The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty || Book Review

This author was recommended to me by another fellow reader, claiming “You will not regret letting her books into your life!”.

I added the author to my list of books to look out for and came across one of her books in the library. Yep, this one.

After reading it, I’m kind of second guessing my decision. It wasn’t a terrible book but I certainly could’ve lived on without reading it.

I’m not into books with mysteries that scream “predictable” from mountain tops and certainly not some questionable moral decisions.

DISCLAIMER: This review could contain possible spoilers based on my opinions. All opinions and views are my own.

Book review: The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty #bookreview #lianemoriarty #mysterybooks #chicklitbooks #booktwt #bookaddict #booktwitter
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Challenge Criteria: A recommended book
Originally published: 2013

Pages: 432
Format: Paperback

Plot from GoodReads:

Mother of three and wife of John-Paul, Cecilia discovers an old envelope in the attic. Written in her husband’s hand, it says: to be opened only in the event of my death.

Curious, she opens it – and time stops.

John-Paul’s letter confesses to a terrible mistake which, if revealed, would wreck their family as well as the lives of others.

Cecilia wants to do the right thing, but right for who?

If she protects her family by staying silent, the truth will worm through her heart. But if she reveals her husband’s secret, she will hurt those she loves most…

Thoughts:

The book has extremely short chapters that switch with point of views of the different families introduced. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and it felt mind-numbing remembering details given in short spurts.

The beginning part of the book was slow and somewhat boring to read. You’re slowly introduced to all the characters and as the story moves along, there are connecting revelations revealed, which was predictable and one could see this coming right from the beginning.

Then the letter… Who takes close to 100 pages to open one letter? Especially if you’ve read the instructions surrounding it?

“The Husband’s Secret” was really not all that difficult to figure out, very much possible before it’s even shared in the book and that made the whole premise predictable to me too.

There were some twists, some turns, and it felt the book’s plot line didn’t revolve much around the ‘secret‘ as much as how events would unfold for characters once it was exposed. The instant forgiveness seemed a little too unrealistic, given that something so severe that has plagued you for so many years couldn’t just be resolved within a couple of pages. Then there were the decisions made by characters that raise the morality question to a whole new level, which apparently most of the characters lacked.

Overview:

This book was predicable in many ways to be properly enjoyed. I expect this type of prediction level in a romance/chick-lit novel but certainly not in a mystery novel. I might pass on more of this author’s books for a while.