This was a heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat it was definitely one of the best books this year! It was fast paced, edge of the seat thriller that was extremely well executed. I was gripped from the very first page!

I loved the characters and the storyline. I recommend reading this book straight away definitely 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book had it all it was a wild ride of lies and deceit that had many twists and turns which lead to a great but shocking finale!

I’m not sure how I feel about Not His Wife by LG Davis. I thought the premise sounded great…but then it fell a bit flat for me. The reader has to be willing to swallow several pretty far fetched things.

Starting with— a girl wakes up with amnesia and is told the man with her is her husband. Despite not recognizing him, her supposed home or her own name, she just…goes with it. (Not to mention, what hospital would release a still comatose patient)? She learns her husband is a psychologist who works with convincing the mind things are real that aren’t….and this doesn’t make her stop and think…hmmm…could I be kidnapped and I’m not who he says? But instead, her biggest worry is solving the mystery of the missing sewing machine that a lady with dementia wrote about in her journal?? THAT is what makes her think something is wrong? She hears “birds singing” in the basement…sorry, but why on earth would a woman locked in a basement just occasionally whistle like a bird hoping someone hears her instead of screaming her head off?

I feel like the book could have been good…but that the wrong things were focused on. I find it hard to believe they could convince a dr to go along with this plan, plus apparently also a contractor who saw the basement.

Unless Gabriella and Cora are secret twins, people in town who knew Cora should have easily known that she wasn’t really Cora. The neighbor who delivers milk knew the real Cora, how didn’t she notice when a different one popped up? If the photos of fake Cora were photoshopped, then how didn’t Cora’s real family and friends know since those pictures were all over her Facebook account, and real Cora’s sister must have seen them since she messaged her. There are just too many plot holes and just too much suspension of disbelief in my mind. It’s like the author wanted to throw every twist and turn she could think of into a bowl, mix them together, and thought hey that’s great.

The ending is a perfect example of this. It’s like the author said, but wait! Here’s one more!


It’s a 2:5 ⭐️ for me, but I’ll round up to 3⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and L.G. Davis for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would feel like to wake up with no memory of who you are, only to be told a story that doesn’t quite add up, this book is for you. *Not His Wife* grips you from the start, unraveling a chilling mystery about identity, trust, and the lies people tell to protect their secrets.

Spoilers ahead!

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Introduction

From the very first page of *Not His Wife*, I was hooked by the eerie prologue: an unseen observer watches the aftermath of a crime scene — “This house used to be so lively,” the narrator whispers, as a black body bag is loaded into a white van — while a lone woman stares back, as if she knows exactly why the house went silent. That unsettling opener immediately sets the tone for a tense, page-turning thriller.

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Amnesia

Cora Harrison wakes in a remote farmhouse she doesn’t recognize. A handsome man, Evan, hovers above her, brushing her cheek and saying, “Welcome home, darling. How are you feeling?” According to him, she spent two weeks in a coma (and four days drifting in and out of consciousness) after a fall down the stairs. Now, he claims, she’s his wife. The doctor warned of possible memory loss.

Yet everything feels off: the mismatched furniture in this isolated farmhouse, Evan’s calm insistence that she stay put, and “aunt” Mary’s urgent warning — “This isn’t your home. You need to get out now” — all trigger Cora’s instincts. She begins to question everything.

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Deception & Plot Twist

It turns out the woman we’ve been following — the one we thought was Cora — is actually Gabrielle, the housekeeper, suffering from dissociative amnesia.

The real Cora? A ruthless con artist who had been slowly poisoning Mary to inherit her estate. When Gabrielle began to suspect the truth and confronted her, Cora shoved her down the stairs.

Evan, believing he was protecting others from Cora’s cruelty, made a chilling decision: he manipulated Gabrielle into thinking she was Cora Harrison, fabricating an entire identity for her. Meanwhile, he locked the real Cora in the basement and kept her drugged and hidden — sealing her behind a freshly painted wall in a room he claimed was off-limits.

One night, Gabrielle explores the basement and discovers it isn’t abandoned or damaged — it’s immaculate. Behind a locked door, she finds the real Cora, who immediately escapes and warns, “I’m not safe here.”

Gabrielle’s unsteady memories continue to unravel when she finds a hidden USB. On it, a grainy video plays: someone suffocating Margaret. Off-screen, a voice cries out, “Cora, what are you doing?” — and when the woman in the video turns around, Gabrielle sees it isn’t herself.

It’s the real Cora. The one Evan kept imprisoned.

Cora? The world tilts as the woman turns around. It’s not me at all. It’s her. The woman Evan had kept locked in the basement. But if she’s Cora…

The truth crashes down: Gabrielle never hurt Margaret — Cora did. But Evan, desperate to protect others and conceal what really happened, orchestrated the entire charade.

After the dust settles, Gabrielle visits Cora in prison. And in a final twist, we realize: Gabrielle learned a few things from Cora.

She remained by Mary’s side until her death — long enough to be written into her will. Why? Because Mary co-founded the insurance company that refused coverage for Gabrielle’s dying mother.

In the final scene, Gabrielle kneels at her mother’s grave and pulls out a piece of folded paper. On it is a short list of names. She takes a pen and crosses out Mary’s name — a mirror of the same ritual Evan and Cora followed with their victims.

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Final Thoughts

*Not His Wife* is a psychological thriller that thrives on its layers of deception and shifting identity. Sweeping, short chapters keep you off-balance and breathless, each lie unraveling just as a deeper truth takes its place.

By the time Gabrielle uncovers her true identity — and the twisted reality she’s been trapped inside — you’ll be questioning everything you thought you knew.

Overall Rating: 5★

If you love thrillers that play with memory, morality, and identity, *Not His Wife* delivers in spades. It’s dark, gripping, and uncomfortably plausible.

Lord have mercy.
Do not start reading this book if you have something to do, I literally could not put it down and kept sneaking chapters while I was at work!

The premise for this one was super interesting and what made me want to read the book, and I was not disappointed. I was immediately gripped by the story and the blossoming mystery.
The creepy vibes were definitely there- as I was reading, I felt unsettled by everything and everybody- I very much got uncanny valley vibes and was convinced that every single character was psycho in some way or the other (I trusted no one). I think the author did really well describing Cora's paranoia and sense of unease since I felt these emotions so clearly as I was reading. She did wake up with amnesia with a strange man up in her business - I would have been scared and running.
Cora herself was more likeable than I thought she would be. There were some moments where I wanted to grab her and shake her (why are you believing the sketchy man? Or letting him try to dictate your every move like a kindergartener??) but I appreciated that she was not completely gullible or fooled and held her own ground at times.

In regards to the direction the plot took- yes one could say that it is all a bit unrealistic and far-fetched. However. I think it worked! Seeing as there were 2 of the 3 main characters had memory fog of some sort, and the third was a man, it wasn't hard to believe that some nefarious scheming was being concocted. All the storylines tied up rather well, and though some of the conclusions felt abrupt for how much focus they had through the book (like Margaret), I didn't really have any burning questions by the end. It was very satisfying, and while I predicted some of the plot twists, I didn't quite get them all.
I will say that the 'final' plot twist did feel a bit... unnecessary? I get why it was there, but it felt tacked on. Ultimately, I didn't mind it (nor did it lessen my enjoyment)

Overall, this was a quick (because I could not put it down), fun read. Would recommend to fans of domestic thrillers!