The Trapped Wife- Book Review

The Trapped Wife by Samantha Hayes

Publication Date: 8th Sep 2021
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Drama

3.5 Stars 

Jen is a GP in the same small town she grew up in. She’s also newly widowed, a mother to a teen son, and currently pregnant. She’s grieving the death of her husband when things start to crash around her. 

Who is the mysterious man who claims to know her so well? What is it that she doesn’t remember? Can she ignore the breaking shards of her marriage before her husband died? 

How will she survive the pressure mounting on her from all sides?

The cover is fab, and when the title appeared too frequently on my timeline, I went ahead and requested an ARC. 

Now, I’m in two minds about it. For starters, don’t focus on the blurb. It’s a roundabout representation of the storyline. 

Second, the first half is too slow to sustain interest. This is my second consecutive slow book, and that doesn’t work in its favor (sorry). The second half is a lot better, but the story makes more sense only when you read the author’s note. And no, don’t read it first if you want to enjoy at least half of the book. 

Third, the characterization is decent, and I liked how I couldn’t fully trust any of them. However, Rhonda could have had a little more role towards the end. Don’t look for character growth here. The graph goes the other way (it’s a thriller, after all). 

Fourth, some of the story seemed too far-fetched, even with the explanation. Though an important theme has been dealt with, it comes at a time when the focus is on revealing the mystery, and that dilutes its impact. I feel a topic like that needs more space, especially since it’s not as uncommon as we want to pretend. 

The good news is that a part of the twist was well executed. It makes up for some of the other stuff. The book is pretty much a mix of things, and for me, the result is the same. 

To sum up, The Trapped Wife is an intriguing thriller if you are willing to deal with the first half of it with some patience. If not anything else, you’ll at least get to talk about quite a few themes from the book. 

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bookouture. 

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