The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

I always love when a book can surprise me; when I think I know what will happen, but something better happens; or when I think something will happen, but it happens differently. That is what makes The Wife Between Us so brilliant. You always think you know where it's going to go, but Green Hendrick and Sarah Pekkanen go one step further.

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

Vanessa has just gotten divorced from Richard and life isn't going so well. She is drinking heavily, she has a job she hates, oh, and Richard is about to re-marry. She isn't happy with this new information. It hasn't been long since the divorce was finalized, but the marriage ended long ago.

Nellie is happily in love with Richard. It's been a whirlwind affair, but she knows that he is the one she is meant to spend the rest of her life with. But the engagement has been filled with its bumps: mysterious calls, the photographer being canceled, someone following her. But Richard will make everything alright.

These women may sound like two completely different women: one is falling apart, while the other is coming together. But they are the same, just a few years apart. What happened in the marriage to turn Nellie into Vanessa? Was it her own fault, or did Richard destroy her?

(Source: Giphy)

When I first started the book, I questioned if Vanessa and Nellie were the same person. But there were too many things to make me think differently. Nellie could feel someone watching her, and in the previous chapter, Vanessa would say that she just had to talk to Richard's new bride. Vanessa had a burner phone that she called the fiancee on, and Nellie received phone calls with just a person breathing on the other end. After so many of these instances, I began to think that Vanessa really was crazy and Nellie was her victim. I began to think that Richard was right for leaving her, even though I hated that he had had an affair. But clearly, Vanessa was not stable. And then halfway through, you are hit with the truth. They are the same woman. Richard gave Vanessa the nickname Nellie, but to everyone else, she remained Vanessa. Now, Vanessa is following the new woman, but not for the crazy reason we're made to think. Vanessa made a mistake; not in leaving Richard, but in setting up Richard with Emma.

Yes, the next big plot twist is that Vanessa purposely set up Richard with the woman who would replace her. Vanessa had to leave Richard, but he wouldn't allow it. Why you ask? Well, Richard is really the crazy one in the relationship. He showed some signs of it early on that I picked up on.

"Richard reached out and gently ran his fingers down the length of her [hair] before rucking it back behind her ear. "So beautiful. Don't ever cut it." (p. 29)

It sound simple enough, but it was just one of the first threats he gave Vanessa. It doesn't sound like a threat, but when Vanessa cuts her hair toward the end of her marriage and dyes is brunette instead of it's natural blonde, Richard punishes her in his own special way. Richards "punishments were always proportional to my perceived crimes" (p. 271). He would tell people she was drunk, he would take away the dog she loved more than him, and when that wasn't enough, he would beat her. Because of this, Vanessa knew she had to leave Richard. But the one time she tried, he found out and he made her pay. She knew it would have to be his idea. When Emma entered their lives as Richard's new assistant, Vanessa knew she had found her replacement. But it was only supposed to be an affair. They weren't supposed to fall in love and they definitely weren't supposed to get married. Vanessa cannot let what she went through happen to another woman. She must save Emma.

Of course this leaves some questions: who was following Vanessa before her and Richard got married? Who called her and just breathed on the other end? And what happened to Richard's first wife? Also, Emma isn't free of guilt in all of this. Emma has a motive that even I didn't see coming. Her connection to Vanessa was so unseen, that I think it was the best twist of all.

(Source: Giphy)

I always worry when I read books with multiple authors that there won't be consistency in the book; that I will be able to tell where one author stopped and the other started. But that wasn't the case her. Chapters flowed effortlessly together. When listening to the conversation at the end of the audiobook, Hendricks and Pekkanen talked about how they wrote most of the book together; it was rarely one person writing and editing and then the next person doing the same. I believe that that helped the book flow together into a wonderful work of art. I would definitely read more of their books if they ever co-wrote together again.

(Source: Giphy)

Rating: 10/10

Authors: Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction