The Wife Upstairs: An addictive new 2021 psychological crime thriller with a twist - a New York Times bestseller!

Rachel Hawkins has become one of my favorite writers after reading this book. Plenty of suspense , slightly reminiscent of Jane Eyre, I was completely enthralled. The ending too was most unpredictable and thoroughly enjoyable. Ideal for readers of domestic thrillers and five stars for me.

Pretty good re imagination of a classic - Jane Eyre. Liked the suspense, was not a big fan of the unnecessary twisting of the story.

If you are looking for a fast paced gripping thriller, this is not it. Synopsis: The story begins with Jane, who walks dogs in a posh neighborhood, Thornfield Estates, where she meets Eddie Rochester who lost his wife in a tragic accident years ago. They have an engagement after a swift romance and Jane moves into Eddie’s massive mansion. She soon discovers that she is not the only one harboring secrets about the past. Review: This one is a slow burn thriller, with a bit too much focus on the politics at Thornfield Estates. Though there were a handful of memorable twists, most of the story was predictable. In comparison to other reads from the thriller genre, this one didn’t stand out to me. The character arcs were flat, it comes across as bored rich people trying to get back at each other and Jane caught in the crossfire, of course with her own motives. The book does end with a good suspense, so if you are into slow thrillers, I would definitely recommend this read for you. After finishing the read, it didn’t feel like ‘woah, the author really got me there!’, it was more of a ‘hmmm, predictable yet filled with a few surprises’.

Nice book, the story is nice and thrilling

Well well….. this book really surprised me with its plot, plot twists and its ending. Honestly as I was reading the book I was so confused and I really wasn’t sure which narrative to believe… so many parts in such a small book… but one god thing was that the POVs were clear. It’s a decently good small read for sure and if gave a satisfaction at the end while finishing the book. Bea and Jane were similar in so many ways is what I felt while reading the book and oh my god how each of their minds worked was all so 🤯🤯🤯

Jane, a dog walker in Thornfield Estate, aspires to marry Eddie Rochester of Thornfield Estate. Eddie recently lost his wife Bea in a tragic accident. Along with Bea, her friend Blanche is also no more. Jane finds Eddie attractive and also Eddie could offer Jane, a life that she always wanted. But after moving in with Eddie, Jane finds him not so perfect at all as Eddie has his own secrets. Is Eddie hiding something from Jane? Well, the character names might have sounded familiar to you as this is a modern re-telling of Classic novel, Jane Eyre. And here, Rachel Hawkins has done a great job in setting up the atmosphere. This is a gripping novel that could be read easily in one sitting. I loved Rachel Hawkins writing style very much and the plot twists!!! Oh my my.. when you'll think that you've guessed it all then a plot twist will smack your face and leave you in awe. Though by the end you'll get used to it. For the underwhelming aspects, well frankly, i didn't find any ☺️ This is a fast paced novel and if you're going through a reading slump, just pick this up.

Good book with a roller coaster ride of suspense. The subtitle ‘modern retelling of Jane Eyre’ is misleading though, as I did not find anything in common with Jane Eyre, apart from the character names and the presence of a first wife. The protagonist Jane is no innocent damsel in distress, but an opportunist. It is well written; however, the ending is an anticlimax and far fetched. (Have deducted 1 star for this very reason.) I cannot imagine a calculating person like Eddie bequeathing his inheritance to Jane. There are some loose ends as well. I wonder if the author has a sequel in mind.

I thought the book was a very average read and nothing exciting really. The name of course gives it away and absolutely no suspense at all in the book. Read if you have time to waste.

This was pretty good! I didn’t really feel for Jane because she was a user and a thief and pretty much hated everyone around her, and her relationship with Eddie felt completely fake. Which I guess it was, really. I was happy with the ending. The book lays most of it out for you, and I knew it couldn’t be that simple. Trust me, it’s not. Good ending, and believable plot overall.

First off, if you're a Bronte purist, you may not like this. If you don't consider yourself a Bronte purist but have a good working familiarity with "Jane Eyre," and if you appreciate creative re-imaginings of classics, you very well may -- I did. Rather than Jane's original England of the 19th century, we are now in an exclusive suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, in the present day. Rather than a governess, Jane is a dog-walker (the original book's Adele, Rochester's ward, is a dog here -- super fun!). The mysterious "late" Bertha Mason Rochester is now Bea Rochester, a super-rich retail mogul who's built her fortune on designing "where DID you find that" jewelry, clothing, and housewares sought-after and desired by "real" women and "unreal" women alike. (Beyond gossip, the humorous group of former debutantes who inhabit Thornfield Estates have few challenges to surmount, unless you count the "challenge" of trying to decide if it's a good idea to decorate the neighborhood's front entry flower bed in Auburn and Alabama colors.) Throughout, Ms. Hawkins includes many creative, "see what a I did there" neat turns, especially with names and situations from the original. I'd call this a re-imagining of "Jane Eyre" rather than a retelling, as it is not a play-by-play transfer of all of the events from Jane Eyre to a modern-day setting. I also would not go into this book expecting utter faithfulness to the original story. I enjoyed the book very much even despite the fact that I mostly knew what was around the corner or, more specifically, what was upstairs. I might have even given it five stars were it not for two key things that earned it only four for me: The character of Jane being drawn as having a very elastic conscience. She has no problem with theft (she regularly pilfers jewelry from her dog-walker employers) or lying (almost everything that comes out of her mouth when speaking to other characters is either a half-truth or an outright lie). The latter does make her an interesting unreliable narrator, but this kind of characterization is extremely out of step with Bronte's Jane, who has become famous over the centuries for her moral fiber. And while we do believe that Hawkins' Jane does have feelings for Mr. Rochester, she is also quite manipulative and conniving in her efforts to try to get him to "put a ring on it." (But don't worry, dear reader -- when super-rich, hot, extremely eligible Eddie Rochester chooses mousy, plain, churchmouse-poor Jane, it is every bit as bewildering here as it is in Bronte's original.) My final reason for the lopped-off fifth star is the egregious saturation of profanity throughout the novel, as many, many other readers have already shared. I do NOT mind profanity -- and am sorry to say I use it quite often myself. But it is so over-the-top here, out of the mouths of almost every character, in spoken language and in internal thought monologues -- you can't go two pages without tripping over some form of an F-bomb, and that is not an exaggeration -- that it's disruptive, off-putting, and absolutely unnecessary. This is most evident in Jane, whose Olympic-league potty mouth only serves to make her appear crass, crude, and lacking in redeeming qualities. If you like a good story, though, and admire creative re-toolings of very recognizable people and situations from the original, don't let the two above detractions stop you. Didn't stop me.

Its a good book

Sono a metà ma direi che è un racconto che 'ti prende'

De longe esse foi o pior livro que esse mundo teve o desprazer de conhecer. Você passa o livro inteiro lendo futilidades pra nos ultimos capítulos a autora jogar meio quilo de informações no seu colo, jurando ser um plot bom. Os personagens são muito desinteressantes, não tem um ali que salva. O livro todo a protagonista fica fugindo de um passado "sombrio" que a autora sempre omite o que é, pra no final do livro ser uma coisa tão desinteressante que faz o passado do carinha de after ser mais interessante. Dei uma estrela já que não podia dar zero, enfim, não recomendo a leitura.