How To Be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman (thoughts)

How To Be a Good Wife is just one of those books that begs to be read and doesn't let you set it aside.  The author creates an underlying thread of tension that is constant throughout the book but grows as you get further in.  The book had its' flaws but is one of those books that I could still easily recommend to many a reader.

In this book we meet Marta and Hector, a married couple who are struggling to figure out their new direction in life after raising their only son and seeing him move out on his own.  Marta begins to glimpse a girl that only she can see and then the world as she knows it begins to change forever....

And that is all that I'm going to tell you because this is another one of those books where knowing less is more.  What really stood out for me in this book was the unreliability of the narrator.  From the very beginning the reader begins to question Marta's motivations, her "visions", and really her overall sanity.  The biggest question that plays out throughout the entire book is if you can trust her or not.  And because I couldn't entirely trust Marta this book pulled at me in so many different ways. There is this ominious aura about the book where you just kind of know that it isn't going to end well.  I should have prepared myself more for this!  But it doesn't matter because you have to read faster just to see how it will all end.  This book was nail bitingly good because of all of this!

Overall, if I'm being honest I was able to figure out a lot of the plot twists pretty early on.  It could probably even have been considered a bit predictable but the saving grace for this book was the questioning atmosphere that the author created.  Because of it I just could not set this book down.  And because of it I was able to easily overlook some of the book's flaws that might have bothered me otherwise.  The ending for one was very frustrating to me because it felt unfinished.  Looking back on it, I actually don't think the author could have ended it any other way better but it was still frustrating to read at the time.  I wanted the truth to really come out and it didn't feel like it did.   It left me thinking though which is always the mark of a good book in my opinion.

For me this book was definitely a worthwhile read that I will be recommending.  I loved the tone that the author created with this book especially since I'm such a sucker for an unreliable narrator.  My best advice for this one is skip the summary describing it and just read.  Because the author does an amazing job of really just pulling the reader into Marta's life in a way that doesn't let you go.  I can't wait to see what this author writes next!  Definitely recommended!

Bottom Line:  A book where the atmosphere sucks you in and doesn't let you go!

Disclosure:  I was sent a copy of this book for review courtesy of the publisher.  Thoughts are always my own!