices they have made in life—and the consequences of those choices.

This book started off super slow. As “trad wives” are in the cultural zeitgeist right now, and certain influencers have been criticized for not showing both the true work behind what they post online as well as the help they have to produce the content, the subject is timely. But the characters are deeply unlikeable: Madison is shallow and self-centered, Cally is flat, and Brianna is pitiably naive about the situation she is in. The storyline picked up 3/4s of the way through as it became more clear that people were hiding things, and the twist at the end was truly surprising. The ending was satisfying. Content warmings: domestic violence, child loss.
Thank you Harper360 for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was an interesting thriller - I kept wanting to read it addicted to the trad wife lifestyle (is it all real or not will we ever know??) and then the storyline of Brianna got me pulled in too because I felt like that was so much more realistic than the IG stuff. I think it’s a good commentary about the irony that tradwives have made their life into a way to make money thereby defeating being a “true” trad wife. I would have liked more suspense and violence for the thriller aspect tho. Overall a decent read!

I can't believe that this is a trend. The tradwife label has gone too far, and nothing proves that more than Madison March. Although this is a fictionalized story, it is a trending thing. I found the writing style of this book to be excellent and believable. The content was disturbing and sad. I read it in 2 days because I had to know how it ended.

I flew through this one, but it wasn't revolutionary when it comes to thrillers. I enjoyed the twists and thought the author did a good job with the pacing.

"The Tradwife's Secret" by Liane Child presents an intriguing premise that promises suspense and psychological depth. The story revolves around [briefly summarize the premise]. As a fan of thrillers, I was drawn to the unique concept and the potential for intricate character dynamics.

However, while the novel managed to keep me engaged with its unfolding mystery, it fell short of delivering that extra layer of intensity and surprise that I typically seek in thrillers. The pacing was steady, and the plot unfolded logically, but it lacked the gripping twists and turns that make this genre truly thrilling.

The characters were adequately developed, but I found myself wanting more depth and complexity, especially in their motivations and interactions. The author touches on intriguing themes, [mention any themes or elements you found interesting], but these aspects could have been further explored to enhance the overall suspense and emotional impact of the story.

In conclusion, "The Tradwife's Secret" is a decent read for fans of psychological thrillers looking for a story that explores contemporary issues [mention any relevant themes]. While it didn't fully satisfy my expectations for a gripping thriller, it held my interest enough to see how the narrative would unfold. It's a novel that explores relevant themes with potential, though it may leave some readers wishing for a bit more intensity and depth.

The Tradwife's Secret was pretty good. The story was twisty enough to keep me interested, even though the characters often made decisions that made no sense. My biggest complaint is that, even though it takes place in Montana and all the characters are American, there were a lot of Britishisms in the writing (jumper instead of sweater, antenatal instead of prenatal, things like that). Not a huge deal, but it did pull me out of the story because I kept thinking maybe the twist would be that one of more of the characters was lying about being American. It seems like something an editor should have caught. Otherwise, it was a fun read.

Book review 📖

📜The Tradwife’s Secret
✍️Liane Child
📠Harper 360
📚Mystery/Thriller Fiction
🗓️Pub date: May 27, 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Thank you @NetGalley and @harpercollins360 for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✨Madison March has it all—a perfect life, a perfect family, a perfect social media following of millions. And it’s all a lie.

✨When a new tutor for Madison’s four children starts in her Montana home, she begins to learn that the woman she’s idolized is not what she portrays online. There are cracks beneath the perfect veneer, and there’s the tip of a storm brewing.

✨I love a prologue that starts off strong with “stupid bitch deserved everything she got”, because I know I’m in for one hell of an unhinged ride.
This book highlights the demand of social media and call for perfection when faced against competition in the online world.
In the likes of Jesse Q. Sutano’s You Will Never Be Me crossed with Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid, this is a dark and domestic thriller, and how stereotypical life on the prairie isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

#netgalley #thetradwifessecret #lianechild #harper360 #advancedreadercopy #arc #bookreview #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #springreleases #thrillerfiction

This book was so good! The behind the scenes look into the influencer life was very interesting and the story was gripping! So much going on and so many people to not like.

I received an ARC of this book from Harper 360 via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. First, this book definitely needs some editing before actual publication. Every time the POV switched, the beginning of the chapter was formatted very strangely (at least on the Kindle). Also, any time a character was speaking and there were direct quotation marks, the whole paragraph would run together, making it hard to tell who was speaking. And I am pretty sure Madison's last name was mixed up a few times (March vs Marsh).

Besides that, this was a page-turner. The whole concept of tradwife is mind-boggling to me, and I hope there are not too many people with a relationship like Madison & Michael's, or Brianna & Jonah's. It's kind of like train wreck reading, or a reality show - you keep reading/watching but horrified the whole time.

The twist was jaw-dropping, which is always a plus for me.

I think there were a few questions remaining and a few loose ends. And the epilogue didn't seem to accomplish anything.

I have no doubt this book will be a bestseller among millenials and older Gen Z women. It is a subtle thriller with the setting of a rural Montana farm complete with animals, cute kids, and an influencer wife in flowy dresses making cookies.

However, behind the scenes there is so much more going on, of course. There are a few characters who shake up the narration, with a second main character slowly coming more and more into focus.

Read if you like watching tradwife reels or if you find them repulsive. Either way, you will find something to relate to in this otherwise completely unrelatable book. I found some of it to be totally unlikely/unbelievable, but that is what makes it a thriller, I guess. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I couldn't put this down because it was like a horrific car wreck. Just had to know exactly what was going to happen next. (Especially since a few influencers came to mind immediately!)

A few things that I wasn't a huge fan of - but overall, this is exactly what I think most 'mommy influencers' are behind the scenes. The forced posing of their kids, the marital relationship that's most likely suffering, and just a huge amount of BS piling up, all to make money.

I don't even have as much of an issue when it's other kinds of influencers because then I feel like they're not exploiting their kids for content!!? The 'tradwife' stuff has always given me the ick though!!! Child's book really felt like it's something that would've exploded across the news lately.

CWs: loss of a child, abusive relationships etc.

**Thank you to Harper 360 for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

If you are looking for a good popcorn thriller that has all the thrills and chills then grab a copy of this one and sit back and enjoy your reading!

This was a fun read! I enjoy anything about the underside of influencers and their "perfect" lives. I also learned what a "tradwife" is. Yep, I had no clue. Madison is a tradwife, a.k.a. traditional wife. Madison is also a popular influencer who posts her perfect life and family. Not surprisingly all is not perfect in Insta-World and things start to fall apart. Told from three POV's, this was an extremely, if a wee bit predictable, twisty and suspenseful story. It is also a good commentary about the lengths that influencers feel they have to go through for perfection. Really sad. I look forward to more from Liane Child.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Liane Child and Harper 360 for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication day of May 27, 2025.

What a mess. Reads like it was written by a buggy LLM in beta testing, after being trained on several dozen terrible Wattpad stories written by middle school students. Set in the Mountain West of the US, but packed full of Britishisms. Poorly created characters. A storyline that plods along slowly and painfully. Hopefully the worst book I'll read all year, because if I read anything worse than this I may as well go lay down in traffic.