This book review post is in collaboration with SheSpeaks/St Martins Press. All opinions are my own.
I don’t know about you, but my escape, my rest, my “personal” time can usually be found in a book. Or in a nap. 🙂 Life has been so busy lately and time for myself has been low, but I still managed to spend parts of this past weekend starting and finishing this book and getting lost in it’s story.
As in a date night at the movies, I love how the story of a good book can take you to another place or transport you to another time. You can hear the sounds of a different city, imagine new streets, tastes, adventures. I was excited to dive into It’s Always the Husband by Michele Campbell, when SheSpeaks sent me an advance copy. And while it’s not part of our Book Club lineup, I’m going to offer a couple to my bookies to read too (so stay tuned)!
This is a unique book where the main characters are three girls who meet in college and we follow them back to that same college town in their later years. Written in rotating perspectives, we are able to see the lives and views of each of the women… a group of unpredictably unlikeable people.
The characters haunt me. Their stories are stuck with me as if we’ve sat and talked for hours. And while I enjoyed reading, this book is depressingly beautiful + makes me so very thankful for the grounded people I have in my life.
Just like in every story I read, I’m struck with the contradiction between what people see of others on the outside and the things they struggle with internally on their journey. It brings perspective on how I look at and see others.
Want to win a copy? I’m giving away a couple on my Instagram page!
What I really loved about It’s Always the Husband.
It was a page turner, and I really couldn’t put my finger on the whole “who did it?!” part of the story (the murder) until the end. It held my attention and I don’t think any reader can help becoming entrenched in the destructive behaviors of everyone connected with these three girls. With every page, I was grateful for my sanity, and growing even more and more grateful for my own friends and family! This is one of those books where the pages just keep on turning. The locations they visited, the drugs, the crazy choices and how eventually they all end up intertwined in each other’s lives in the same college town they started out in… I loved the twists.
Stuff I wasn’t crazy about.
The same destructive behavior that drew me in, also made me not really love any of the characters. There wasn’t one I could really relate to and cheer on, but I have to say, I still wanted to know what happened to each and every one of them, so clearly I was invested in their lives. 🙂 Still, the ending was a good one.
What potential readers should know.
Readers who love a fast paced book that follows the voice of different characters will really enjoy this book. At times, I had to figure out where it was jumping to, and almost fill in the blanks for a moment, but it kept my interest all the way through! And on top of it the ending brought an unpredictable, thought-provoking twist. Overall, I loved having the conclusion at the end of the book and it was a fun read! Definitely a pool for your beach bag or poolside visit!
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