Take My Husband

I was drawn to the 'darkly comic' premise of this book about a wife trying to kill her husband so she can live her best life. Sounds like a great, tongue-in-cheek story that has the potential for funny situations, but I struggled with this book and found it hard to find the humour in the story. 

Things started off strong but then became long-winded with some of Laurel's behaviours feeling unbelievable. She is a big reason why I didn't connect with this book - she's hard to like and her mercurial emotions were tiresome, and I struggled to sympathize with her. Laurel had no backbone when it came to her marriage - she'd complain and imagine killing her husband (a cliched lazy dude) in a variety of ways but would refuse to communicate with him. That is irksome to me.

I know that I wasn't the ideal reader for this book, but I also think this book was trying to do too much - and for me, it didn't quite succeed. Please know that I am an outlier with my feelings for this book. Other people have enjoyed it and it gives readers great discussion topics, but while it had enough to keep me reading, it wasn't the book I had expected with its mix of meandering over-the-top plot, annoying characters, and a humour I struggled to connect with. I just wasn't a good fit for this book.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to MIRA books for my advanced copy of this title which was given in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Ellen Meister

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Type and Source: eBook from publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: MIRA (Harlequin - HarperCollins Canada)

First Published: August 30, 2022

Book Description from GoodReads: Only one thing stands in the way of Laurel Applebaum's happiness…Doug Applebaum.

In this darkly comic novel about a wife whose rope is so frayed it's about to snap, Laurel gets a call that her husband has been in an accident. She imagines the worst. But as she is on the way to the ER, another emotion seizes her. Relief. Doug's death could solve all her problems. No more catering to his incessant demands. Then there's the insurance money. Laurel's dreams seem so close. There's just one problem: Doug is very much alive. Now Laurel has to decide if she is going to do something about it.

Subversive, irreverent and surprisingly poignant, Take My Husband probes the deep corners of a marriage and emerges to find the light. For anyone who's spent a little too much time with a significant other and thought, One of us has got to go.