The Divorce by Victoria Jenkins offers an interesting premise and setting. The story is told as a couple is in therapy and their secrets slowly come out.

When Lydia and Josh Green walk into Karen’s office for counselling one rainy February morning, Karen sees a couple under stress, almost at breaking point. A husband working long hours at the hospital, a wife working longer hours at home with their young children.

They’re just a normal couple, with normal problems, and Karen is determined to help, but she knows she must be careful. Once in the past, she went too far – her need to fix other people’s lives tipped her over the edge… and someone got hurt.

But the couple won’t open up. And just as Karen begins to feel the couple are hiding a secret darker than the problems of an everyday marriage, she receives something which makes her question her own safety.

With everything she has been through, can Karen trust herself? She needs to listen and she needs to watch Lydia and Josh carefully – there is something there that could be the key to saving them all, if only she can unlock it in time…

As I read this book, I wondered where the story was going to go? What was happening? I knew something was going on with the couple but what, and would Karen figure it out? I’m sure every reader will be asking the same questions as they read this book.

This was a disappointing book. It started out with a decent storyline, but half way through the book, I lost all interest in the characters.and the plot. There was way too much meaningless conversation going on in the Dr.’s office. As the book continued, the characters became totally unreal, and unbelievable. The ending was perhaps the biggest disappointment.

This is a tricky one.
I explained the premise of this book to a friend and even as I was doing so, I realised how good it sounded. But there were a few issues with it for me and still now I don't know if they are positives or negatives.
Firstly, it is told from the perspectives of a marriage guidance counsellor (Karen) and a couple she is currently seeing for therapy sessions (Josh and Lydia). The vast majority of this book is written as dialogue or thought process - there is very little in the way of description or scene setting, yet I found myself being able to picture so much of what I was reading. The reason for this may be that most of the book is set in one location - Karen's consultancy room - which would normally be a problem for me, but it works for this narrative.
Secondly, some of the writing is so lengthy; it's as if the author was trying to use every word generated by a thesaurus for each phrase. Why use two words when you can fill out five sentences?
In spite of these 'issues' which, admittedly, seem like nit-picking, there is a huge plot hole for me. Unfortunately I can't elaborate because this book has next to nothing in the way of subplots. This is not a bad thing, by any means, but to even hint at any of the twists this narrative takes is to unravel the entire thing and I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone. It will leave you with questions and to be fair to the author, she does try to answer a lot of them but they still niggled at me. The ending is also a little anticlimactic after a somewhat spectacular build up. It ends like a balloon deflating; fast and loud, whizzing around you whilst you try to keep an eye on it, but then fizzles to nothing, deflating that last little bit.
Overall, for a book with only one real plot going on, one real twist and set in one location, it kept my interest. There are flaws but I think I'm sometimes hypercritical. I'm going for 3 stars for this one.

The Divorce felt like quite a strange read.

Karen, a marriage counsellor, takes on new clients, Lydia and Josh, who clearly have major issues in their relationship. The story takes place almost entirely within the therapy sessions and the thoughts of the three characters about the sessions - there is literally nothing else happening and no other characters appear. This makes it quite an intense and insular read, and I’m not sure it really worked for me. That said, I did keep reading and was interested enough to want to know the outcome. The “twist”, though, wasn’t that surprising as it was clear something along those lines was being set up, even if I didn’t know exactly what.

Ultimately, the behaviour of the people in this story stretched my credibility too far. I was just unable to believe anybody would realistically act like this or that events would play out as described.

A brilliant original domestic noir with lots of twists and turns and shocking moments. A unique story that stands out form the rest in this popular genre x

The Divorce by Victoria Jenkins started with a lot of promise and what would make a great psychological thriller, but the book did not deliver on its promise. The big reveal was not as compelling as the synopsis.

At the beginning of the story, the author provided good descriptions bringing me into the story, and there were little hints that something was going on with Karen, the counselor. I wanted to like this book, but the story fell flat in the middle, and I no longer cared about the characters or what happened to them. I felt as if I was reading the same thing over and over and never getting to the point of the thriller.

The storyline felt contrived, and the characters were not interesting. The chapters were broken down into the three main characters’ perspectives, but it was hard to know what timeline the information took place. There was a tremendous amount of exposition in this book, which dragged the story, and I found myself getting bored with the information.

I’m not sure I would recommend this book.

I admit I was contemplating putting this book down after reading the first few chapters but boy am I happy I didn’t because this book really stepped up a gear as the story unfolded.

I loved how the story switched from character to character and the insightful details of people’s personalities was portrayed brilliantly. How different characters perceive things especially from their childhood held a fascination for me.

I raced through this book once started and can honestly say I didn’t see the plot twist coming which was original and very clever. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my chance to read this brilliant book in exchange for my honest review.

What a read from Victoria Jenkins. From the first page is was hooked. It had me enthralled, I could not stop reading! Digging deep into a problem marriage, sins of the past and mental problems. So many twists, turns and heartache. The depth of the characters and the
indepth plot was impressive. The last few characters had me enthralled. That a captivating ending.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.
#netgalley #thedivorce

The Divorce by author Victoria Jenkins is a great book! I was iffy going into it given the mixed reviews but so glad I did! I absolutely loved how it read between each character, giving plenty of factual information along the way making it so easy to follow but lots of details. The book overall was great and we are able to feel emotions towards the characters whether it be bad or good, even both! I definitely recommend this!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Divorce has a great storyline and complex characters which I’m always a fan of! It failed to keep my attention throughout, but for a first psychological thriller it’s not too bad! I do prefer Victoria’s crime thrillers though.

I'm completely torn on this one. On one hand I can appreciate the complex narrative that delves deeply into the characters' lives. On the other hand, it made it hard at times to maintain focus and I admit to wanting it to hurry up. I did finish it and I can appreciate it, but it's hard going.

The Divorce is slow moving but gripped me from the very first page. There are so few characters that the author works exceptionally hard to give them emotional and psychological depth. I read this in one sitting because it is a fascinating insight into the private lives of a husband and wife, with only their views as evidence of their lives together. I did not see the plot twist coming and it was clever and imaginative but I didn't scream with shock either.

A quick and compulsively readable story of a therapist and her new clients, Josh and Lydia who seek her out for marital counseling. The story takes place in the home of the therapist and is told by three points of view. Not a suspenseful read but good nonetheless. I was surprised by the twist and reveal.

I like a little variety in the books I read. This did not have it at all. The entire book is set in Dr. Karen Fisher's home office where she counsels her patients. It is one session after another. If this were a non fiction book that would be one thing, but as a work of fiction it got completely boring. I honestly skimmed through probably the last 100 pages just to find out what happened because I was bored.
The story surrounds supposedly married couple Lydia and Josh. As the story unfolds, we come to discover that neither are who they say they are and that they targeted Karen for a reason. They blame her for the death of their parents.
While it is a different concept, it just was not written in a way that draws you in. Would not recommend unfortunately.

Thank you To NetGalley and Bookouture for this advanced copy of the latest Victoria Jenkin's book. I have read all of the King and Lane series and thoroughly enjoyed them. This is a new Stand alone book by Victoria. It is well written but unfortunately I didn't really enjoy it. However saying that,.it is a very good read but just not my cup of tea. I wish the author every success with this book but as I have said not for me.

The Divorce examines the lies people tell themselves to make the past fit into the vision of the world they prefer to believe in, regardless of whether or not this belief is based on any facts.

There are three main characters: a marriage counselor, Karen, and the dysfunctional couple she begins working with once a week. Karen is very damaged from her own past, but she seeks to find some solace and healing in the act of helping others. Unfortunately, some clients lie, which makes her job much, much harder.

There’s a lot to like about this book. The first 3/4 were captivating, even after I had figured out the ending at the halfway point. Once the final twists begin to be revealed, though, all the tension went out of the story for me. That would be okay if it had been the end of the book, but this happened with about 20% still left to read.

I’m sure a lot of readers will be surprised by the twist (and it is a big one), which will probably make the last portion of the book feel more tense and exciting for them.

Overall, this is a decent, entertaining thriller that I’d recommend to readers who enjoy dialogue-driven stories and aren’t bothered by a lot of exposition.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Unfortunately this book fell flat for me. Although this was said to be suspenseful, I found it to be quite the opposite. I figured out very early on what was going on so there was nothing surprising about it. I found the plot, characters, and the ending medicine and boring. Overall I'm disappointed because I do love Victoria Jenkins other novels and I do think she is an amazing writer.
I want to thank netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Divorce by Victoria Jenkins delves into the intense relationships that have the potential to develop between counsellors and their clients, and the masks that can be put into place on either side of the often unbalanced equation. This is a fast read that will pull you in quickly, as a multiple character study unfolds over the course of a marriage counselling session.

Lydia and Josh Green have come to therapist Karen seeking help for their troubled marriage. As the problems within the marriage begin to emerge, layer by layer, Karen's memory is triggered to recall her own marriages, and parallels become apparent. There is something about this couple that does not ring true, and Karen's paranoia is further intensified when she starts to receive threatening text messages. Is there a link to the couple she is treating, or is it mere coincidence that they have suddenly appeared in her life? I was propelled through the narrative quickly, desperate to see where it was all going.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

It pains me to say this because I loved Victoria Jenkins King & Lane series, but this was so boring. I was looking forward to her new stand alone suspense novel, however, there is nothing suspenseful to this story. A quarter away in I knew what was happening so nothing was surprising. The characters were mediocre, the plot was nothing interesting, and the ending was, no word for it, but boring. This was just a blah book all the way around. Even though I’m disappointed, I cannot wait to read another of her books because I loved her previous ones so much.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars... was the first for me from this author. Didn't love it, didn't dislike it.. was just an ok read for me, found myself skimming some of the words. Didn't pull me in and make me not want to put this down. Would still try more from this author.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an early release of this book