[Portia’s Review]: The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

New York Times bestselling author Tarryn Fisher delivers a pulse-pounding, fast-paced suspense novel that will leave you breathless. A thriller you won’t be able to put down!

Thursday’s husband, Seth, has two other wives. She’s never met them, and she doesn’t know anything about them. She agreed to this unusual arrangement because she’s so crazy about him.

But one day, she finds something. Something that tells a very different—and horrifying—story about the man she married.

What follows is one of the most twisted, shocking thrillers you’ll ever read.

You’ll have to grab a copy to find out why.

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The final book of the year for me in 2019 was The Wives by Tarryn Fisher. I really have a love/hate relationship with her books. Well, I guess I dont entirely HATE any of them, but some are just… meh, for me (Mud Vein is still my fave by her). So because of the back and forth I continue to read her books to see which direction things will go for me and how she is changing as a storyteller. After reading the synopsis of The Wives last year I was super intrigued and couldn’t wait to give it a try. The Wives is different in a few ways when it comes to Fishers books. It is her first traditionally published book, which includes a multi-city book tour, themed book boxes, and can be found on shelves at big retailers all over the country. 

So the plot here, if you didnt read the synopsis, is that a woman is in a polyamorous marriage, in which none of the 3 wives have ever met. One small thing triggers her curiosity (and jealousy) of the other wives, which sends her down a path for information that quickly gets ugly. The trick to reviewing this without spoiling anything is not not say a single word on how or why her path to discovery gets so ugly. So, no more plot details from me here, sorry! All I will say is that Fisher has always been good at writing an unreliable narrator!

What I can do is talk about my feelings in general about the book. In my opinion, this is her first book that had a really mainstream feel to it ( I guess not surprising since its also her first traditionally published). That is not necessarily a bad thing, so no worries really on that. It will appeal to the masses more, which can be great. There were twists and turns, which did have me on the edge of my seat for a bit. At some point I started to kind of see where the story was going, and then got a little disappointed. The end seemed so… familiar? Like its a tactic that has been used so nothing felt exciting about it. It fell flat for me there, and I can’t figure out if this was the ending because she knew people love these kind of twists, or if she was trying so hard to hit that shocking twist that she overlooked how common it could end up being? I don’t know. 

On one hand, I can see why it would be good in the traditional psychological sense, especially to new people because this is her first publisher, commercialized,  mainstream book. So people who aren’t familiar with her writing will be intrigued or impressed. But for me, a person well aware of her self proclaimed  “villain” status and attempts to be unique and surprising with her stories and twists and turns,  I’m just not surprised. Was it interesting? YES. was the main character unreliable which I love? YES.  But as a Tarryn Fisher reader I feel that the outcome was a result of trying to surprise the audience which didn’t surprise me. Overall, I am glad I read it, and I think it is bound to be a hit with PLN’s and mass consumers who love a good thriller with an unreliable leading lady. 

Portia

Hi, I’m Portia! I’ve been an obsessive reader and pop culture addict my entire life, with a particular passion for horror and thrillers. I love being a part of the book community and can regularly be found working various book events. I’m an admin here at Ideally Inspired Reviews!

When I am not binge reading or obsessing over true crime podcasts and shows, I am a bar manager by night and a mom and wife by day. If I find any time after that, I love to travel, spend time outdoors, and fit as much live music into my life as possible. You can find me on Instagram @Ideally.Portia or TikTok @itsportiabitch.