Book Review: The Wives

Mystery/thriller fiction novel by Tarryn Fisher, published 2019

I Wanted to Love it...but I Just Didn't

I've had this book on my list for awhile now, and I finally had got my hands on a copy. I was excited to read it, mainly because Colleen Hoover is one of my favorite thriller authors and she heavily endorsed Fisher when this was published. I ended up flying through it and finished it in less than two days, but not because I loved it. I wanted to love it though, I really did.

What I did love was the beginning of the story which opens up the reader to the idea of polygamy and how the women really feel about sharing their husbands. Main character Thursday is the second (of three) wife of Seth. Her entire world seems to revolve around being his wife, and while she knows very little about the other two wives (not even their names), she tries to bend over backwards to play the role of "best wife" while ignoring the reality of the others. That is, until she sees wife three's name on a slip of paper in Seth's pocket. Her curiosity gets the better of her and she starts spiraling from there into sleuthing and a little bit of stalking followed by a lot of complete crazy. For me, this part of the plot was working and had real promise to deliver a hard hitting climax. Instead though, the plot became more convoluted and simply unbelievable.

I also want to take a moment to preface my next thoughts here- I am a firm proponent of women's rights. I regularly say that we need to change the patriarchal leadership in our society and adjust the standard views on the second-shift, maternity leave, the rigid "roles" of men and women in general, etc. I will passionately engage in lengthy discussions on this with anyone who is willing to listen. HOWEVER, I felt like Fisher was smacking the reader in the face with the traditional gender role throughout the story. She seemed to go overboard with Thursday constantly saying things like "But now I see the truth: women are stuck in a cycle of insecurity perpetuated by the way men treat them, and we are constantly fighting to prove to ourselves and everyone else that we are okay," “Waiting...waiting...that’s what women do. We wait for him to get home, we wait for him to pay attention to us, wait to be treated fairly—for our worth to be seen and acknowledged. Life is just a waiting game for women," and “That is male folly; they expect you to always be the same, reliable cow, but women spend their lives changing. Our change can swing for you or against you depending on how fairly we’ve been treated.” These are all beautifully written lines, but when there are numerous sections like that in one chapter it becomes kind of redundant. I found myself almost skimming these and then having to go back and reread them.

2.5 out of 5 Stars

This story was fast-paced, and while the first half kept me intrigued, the second half was downright ludicrous. I kept waiting for the plot twist to become more believable and less daytime soap opera, but it never did. I'm glad I read it as it was definitely a wild ride, but I don't know that I would pick up another of her books.