Bland

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I went into The Wife Between Us with high hopes. It received great reviews. The description was great. I was looking forward to the twists and the suspense. Instead, I read a little over half way through the novel and gave up trying to enjoy it.

It's told in dual point-of-views (one in first person, the other in third). The first person narrator, Vanessa, was a bit boring. She told most of what was going on rather than letting us experience it and her viewpoint wasn't very unique or engaging, which I find a requirement for first person. The third person narrator, Nellie, was more interesting and fleshed out. I liked her, at least in the beginning, but I grew bored of her as well. Both of them to me read as too forced. As I was reading I never forgot that they were characters rather than real people experiencing a problem so I didn't become very immersed.

From the other reviews there seems to be more than one twist. I got through the first one with some confusion. I had to pause to make sure I was understanding what was going on correctly and that annoyed me. The fun of reading twists are the reveal and surprise, but with the lack of clarity it fell flat for me.

As for the suspense, the most I experienced was waiting for a twist that ended up disappointing me. There's no atmosphere. There were a few poor attempts at creating a sense of danger, but without any buildup it seemed contrived.

Overall, a bland read without all the promised excitement.

I received a review copy.