My Lovely Wife Review

My lovely wife was the first book I bought when I decided to run a bookstagram and start reviewing. I was excited to read it, although I’m a mood reader and the time never felt quite right. With the paperback release just yesterday, the the time was now, and WOW, what an excellent book.

My Lovely Wife is the story of an upper middle class suburban Husband and Wife. Millicent and her husband (the unnamed narrator of the story) live a tightly scheduled, hectic life. Millicent keeps the family in check, she seems to rule over it with an iron fist. But everything isn’t white picket fences and gated community here, this husband and wife duo have secrets.

I really enjoyed this book. I saw a blurb mentioning it was like dexter meets mr. and Mrs. smith, but I’ve got to say, that’s really selling this book short. Downing weaves both present and past together in this story to always keep the carrot dangling in front of you. Just one more page turns into just one more chapter. Just when you think you’re going to put the book down, a twist comes up and you have to know more. This happened to me a few times. Every time I thought I knew exactly what happened, it turned out I didn’t, and I loved the book that much more for it. 

The book is done in 1st person narrative, through the husbands eye. We never learn his name, only his Alias. Through this, we slowly see how cold Millicent is. Everything seems very matter of fact with the family. There is a lot more going on than meets the eye here, and that’s really all I’m willing to say about the plot. 

The writing in here is nicely done, especially for a debut novel. I enjoyed the way it wrapped up, although towards the end of the book it did seem to come on a bit fast. It feels like if Downing wanted, she could make a sequel, but personally I hope that she doesn’t, the book ended in a way that left me satisfied.

My Lovely Wife is an excellent thriller with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, while at the same time always giving you that one more chapter feeling. Samantha Downing is an excellent writer and I can’t wait for what comes next

5/5 Stars

The Paperback is available for purchase now!