There are a lot of books out there on the subject of marriage, and the secrets and lies between husbands and wives. I’ve been seeing so many books that have something to do with marriage or husband or wife in the title. It got me wondering “how do these authors make their story unique?” To figure this out, I’m going to actively try to read books on the topic of marriage and secrets and see which ones are actually unique and which ones are just the same story line but with a different title. So here I go with my first one:
Iris and Will have a perfect marriage: a beautiful home, rewarding careers, and now they are ready to try for their first baby. But on the morning Will leaves for a business trip in Orlando, Iris’s happy life comes crashing down. Another plane headed for Seattle has crashed, leaving everyone on board dead – including Will. Confused, Iris is sure there is a misunderstanding: why would Will even be on the plane to Seattle? But as time passes and Will’s ring is found at the crash site, Iris is forced to accept that her husband is gone. Still, Iris needs answers. Why did Will lie about his destination? What was so special about Seattle that he went there? And what else has he lied about? As Iris sets out to uncover the truth, she discovers that she may never have known her husband at all.
This novel is getting mixed reviews from me. And here is why. This is one of those rare times in which the author actually gives the main character a realistic and positive support system. Iris’s whole family comes out to help her deal with this. As she goes around trying to uncover the true identity of her husband, her twin brother tags along. And I love that. I love that it isn’t a potential romantic partnership that strikes up. I love that she is bolstered and supported by her family, instead of just falling into the arms of some man who she has “sparks” with. I also really liked that her responses and behaviour to the situation were realistic and understandable. The steps that she took to uncover the mystery and to protect herself made sense and I appreciated the author actually giving her main character some common sense. But then there were the things I didn’t like. I didn’t like the fact that Iris had a background in psychology but her understanding of things was so … weak. I didn’t like that there were random things that were mentioned (like a lawsuit against the Airlines) that had nothing to do with the story and didn’t really enhance it in any way. I also didn’t like the way the villain was portrayed and the way in which the villain was introduced; the portrayal bordered on racist and the introduction near the end was just so out of place that it made me cringe. I will say that I did enjoy the ending as Iris’s final decision was unexpected but also pretty badass. As you can see, I have some good things and some bad things to report on. Since I had a pretty positive reading experience for about 80% of the novel, I’m giving this a 3/5 stars.
Happy reading ~
