I have mixed feelings about this book which is why I. Only giving it three stars. I found it quite difficult to get into and my attention kept wandering. At times I got the characters confused and had to stop and go back to find out who they were. Not my favourite read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I loved this book! A witty and clever story, which also contains some truths about male and female roles in the family. The characters are great and I found myself reading "just one more chapter" as it was so hard to put down. Definitely a book I would recommend.

Unfortunately I’ve just spent a long time reviewing this book only for it to disappear when I pressed the wrong key. So for an edited version I would say an interesting and original book with a wealth of characters., which I enjoyed reading all the way through. The little forum snippets were quite annoying, particularly for,those of us in the UK and also I’m not sure I would accept such extreme treatments whilst going through couples counselling. This is certainly a well worn question, do men do enough around the home and with their children alongside a wife and mother who works even harder than they do? The descriptions of Dynasty Ranch, where our heroine, Nora wants to live, are fascinating as are the people who live there. This would probably make a great US mini series.

✨The Husbands by Chandler Baker✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

So originally after finishing it I was like yeh, this is a 4⭐️ book for sure, but I’ve come back now to write the review about 2 weeks later and turns out I can’t really remember a thing that happens, so it clearly can’t have packed much of a punch. So i’ve demoted it to 3.5⭐️s

From the fog of my memory, I remember that I read this pretty quickly. It’s a very good page turner which at the end of the day, is what you want from a thriller. I definitely wanted to keep reading to find out wtf was going on. And it’s different, and interesting. Which is good. It’s definitely got the Get Out x Stepford Wives feels to it as advertised, and I enjoyed this.

However, I did feel uneasy in places. Considering this is dubbed as a feminist thriller, I got a bit of a feminism-bashing vibe throughout. There were certain phrases and musings from the main character that made me cringe a little, like she’s trying to make the point that she’s a feminist but really its just a lot of effort and not really worth it and us women should all just chill out. And my interpretation of the overall take away seems to be, “well ladies, this batshit craziness is what happens when you complain that your husband doesn’t help out!”.

But that aside, it’s decent. Worth a read, pretty enjoyable, quite twisty but definitely some weird literary bits separate from the obviously quite weird plot bits that for me made it feel a bit off.

Inequalities between the sexes is a recurring theme for Chandler Baker who in her previous novel The Whisper Network highlighted sexual harassment in the workplace. In her latest thriller she turns her attention to the imbalance between men and women in the division of domestic labour, using her main characters Nora and Hayden Spangler to prove, despite years of feminism, how couples today are facing a standstill/standoff at the kitchen sink. Funny, relatable but which at the same time will have you spitting feathers, the author offers you her vision of marriage utopia and how to achieve it via some strong, independent, sassy but ultimately scary female characters. This is Stepford Wives in reverse and it’s highly entertaining.

Nora is a personal injury lawyer working long hours in a bid to make partner. She’s pregnant with her second child and juggling the demands of her professional career alongside the needs of her four year old daughter Liv. Hayden, Nora’s husband who also works is oblivious to anything relating to the domestic sphere, taking it for granted that Nora will be the one to do the laundry, get the groceries, pack lunches, arrange childcare. You get the picture. The list is endless and although Nora loves Hayden she resents him for his attitude that anything relating to the home environment is somehow automatically her responsibility. It’s viewing an open house in the Dynasty Ranch community that opens Nora’s eyes to a more harmonious way of living when she meets Cornelia White, a therapist, and her two neighbourhood friends, Thea a neurosurgeon and Alexis, CEO of a tech company, all of whom appear to have perfect, compliant, helpful husbands. This is the kind of family dynamic Nora aspires to but just what is the secret behind these couples happiness? Nora believes she’s discovered the family’s ideal next home but is curious to find out more about Dynasty Ranch and its residents before making a final commitment. Her task is made easier by a request she receives to take on a wrongful death case, that of Richard March who recently died in a house fire. His wife, Penny, a well known advice columnist is the fourth member of Cornelia’s inner circle and as Nora starts delving into the events of that night she’s forced to ask herself the following question. Is buying 2913 Majestic Grove a wise move or a dangerous one? Is this a case of buyer beware, that behind the well manicured lawns and the domestic bliss lies something more sinister?

In terms of characterisation, Chandler Baker has nailed the aggrieved, overburdened wife and the archaic attitudes of the nagged husband to perfection. The resentment and rage Nora feels towards Hayden emanates from these pages, their marriage teetering on a knife’s edge and you know something has to give if their relationship is to survive. From one exhausted mother to another you feel Nora’s pain, recognise her all too familiar lament yet at the same time you have to laugh otherwise you’d cry! Haven’t we all been there, done that and bought the t-shirt?!? I found myself nodding in agreement to the responses to snippets of online articles spaced throughout the narrative, a device used to further force the author’s arguments home. The creation of the off kilter, slightly creepy community of Dynasty Ranch controlled by a secretive,manipulative tight knit group of women to tempt Nora (and by default) Hayden into a world devoid of domestic drama and tension is executed well, inevitably leaving you thinking “what is the catch?” If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is!! Not all newcomers are made to feel as welcome as Nora and Hayden with Cornelia and crew closing ranks against unsuitable potential buyers allowing only the privileged few access to their recipe for marital success. Why is their secret so fiercely guarded and why are they so afraid of it reaching the wrong ears? Does this sound like your dream neighbourhood in which to strike up friendships with fellow professional,career minded women? Absolutely not!!

I’m not averse to thrillers that don’t race along at 100mph and this is by no means edge of your seat material. The slowish pace didn’t bother me in the slightest in what I would describe as more of a dark domestic drama than a thriller. The plot itself is reasonable albeit surreal. Yes, it’s easy to see what’s truly going on behind the fixed smiles and the dinner party and yoga invitations but that still didn’t prepare me for the dramatic and weird ending. I liked it! Plus I couldn’t stop myself laughing out loud at how the author gives Nora the opportunity to have the final word. Overall the thought provoking social commentary does tend to override all else. Nonetheless it’s enjoyable, a quick easy read that speaks volumes about the realities of working mothers struggling to ‘do and have it all’ in what is still very much a man’s world. I’d definitely love to see the film version even though I know the outcome!

My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

If Reese Witherspoon likes this, then chances are we are going to like it – and we do. Soon to become a film, this clever novel is well worth a read and perfect for book clubs. Nora loves her husband Hayden but with a difficult job and a chance of promotion, wonders if he could be doing more to pull his weight at home. He works hard of course, but why does she feel she’s working harder? When looking for a new home, they’re brought into a new world – one where the wives aren’t sacrificing anything for their perfect lives. In fact, here, the husbands iron, schedule birthday parties – the buying of birthday presents – and let their wives succeed outside the home. But as Nora is drawn into the residents’ lives, as a case become deeper and darker, she realises there’s plenty who want to hide the reasons why the neighbourhood is especially friendly. Wonderful, wickedly good fiction.

I really wanted to love this book but I felt like the plot was easy to see through abs very similar to Stepford Wives. It did feel slow at times too and I wondered if it needed to be as lengthy as it was. The characters were well written and I liked the premise but it fell a little short for me.

I loved The Whisper Network and I was nervous for The Husbands but I bloody loved it. Baker is such a fun, talented writer. Using pop culture, tropes and experiences that resonate with readers to bring to live a very, very modern retelling of the stepford wives.

I'll be reading this one again!

I received an ARC of this novel in an exchange for an honest review thanks to NetGalley. I read this book within a few days. I’m interested to see what the film adaptation will be like. I didn’t really get the online bits that were plugged it, I felt they weren’t needed because you definitely get the gist of the book without them. This book definitely was thrilling though. Loved the concept. Set to publish Aug 3, 2021. #TheHusbands #NetGalley

The Stepford Wives meets The Whisper Network. Absolutely couldn’t put this book down. I loved it. A seemingly perfect community but underneath there’s a sense of real menace. Great fun.

was attracted to this book from its comparison to Little Fires Everywhere and Stepford wives. There were things I loved and things I loathed about it- it was certainly memorable and can imagine it popular with book clubs!

Nora is a lawyer, a Mom and a wife and is sick of having to go at 110% in every role! She feels like her card is marked after an accident that’s left her child scarred, which was her fault. The accident is hinted at the circumstances not revealed until over halfway through (which I liked, and kept me reading).

I found the characters quite cliche in parts and as the story developed they became cartoonish, but I didn’t hate that. I can picture this as a Netflix mini series of 4 or 5 episodes and in my head it felt quite Edward scissorhands-esque, with everything exaggerated to prove a point.

I didn’t like the message boards between chapters. They didn’t fit in and seemed like pointless filler- I scanned over a lot of it to get to the real action.

This wasn’t my favourite book (about 2/3 through I felt like it had gotten a bit silly and far fetched) but I loved the twist in the final pages! Also, saying that, I did finish it and it did keep me coming back for more. It is also a novel idea which I don’t think has been done before. I’ve already recommended this to a friend who I think will like it.

I kept reading this book, hoping the pace would pick up ,and I would like the main character more. Unfortunately for me, neither happened, and I was losing the will to care. For me this could have been so much better if it was shorter, and more punchy.

I received this e-arc from the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Overall I enjoyed this book and read it in a couple of days. I completely understood the idea that these hard working women were needing extra assistance from their partners.

I felt like the main character Nora was relatable especially with how hard she works and always feeling like as a woman it was harder to get further in life. How her work at home and with her child was overlooked when it came to her husband and her boss.

Overall I give this a solid 3.5 stars, and the reason that I gave it 3.5 stars was because I found the plot very predictable and I found it a bit infuriating that Nora didn't cotton on sooner. I know that I am an 'outsider' looking in, but I just didn't fully buy it. However, the characters and the writing style did make up for this as I did want to see how it ended and how it was all wrapped up. The plot although I guessed what happened was a good one and enjoyable for what it was.

Would I recommend this book? Yeah I would, as it was an interesting premise and another reader may not pick up on a plot as quick as myself and enjoy it for everything it is.

Thanks to Net Galley & Little Brown Book Group Uk.
Nora Spangler is a lawyer & hoping to be made a partner in her law firm this year. She feels irritated though ever day as she seems always to have so much to do at home,, domestically, both before she goes to the office and on her return home and she is expecting their 2nd child. She feels (as many of us female sometimes do) that the domestic chores are unevenly divided between her & her husband Hayden.
While house hunting the discover Dynasty Ranch and on getting to know their possible new neighbours, Nora can’t help but notice the husbands do so many of the chores With their main aim being to please their wives, what is the secret of these woman?
I found the story slow, there was a lot of reference to an accident that Nora & Hayden’s daughter had, which I felt when it was revealed fell flat.
It was clear what was happening to the husbands at Dynasty Ranch but the story plodded on as Nora investigates a fire which killed Penny’s husband. I also found the ending disappointing. I would however read any future books by this author.
3.5 stars.

4 stars

Nora is an attorney, a mother, and a wife, and struggling to excel at all three. She increasingly feels taken advantage of by her husband and her work, picking up the slack for the men in her life. When she falls in with a group of women who seem to have it all, she's intrigued. She wants what they have - luxury, free time, and husbands who actually help around the house. As she gets to know the neighbourhood more, she realises things aren't quite as perfect as they seem.

This book, like Baker's The Whisper Network is hard to review as while it's fun and gripping, it's also so real and frustrating. Baker's insightful commentary on the modern female experience really resonated with me and surely will with other women - we want more than the 1950s housewife narrative, but now we're expected to do that and still have a career. Things are better for women, but also worse.

A slowburn at first, the final third of the book is exhilarating and gripping. Domestic noir meets science fiction, The Husbands left me dying to read more of Baker's works.

Lively, knowing and expertly imagined. The parallels with The Stepford Wives are inevitable, but I wish there had been a way of marketing the book without giving away that aspect, because it's so subtly introduced at first and it kind of would have been fun to go in without knowing. In Nora, the author has created a main character who is real, believable and deeply empathetic - I think any woman reading this book will be able to relate to her. Nora's very real and familiar day-to-day joys, struggles and frustrations provide a solid anchor point for the more 'out there' elements of the book, meaning it stays very firmly rooted in a reality we recognise. I don't want to say too much more, because I think the less you know going into this the better - but you're in for a treat.

A couple with children are looking to move house; they find a home within a community which seems too good to be true, then there is a death of one of the residents and things become rather complicated for the couple.

The Husbands was a brilliant, well written book. I completely related to it, I was reading it saying “That’s me!” The whole way through. Everybody should read this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Little Brown Book Group & Chandler Baker for my arc of The Husbands in exchange for an honest review.

Publishing 3rd August 2021

Nora is like many women. Trying to find the time to be successful in her career as well as a good wife and mother. And mostly failing. Struggling to hold it together, newly pregnant Nora is finding it more and more difficult to manage the fact that she does everything while her husband wants praise every time he cuts the lawn or reads their child a bedtime story. Then while house hunting at the exclusive neighbourhood of Dynasty Ranch, Nora becomes entangled in a friendship with some amazingly successful women. Women who truly do have it all, great jobs, lovely kids and best of all, husbands who do the housework, look after the children and respect how hard their wives work. But as Nora becomes more entwined with their lives she discovers the secret at the heart of their perfect lives. A secret with consequences of life & death.

This is a hard book to review. It is definitely an easy 4* rated read because of how well written, thrilling and engaging it is. But it was also a frustrating book, frustrating in its importance at highlighting existing issues.

Women are frequently told that we can ‘have it all’ career, motherhood, marriage, what we’re not told is that it comes at a cost. The fight for equality is still skewed unfairly and women are left exhausted by the process of working full time, pursuing their career while also still doing the majority of the ‘life admin’ as well as the unpaid work that comes with being a caregiver to family members and/or children.

And that’s the basic idea of this book. How perfect would it be if the husband shouldered more responsibility. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not a book which attacks men, in fact the mc questions herself frequently on whether she’s being fair to him. But it’s a book that really makes you relate to the struggle. There is one bit in particular where the Mc states that (and I’m paraphrasing here) ‘I don’t want to tell him to do the dishes, I’d rather do them myself than tell him too. I just want him to know what needs doing in the way I know what needs doing. I want him to know it’s school photo day on Thursday and wash a dress for Liv, I want him to know it’s one of her friends parties on Saturday and that we need to pick up a present’. That really resonated with me.

I’m constantly told me how ‘lucky’ I am that my husband halves the chores with me. And I am. Compared to some people who’s husbands don’t even know how to turn the washer on or cook a small meal. But equally, I am still the one who makes doctors and dental appointments, remembers birthdays for his family as well as mine, books meals and tickets, wraps gifts and writes on cards, remembers to book the dog in for his haircut (we don’t have children yet). And this despite the fact that we both work full time.

This book is one that I think everyone should read. Women and men alike as it’s content really is eye opening.

I've just this minute finished The Husbands and I have a feeling it will stay with me for a long time yet. I defy any woman, mother or not, not to read it not immediately recognise the juggle, the admin, the excess work - the stuff we just do. I loved the Stepford Wives twist and I was torn between wanting Hayden to do better, and for him and Nora to to resist the madness - and the ending was perfect. Riveting and suspenseful, a great read.

No change then
Initially I found this book quite slow and seemed to cover old ground, which is the uneven distribution of domesticity between household partners, note this only cites heterosexual couples.
I find it hard to believe that things have not altered a lot, with women still doing the lions share of cleaning, cooking, childcare, organising whilst working. I recall my friends husband saying how lucky we were because they (the husbands) took time to bath OUR babies and that was nearly 40 years ago.
Back to the story, quite fascinating, well written with more than a touch of humour.
Is moving to a new place and having your husband appreciate you so much that he does his share of domestic duties whilst planning ahead a good move? Of course it is to stressed out Nora who although she is still in love with her husband Hayden needs him to help out. The new friends she makes in the area she intends moving to are ideal, understanding and supportive, but is it all too good to be true?
The book bought back to mind "Sociology of housework" written by Anne Oakley in 1974, well worth looking at.
Thank you Chandler and NetGalley for this excellent read.