The Husband's Secret

Customer Reviews

A Sure Winner!I rarely, if ever, give 5 Star reviews. If I could, I would give this book 10!The characters are well-developed, and I almost feel as if they could be your friends or your neighbors.We never know what secrets people have, and I'm sure all of us have secrets (obviously not as big as John-Paul's) we'd rather people not know.I was hoping for a different outcome for Tess. I felt she deserved a happier ending.The book was extremely well written, and had me glued to it, turning pages as rapidly as I could, sometimes, well into the night.I'll be sure to look into reading other books by this author.What I found most riveting, was the irony as the story careened to it's final chapters.The epilogue was a knockout!5Brilliant! Liane Moriarty is always such a fun read!This is a review for the Audible version of The Husband's Secret. Oh, Liane Moriarty. You have won me over again. I recently read Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and immediately fell in love with her talent for characterization and the very Desperate Housewives snarky-ness and hilarity of the dialogue. Now be warned, her novels do have an abundance of characters and usually change perspectives as the chapters change--- but it is so worth it to see the character development unfold and see the unique ways that she intertwines their stories. In The Husband's Secret, you are quickly introduced to three main women who are at the center of the story. Cecilia Fitzpatrick -- For me, Cecilia is the heart of the story. I love her over-the-top, hilarious character. She's a front-runner who seemingly has her life all together, packed nice and organized into a little box (much like the Tupperware she seells). Cecilia finds a letter from her husband in the attic that is noted to be opened in the event of his death. We all know what is going to happen here... You can't dangle a carrot in front of a horse and expect him not to move. Tess O'Leary -- Tess is your average wife, mom, business-owner combo, nothing drastically exciting happening in her life.. that is until her husband and cousin (who is also her best friend and business partner) sit her down to "let her know" that they have fallen in love. How will Tess cope with this news? How do you move forward after an announcement like that?Rachel Crowley -- Rachel is a middle-aged woman who is fighting the conflict of her young grandson moving (with his family) to New York, in a completely different country across a vast ocean. She is also suffering through the echoing grief that lingers from her daughter's murder many years ago. Does time heal all wounds? Will Rachel ever be able to find a sense of closure? These characters are so much fun and the conflicts they all face are so real. They are conflicts that many people face every day, but are by no means easy to deal with. I could feel the hurt, frustration, betrayal, confusion, paranoia, and anxiety of all of these characters and loved watching their stories unfold. Their stories all intersect in the end in the most unexpected and captivating ways. Make sure you don't skip over the epilogue. I love when a novel can make me stop and ponder things in my own life and my own choices, and the epilogue of this novel did just that. None of us ever know all the possible courses our lives could have and maybe should have taken. It's probably just as well. Some secrets are meant to stay secret forever. Just ask Pandora. **One last note: I have only ever listened to the Audible version of Liane Moriarty's books and I will probably continue to experience them this way because I think the actual audio form of these character's voices is brilliant. I love how their personalities are portrayed through their dialogue and the intonation in their voices.Especially my dear, sassy Cecilia..." All these years there had been a Tupperware container of bad language in her head, and now she opened it and all those crisp, crunchy words were fresh and lovely, ready to be used. -KB4I couldn't put this book down!***Really 4.5 Stars***This book was just...whoa. I've never read anything quite like it! At times it read like a murder mystery, at other times a humorous women's fiction or even literary fiction.I was hooked from the very beginning with Cecilia's voice and the intrigue of her finding a letter addressed to her from her husband, to be opened only in the event of his death. As Cecilia struggles with the ethics of whether she should open the letter, we're introduced to the two other main characters: Tess, whose husband and best friend have just announced they've fallen in love, and Rachel, an older woman who's still grieving the murder of her daughter. How these three women's stories tie together is what makes this novel so riveting!I appreciated the parallels drawn to the Berlin Wall, perhaps a symbol for the before and after of momentous life changes, and the themes of secrets and guilt. I didn't realize it until just now, but Polly's obsession with secrets was terrific foreshadowing.There were so many twists and turns. And that ending! It was so bittersweet and unexpected. There's A LOT to discuss with this book so I'm thrilled my book club is currently reading it!My only complaint is Tess' POV...In retrospect, I'm not sure why it was included, apart from it being another example of how secrets can destroy a marriage. But that's a small qualm. Overall, this was a really enjoyable read and one of my new favorites. I'll definitely be reading more of Liane Moriarty's work!One of my favorite quotes, which showcases the smart and surprising humor: "All these years there had been a Tupperware container of bad language sitting off to the side in her head, and now she'd opened it and all those crisp, crunchy words were lovely and fresh, ready to be used."5Good plot but boring, complacent female characters.Alert - spoilers ahead. I had a lot of problems with the characters. For one thing, I hate stories with weak women and I felt that the wives were completely spineless. It was predictable that both wives stayed with their pathetic husbands. I hate that the book wanted me to feel sympathy toward someone who committed such a terrible crime. Then the epilogue mentions he wasn t the cause of the girls death. It doesn t matter! He still put his hands on a woman s neck! Lastly, I was so disappointed because I knew the cheating husband would end up back with his wife. The only thing that would have made that situation tolerable is if the husband found out that his wife was with someone else or if he knowingly had to raise another man s child. It would have served him right! However then the epilogue tells us he never finds out. Ugh.3Big disappointmentHaving just finished watching Big Little Lies which was written by the same author, I was ready for another great story. Ugh, this was not it. This book had too many characters with too much dialogue that was neither entertaining or relevant. Too many details about Tupperware or kid s birthday parties. I couldn t finish the book. I could have, I just didn t care to. I did want to know the husband s secret tho, so I read one of the reviews with a spoiler alert . Having found out the secret I was happy to have saved myself hours of wasteful reading.1A page turner, but too many flaws.***major spoilers****At first I was going to give this one 4 stars. The writing, as always with Liane Moriarty, was excellent. The inner dialogues with the 3 main characters slowly revealed their characters and as always, things are not what they seem to be at first. I love how their inner thoughts, as opposed to what their personas seem like to the outside world, can be so irreverent and insightful. She is great at dark humor. And I didn't guess the secret almost until right before the reveal. That sure kept me intrigued. And I continued to be intrigued by how it was all going to play out.However, I found most of the characters way too sad. And they continued to be sad throughout the book. If they weren't sad, they were hateful. For example, At first I thought Rachel was a damaged but ultimately sweet woman who will have some kind of healing or a new lease on life. But as it turns out, she was a cold, manipulative, selfish mother and mother-inlaw. She is a little redeemed at the end, but not enough for my taste. I wanted more than a hint that she was not going to make her son's and his lovely wife's lives miserable. I even found Tess s 6 year old son Liam very grating on the nerves. And John-Paul. I just find it inconceivable that a nice 17 year old boy would ever try to strangle his girlfriend and then grow up to be a nice good man. He regretted his mistake, as it is referred to. Buddy, burning the casserole is a mistake. Strangling your girlfriend to her death is not. And no, it doesn t matter she would have died that night anyway, because of her health issue. It is even hinted that it was good thing Janie, his victim, had a disease that caused her to die before John-Paul came to his senses. Because otherwise she would have gone to the police and been arrested for assault! And his life would have been ruined! What? This is just sloppy and thoughtless writing.There were too many loose ends and unresolved plot lines. How and why did Cecilia become the neurotically organized homemaker, school Mom, neighbor, and Tupperware mogul that she was? What about her sinister mother-in-Law? What about Tess s relationship with her Dad? Rachel and Cecily s fates were so cleverly, ironically, and thoughtfully intertwined. Tess s thread, though interesting, was really not related to the other two protagonists at all. Their stories needed some more connectors to Tess. The Blurb for the book states: "Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia or each other but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband s secret." Uh, no they don't. Rachel does, but not Tess.And that info dump of an epilogue! Don t get me started. I found it random, too pat, and gratuitous. It should have been way longer, more detailed and completely integrated with everyone included or not exist at all. How did Polly fair? The other two sisters? What about Lucy? What about Tess and Felicia s relationship and their influence on each other? What happened with Lauren and Rob? Hell, what about one of the few completely likable characters in the book, Trudy the Principal, for that matter?The Husband's Secret was a fascinating page turner. But it had too many flaws. It is one of her highest rated books, but I liked 2 of her lower rated books much better. For this reason, I am really looking forward to getting my hands on The Last Anniversary.3This story started out brilliantly. It could have been a very strong bookThis story started out brilliantly. It could have been a very strong book. Instead, once we knew the secret it all unravelled. The coincedences piled up and rapidly became so ridiculous that I didn't bother to finish.1IncredibleWe all have that book, don t we? The one we see here and there, that seems interesting but it s just never the right time? Maybe it s because you already have a dozen books on your Kindle or bookshelf waiting to be read, or maybe you re just a fast reader and hesitate to pay so much for one book when it will be finished in a day or two. Every time the book pops up you tell yourself someday until you forget again.The Husband s Secret was that book for me.I first saw it shortly after it was released, sitting atop the Amazon bestseller s list, and was immediately intrigued the title, the cover, the synopsis. But for the reasons listed above, I never went ahead with purchasing it. Still it lurked, waiting.A few days ago I noticed it was on sale, and it still caught my attention, and I had money on my Amazon gift card (the only way to keep my one-clicking under control) so I decided, why not? It could sit with the other books I bought on sale and forgot about. Except after I purchased it, I read the first page. Then the first chapter. A few days later, I m writing a review.Here s the thing about The Husband s Secret I don t know how to properly review it. Lately I ve just star-rated and moved on, but this book deserves more than that. I can t even settle for calling it a good or even great book, because that s undermining how fantastic it is. It wasn t what I was expecting it was more, better, so much. It s the book I ve been looking for since I read my way through Jodi Picoult s collection. It was a breath of fresh air I hadn t realized I was in need of. It was challenging in all the right ways.The Husband s Secret, quite frankly, has everything a great book needs likable, relatable characters, a convincing, intriguing plot, and the writing superb might be a good enough word, but that still feels like undermining it. Liane Moriarty is the kind of author who will temporarily ruin other authors for me. Forget my Kindle Unlimited subscription, the dozens of books purchased on sale - I m going to reload my gift card and buy the rest of her books.I don t like summarizing books, and this is long enough as is, so I ll just say this: I prefer long books, but long books usually lead to some skimming, and I didn t skim once. The plot moved along perfectly, and each character had something unique to offer. When I read the introductions to all three main characters I had no idea what Moriarty was getting at, because they appeared totally unrelated. They weren t. By the end, everything was wrapped together neatly, expertly.And the epilogue? Best epilogue I ve ever read in my nearly 20 years of reading. It gave me chills, so I read it twice.One of the best books I ll ever read, and I can say that with confidence.5Seriously Over-hypedSo, I'm assuming this book has so many reviews, because this author's other book is now an HBO series. I purchased this book for that very reason and can not begin to describe my disappointment. This book moves SO SLOWLY!! There is far more internal dialogue and wordiness than actual story, and the big secret is not that big. Just so-so, barely worthy of a daytime soap opera. I really hate when an okay book gets tons of coverage and reviews for the wrong reasons. Not worth the price.1Very engaging and many unexpected momentsI only give five stars to books that afterwards completely dominate my thinking for days or weeks on end, like Pearl S Buck's "The Good Earth"or "Siddhartha". This isn't one of those books, but it was a heck of a great story, and so expertly written. This book completely held my attention and was written very, very well - no trite or old, predictable dialogue or plot - and I read it start to finish in 24 hours. I will read more of Liane Moriarty. My family is a bit annoyed I was so glued to it during a busy family-reunion type weekend, but wow. It made me treasure so-called well-adjusted family even more. Great job, Liane. Looking forward to more! Keep it real, as you did here, and I'll be one of your biggest advocates. I also appreciate the sparse coarse language.4

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The Husband's Secret

The Husband's Secret

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