When I saw this on NetGalley, I thought it sounded like such a fabulous book that I was so eager to get my hands on it. It was original and unique and was thrilled when I was sent a copy.

It unfortunately didn't hit the high notes I was expecting. But first, the positives.

It did hook me in; I took it with me when I had a day's tattoo session booked in and so it kept me distracted for several hours. It is completely original and you can't really look away from it.

It's funnier than I thought it would. I'm not sure why I wasn't expecting it to be so, I thought it was going to perhaps be more of a series book, but there is a lot of humour in it, some dark.

It could have quite easily been very repetitive and stale, but I didn't feel that was the case. We get enough to become invested in the story, and whilst it is repetitive by its very nature, it didn't feel boring - at least not to begin with. I was quite keen to see who the next husband would be.

It's a mixture of sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, romance, and feelgood, so it should appeal to a broad spectrum of readers.

Now, for the not so positive aspects.

The consistent character is Lauren, and I can't say whether I liked her or not. We don't really get a chance to know her. She's not developed, and is very one-note. We don't get to learn much about her past, or her present, we don't get to know what she's like as a friend or a relative or a wife, she doesn't grow or shrink. She's just....there, and so it's hard to have any major opinion on her.

My main criticism is I wanted more depth, a bit more oomph and substance. What is there is fine and entertaining, but I wanted more context. This thing just starts happening and Lauren just goes along with it as if it's a normal thing, there's no real context to it and we don't really get to see her genuine reaction to changing husbands coming out of her attic - which I think would cause more than a little alarm. It also ends quite abruptly, and I can't say it was a satisfying ending either.

There are far too many husbands. I know that's what the book is about, but by halfway we'd had something like 160 husbands, with a large quantity of them getting 1-2 sentences and then changing. And so we only get to know a handful of them. I think if she'd had less husbands, and focussed more on just a few of them, I would have been more invested and it would have been better.

In its present state, it's too long. I think either, the story needs to stay the same but the page length shortened, or the story needs tweaking, because at the moment, it's just too long and doesn't quite live up to the excitement of the synopsis.

I probably would recommend it, but if it had more depth to it, more context, and more substance, it would have been a far more enjoyable read. I'm not sure if this is her first book or not, I think it is, but either way, there's a lot of promise here for future works, if only for her originality.

I loved this concept and thought it was good fun. I'm not usually a fan of the romance genre, but did enjoy this and the writing style. I would have liked to have understood why Lauren's attic in particular was generating husbands and what caused it to start. I also thought there was some repetition, and about 20-30 pages of husband generation that didn't add anything to the plot.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an arc of 'The Husbands'. An easy read, but perhaps one that's slightly too long. I liked the novel idea of a different husband appearing from the attic. If you're in the mood for a light-hearted fun read this may well fit the bill.

I found this a strange and confusing read. It started off really well, with a woman returning from an evening out, slightly worse for wear and being confronted by a man who appears to be her husband and whom she doesn’t recognise……. As the story progresses there are more of them and that’s what I struggled with. There are many different characters but I felt, little plot.
Overall, a disappointing read. Sorry!

Although, I’m grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

An enjoyable piece of whimsy. Lauren is single but one day a man comes down from her attic and appears to be her husband. When she send him back to the attic on a pretext, another 'husband' appears. Each time parts of her life and friends are also reset. It does slow down in the middle. As she has so many 'husbands' it is difficult to remember the best ones. This is a light hearted book that's a bit of fun.

I found the book unique in terms of its concept however I would have liked to have a bit of background on why her attic behaved the way it did. I did not understand why Lauren felt the need for husbands. Was it only coz she needed a date? Also the end was a bit abrupt for me.

This is a nice read if you can get over the odd concept.
The author has cleverly built an entertaining story from a preposterous premise, that main character Lauren can change husband simply by getting them to go up into the attic. a new husband then comes down. She lives in the same home, but the decoration and furnishings miraculously change each time.. Oddly her neighbours and friends immediately accept the new spouse as though he has been married to her for some time with no memory of his predecessor.
This book is very funny in part I laughed out loud sometimes and is an enjoyable read despite the unbelievable basic concept

I loved this book, such a different concept and story and brilliantly written. It was humorous and thought through with some deeper thinking underlying it. A great book club read or perfect for some escapism

This was a lot of fun. An easy but a really original read.
Lauren returns home to find a husband she never knew she had in her flat. Totally confused by this strange turn of events she checks in with friends and family who all knew about him. And then it gets stranger….. he goes into the loft to get something and when he comes down he’s changed into a different husband. And when that husband goes into the loft yet another husband emerges. In the course of this book Lauren gets through over 200 husbands. It’s speed dating like no other!

It’s different and amusing to think that husbands can be generated and renewed in the attic but I could have done with this being shorter as I got a bit frustrated at times. Some twists and good fun.

What a fun concept!
Our protagonist comes home one day from a hen do to discover she now has a husband -- a complete stranger. Soon she realises that every time her husband goes to the attic he becomes a different husband, and so begins a long list of different husbands over time while she tries to find "the one".

I really enjoyed this book. I found it a nice palate cleanser between heavier topics I was reading at the moment. It's quirky and fun, but there were a couple of points where I wished the plot moved a bit quicker. Perhaps could have been about 10-20 pages shorter.

I do recommend it, though!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC version of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I first heard about The Husbands through my online book club – it was clear that it was a highly anticipated title by many so I was delighted to receive an advance review copy.

The premise of the book was extremely original and it got off to a great start that immediately had me hooked. I raced through the first half and couldn't wait to find out what sort of husband was coming next. However, I felt that some momentum was lost in the second half, and I would have liked the author to have elaborated on this brilliant concept even more. I can envisage this making a great screenplay that really makes us question our "Swipe right" culture.

I enjoyed this highly entertaining book very much and was very grateful to have received a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review – many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

I have given this book a good go, but I have found it to be very repetitive and at 40% of the way through the book, nothing seems to be progressing.

The premise of the book was different, hence why I wanted to give it a go. So far I have not found the book funny or enlightening.

I feel had there been a prologue setting the scene of the book, I may have been able to see why and where it was going. I have absolutely no idea why Lauren's attic has started to sprout husbands. Is she unhappy with her life, was she miserable being single, jealous of her friend getting married?

This book was unfortunately not for me, but there are lots of highly rated reviews so it probably is just me!

I managed to get to the end of the book and it just, well, ended. Lauren made a spur of the moment decision and they was that. No reasonable explanation, no real clue this would even be an option.

When I read the blurb for this on I was intrigued, I love a romance novel but this one had a twist. Diving in I was hooked straight away.

Lauren arrives home after a night out with someone in her house, apparently her husband, just as she’s getting her head around the man in her house, the photos of them together and the fact he’s her husband he’s soon replaced with another man coming down the ladder of the attic.

A magic attic, crazy and strange but each time a man goes up a different one appears. Each man provides a different back story not only does her life change it also. Hanged the lives of those around her. Lauren now needs to decide which husband is for her which should be easy right.

This book had me captivated from the beginning, it had some moments which I felt maybe wasn’t necessary and moments when I was routing for one husband more and keen to see who she picks.

It was like a version of hinge/bumble but you get to test the relationship out first! It was a great book to delve into on a cosy Sunday!


Thank you to NetGalley for the download!

Brilliant debut / my only small query was could it have been slightly shorter . 4 stars 🌟 review on Goodreads .
Well done I loved it !

★★★★☆

This was so fun! I'm not usually a comedy-romance girlie, but when I received the ARC of this, I was definitely in the mood for something a bit lighter.

This wastes no time getting right to the point, is unpredictable in terms of plot (in the best way), humorous and tongue-in-cheek, with a bittersweet ending to wrap it all up in a bow. I like that there wasn't a big mystery surrounding the magic attic and how it worked, and instead it was about Lauren coming to terms with the situation and herself.

Definitely a fun read and can see a lot of people enjoying this one.

Oh this is brilliant!

Such an original and interesting premise.

Lauren comes home from a night out with her friend and a man opens the door to let her in to her flat. A man she’s never met before. A man who is actually her husband.

She works out that the husband appeared from the attic and when he goes back up there, he vanishes, only to be replaced by another one.

Lauren’s attic keeps giving her husbands.

Whilst coming to terms with her newly married state, Lauren fast cottons on to doing a quick Google of who the new husband is and tracks back texts and social media to piece together her life with the husband from before she sees him descend from the attic. Years of shared history that she DIDN’T share.

As the story progresses, we see the challenges Lauren faces, from the odd and sometimes annoying decor changes in the flat, to the downright alarming non-existence of her nephew and niece or the fact the couple downstairs become swingers in an uncomfortable night out!

We see how Lauren navigates each situation, including job changes, financial changes, the fact that with each new husband, everything that happened with the one before disappears… and the issue that some husbands are just a little bit worrying to be around. And we even see what happens when a husband decides he actually needs something from the attic and goes up of his own volition!

One day, Lauren realises the most recent husband might know a little bit about her ‘condition’ and the pair of them navigate the strange world they find themselves in.

I enjoyed this story so much, it’s written in such an engaging way, that what, in another, less insightful author’s hand, might turn into farce, is just fascinating, intriguing and entertaining.

I noticed that I was on 94% read and felt very sad that the story was almost over. There was so much else I wanted to see happen!

Such an enjoyable story, so well written, a cracker of a read.

I can’t wait to read more from
Holly.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy.

I loved the concept of the book, it’s strange in the way Bunny by Mona Awad is but it felt a lot lighter, a lot less introspective and a bit more straightforward so it was easy to race through. I enjoyed reading but I wanted more depth to the characters and I found the ending unsatisfying.

It's rare for a book to make me laugh out loud but this one did. The idea of an attic that generates endless husbands is great.
Lauren as a main character is really believable too. Starting out confused by finding she suddenly has a husband and then embracing the ability to change him.and some aspects of her life whenever she wants.
I was pleased that the same side characters appeared each time and that the changes were usually quite minor. Except for the husband himself.
It seems like a lighthearted book but I think it actually could be seen as pretty deep. Thinking about how the dating world is, what is important in our lives and relationships. And, of course what we'd do with a magic attic!

The Husbands is an inventive exploration of dating, endless choice and the difficulty of knowing when you've found the one.

Single gal Lauren comes back from a night out, not recognising the man in her flat. Apparently he's her husband. The next day, when he goes into the attic, he suddenly disappears and in his place a new husband appears. This cycle continues over and over again. For Lauren, it means she can send a husband she doesn't like into the attic so that she doesn't have to deal with him anymore. But how sustainable is this lifestyle really? While I liked the premise, the book definitely could have been a bit shorter. I don't think we would have lost anything in meaning or character development. Regardless, read if you're into:
· Atypical romance
· Surprises
· Reading books that give you anxiety - I was anxious the whole time I read this as I was always a little nervous that someone terrible was going to climb down the ladder.