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Thanks to NetGalley and Touchstone for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: December 27th, 2016
304 Pages
Synopsis: Thirty-four-year-old marine biologist Kyra Winthrop remembers nothing about the diving accident that left her with a complex form of memory loss. With only brief flashes of the last few years of her life, her world has narrowed to a few close friendships on the island where she lives with her devoted husband, Jacob.
But all is not as it seems. Kyra begins to have visions–or are they memories?–of a rocky marriage, broken promises, and cryptic relationships with the island residents, whom she believes are her friends.
As Kyra races to uncover her past, the truth becomes a terrifying nightmare.
Twilight Wife is a much buzzed about book which is being compared to S.J. Watson’s Before I Go To Sleep, and Mary Kubica’s The Good Girl and it’s receiving plenty of positive reviews, which has me questioning why I just thought it was okay. The premise immediately captured my attention with Kyra, the amnesiac heroine being isolated on an island with a husband and friends she doesn’t remember. The setting is perfectly eerie, and at the beginning it had all the earmarks of a really good suspenseful read, but by the middle of the book I just lost my way. The main reason why I’m giving this 3 stars is because I really liked Kyra. Despite having lost her memories of the past four years, she’s no damsel in distress. She knows there’s something wrong with what she’s being told by Jacob, her husband, and she’s determined to discover the truth, no matter what the cost. She’s a smart cookie, and doesn’t make stupid mistakes while on her quest for the truth, which I really appreciated. And speaking of Jacob, I have to say hated him after the very first couple of chapters. One minute he’s a caring, compassionate husband caring for his wife who’s recovering from a traumatic brain injury, and the next he’s snapping at her when she can’t remember something. Honestly, I wanted to reach in and push him off a cliff! The secondary characters had little to no development and really added nothing to the story. Worst of all though was the mystery, or lack thereof. This had all the makings of a good gaslighting novel, but instead wound up more like a Lifetime Movie of the Week. I had only read the first few chapters when I had pretty much figured out what was going on and this took all the excitement and suspense out of the story for me. There were a couple of surprising twists near the end, but they weren’t enough to save the story for me. Making things worse was that while reading, I couldn’t help but compare it to the aforementioned Before I Go To Sleep (which I loved), but this just further pointed out what I felt was lacking in the book. I will say this was a quick read and I finished it in two sittings, but overall Twilight Wife was a huge disappointment for me. However, after reading all the positive reviews on Goodreads, I’m most definitely in the minority, so if you’re intrigued by the premise, please, PLEASE don’t let my review put you off.
Sounds like the gas lighting part could have been a bit better. Thanks for brining this review to my attention.
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I just thought it was funny we both reviewed a movie and book with similar themes on the same day!
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An interesting coincidence I must say.
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😊
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And funnily enough, Gaslight starred Angela Lansbury and tonight I watched Murder, She Wrote with my mum.
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Hah! I meant tor reply to your earlier comment about her being in Gaslight. I thought she was awesome as Nancy! And I loved Murder She Wrote. I used to watch that with my mother-in-law!
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Considering it was her debut, she held her own against esteemed company. And who doesn’t love Murder, She Write? Some people say it’s silly as a show, but I love it ever since I first saw it.
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I don’t think that show gets nearly enough credit.😕
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Well said. It was one entertaining show and I love watching it, even now.
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I’m so sorry this story was such a disappointment, but I’m glad you were able to find positives in it, I love when at least that happens. Here’s hoping the next suspense book you pick up is beyond fabulous!
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Thanks Jen. I’m still not sure if it was just me. Just about everyone else seems to love it.😕
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I have books like that. That just happened to me with All In by Emma Scott. I was meh and rated it a 3 even though it has a 4.61 rating on Goodreads with over 1000 ratings. We can’t love them all I guess. 🙂
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So true.😕
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Oh snap, didn’t expect it to disappoint you! Pushing him off a cliff did crack me up though. I actually can’t wait to read this myself and see if I’ll have a similar aftertaste for this novel. Great review, Kim! 🙂
– Lashaan
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I don’t know what happened. I was sure I was going to love this.😔 I’m really interested in your thoughts after you read it Lashaan. It’s mainly getting great reviews on Goodreads so I’m definitely the odd one out.😕
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Great review! I’m kind of glad my request for this one was denied now haha. A shame you didn’t love it though!
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Thanks Yvo! I’m glad I could spare you the pain. BTW, I just found your comment in my spam folder, so the spam Gremlins may have atarted targeting you too!😕
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Haha that’s so weird! The spam filters seem to be having strange ways of detecting spam.
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I don’t know what’s going one!😕
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Sounds like a great premise that didn’t live up to what it could do unfortunately.
I love the snow effect on your blog btw! I’m trying to figure out how to do it on mine, but WordPress isn’t very forthcoming with how to work plugins
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Thank goodness I wasted less than two hours on it! As far as the snow goes:
1. Go to WP Admin.
2. Click on Settings
3. Make sure your in General Settings
4. About 1/2 way down the page is the option for holiday snow. You should be able to check the little box and voila! You have a winter wonderland until January 4th! And better yet, unless you in-check it, it’ll automatically click in every December 1st.😊
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Ah thank you! When I googled it, it said I had to have an .org address, but I’ve seen loads of blogs with the wordpress.com with it.
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I hope it works!🤗
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I did! It was super easy. Thanks for the tip 🙂
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Yay!🤗🤗🤗
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Oops! Don’t click WP Admin. Adrienne. Just click my sites, and then settings, etc.
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I got snow:-) I have been seeing it on a number of blogs but didn’t know how to get it. Your comment above helped me do it so thanks 🙂
I am sorry that this book was disappointing.The predictability and Jacob’s character seem to have ruined it.
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Yay Diana! I’m going to head over and take a look!🤗 And you might still want to check out The Twilight Wife. Other reviewers have liked it.💁🏻
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Ooh, Diana, I meant to tell you I’ve been commenting on your posts, but I think they’ve been going to your spam folder for the last week or so. Sometimes WP drives me nuts.😕
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Hi Kim, thanks for letting me know. I didn’t know that was happening but it seems like after 22nd November, all your comments have been going there. I have un-spammed them so I hope the issue is fixed now. Sorry for that 😦
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Thanks Diana! I think once my comments are rescued any future ones should appear. Fingers crossed!
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