The Wife Upstairs

Ah, I don't even know where to start with this. I had so much hope for this one and yet it felt short in almost every aspect for me. I think I'm finally coming to terms with it but I am okay with liking and disliking books that I like and I am no longer afraid to say how I truly feel. Only took me over five years! I got this in my Book of the Month Club Box and since I just signed up again, after years of not being part of this service, I was hoping for the best. However, what I got was a lot of disappointment. It definitely had promise but by the end all that promise was gone and I could not find many things that I truly loved about this novel.

The story is about a woman named Jane, who is a dog walker in a rich neighborhood, out on the prowl for a rich man who can make all her financial burdens disappear. She meets Eddie, who used to be married to a woman named Bea and a lot of other things transpire..... I haven't even been an avid reader for that long but this book was UNDERWHELMING. The plot started interestingly enough and then it just went.....flat. I had read my share of domestic thrillers and this doesn't compete in any kind of way. Again, the beginning was compelling but then the plot took a rather dull turn. I wasn't that surprised and that's saying a lot because most things in life and books tend to surprise me like crazy.

Secondly, the characters just fell....flat, as did most of the book. I didn't have a chance to get a good look into what makes them who they are and there wasn't anything memorable about them, just ink on a page. They barely made it into the two-dimensional sphere, let alone the three-dimensional one. With that being said, the lack of characterization along with a very boring plot, made for a mediocre book at best. I am not one to give low ratings but my dislike for ALL the main characters didn't really allow for anything else, they just didn't hook me in any kind of way. I finished the book but I could have as easily stopped reading it about a fourth of the way through.

The writing was okay. I did appreciate the fact that the writing didn't make it any harder to read the book and get through it all but I also didn't appreciate the fact that it didn't add anything to it either. It was straightforward and to the point but that was it. I liked the multiple perspectives but that would not have depended in any way on the writing style because it failed to hook me and I only kept going because I wanted to put it on my December reads.

In conclusion, I was underwhelmed by this book. It failed to hook me and keep me hooked and I felt like I had to make myself finish it just because I wanted to be able to write an honest review. I would not recommend it to anyone even though it had some potential because there are so many thrillers out there that are SO much better!