The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell
Goodreads Blurb: In the early hours of an April morning, Maya stumbles into the path of an oncoming bus. A tragic accident? Or suicide? Her grief-stricken husband, Adrian, is determined to find out. Maya had a job she enjoyed; she had friends. They’d been in love.She even got on with his two previous wives and their children. In fact, they’d all been one big happy family. But before long Adrian starts to identify the dark cracks in his perfect life. Because everyone has secrets. And secrets have consequences. Some of which can be devastating
My Take: 4 out of 5. Starting to read this book I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy it, but I was very surprised to have really enjoyed it. It seems a typical chick lit, but without spoiling to much of the story it goes much deeper. It leaves you pondering some really interesting questions. How much are we hiding by putting up facades? Instead of doing what we think will make people happy, should we be honest instead? How important are your feelings vs others? I love also the dynamics of mixed families that the book shows. The thing i didn’t love is that the characters were not really fully developed. It might be because there are too many, but some of the character changes come out of nowhere, you don’t really get the motivation, even though you are invested in them, you don’t see things coming. All in all, a quick fun read great for the beach.
Saving Grace By Jane Green
Goodreads blurb: Grace and Ted Chapman are widely regarded as the perfect literary power couple. Ted is a successful novelist and Grace, his wife of twenty years, is beautiful, stylish, carefree, and a wonderful homemaker. But what no one sees, what is churning under the surface, is Ted’s rages. His mood swings. And the precarious house of cards that their lifestyle is built upon. When Ted’s longtime assistant and mainstay leaves, the house of cards begins to crumble and Grace, with dark secrets in her past, is most vulnerable. She finds herself in need of help but with no one to turn to…until the perfect new assistant shows up out of the blue. To the rescue comes Beth, a competent young woman who can handle Ted and has the calm efficiency to weather the storms that threaten to engulf the Chapman household. Soon, though, it’s clear to Grace that Beth might be too good to be true. This new interloper might be the biggest threat of all, one that could cost Grace her marriage, her reputation, and even her sanity. With everything at stake and no one to confide in, Grace must find a way to save herself before it is too late.
My Take: 3 out of 5 stars. This is a hard book to judge. It has a great premise and story, it’a a super fast to read and it had so much potential. However it falter a little in the execution. I loved the concept of a woman taking over another’s life, but the mystery lover in me would have wanted more insight as to how it was done. Spoiler alert: We never get the details as to how the cons were made and worse of all, no punishment ever happens, its just as if that part of the story just dies completely. I love the character of grace in the last 1/3 of the book, it would have been so great to see her have that development and interesting qualities from the start which would have made it more engaging. Overall, a quick and fun summer read (I read it in a day whilst lying in the sun) but if you haven’t checked out other Jane green books this is for sure not the one to start with, probably one of her weakest.
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