Freida McFadden

Victoria Barnett has it all. A great career. A handsome and loving husband. A beautiful home in the suburbs and a plan to fill it with children. Life is perfect -- or so it seems. Then she's in a terrible accident... and everything falls apart. Now Victoria is unalbe to walk. She can't feed or dress herself. She can't even speak. She is confined to the top floor of her house with twenty-four-hour care. Sylvia Robinson is hired by Victoria's husband to help care for her. But it turns out Victoria isn't as impaired as Sylvia was led to believe. There's a story Victoria desperately wants to tell... if only she can get out the words. Then Sylvia discovers Victoria's diary hidden away in a drawer. And what's inside is shocking.

A Novel

The Wife Upstairs

“Looks like you needed me after all,” he says. “And this time, I was here.”

At some point, you realize you have two choices:

1. You admit that your two-day-old marriage was a huge mistake. And when you come back to work from your honeymoon, and everyone asks you how it was, you get to tell them you got divorced during the honeymoon. Making it the worst honeymoon ever in the history of the world.

2. You suck it up and try to make it work

“You don’t have to help me. You don’t always have to be the hero, you know.”

“Well...” I pick at a loose thread on the quilt. “You just... you do a lot. For Victoria. For your parents. It’s nice of you, but... it’s just a lot for any one person.”

“I don’t need friends,” he said. “I’ve got you.”

You know what’s a bummer? When you’re happy, but somehow, your friends can’t be happy for you.

It’s unfortunate that in this day and age, a woman can’t walk down the street wearing even a modestly short skirt without getting whistled at or grabbed!

“Fine.” I look down at my ruined interview outfit. “Totally fine. Absolutely, completely fine.”

I’ve never done anything heroic in my entire life. The leading candidate would be this cat I used to feed in an alley next to my building. But I’m not sure if feeding a stray cat counts as heroic. Also, I heard that cat eventually bit somebody, so maybe I was just aiding and abetting a bad- tempered cat.

Didn’t expect it. Definitely messes with your mind a little trying to figure out what own going on. You feel the main characters confusion. I really didn’t love the back and forth though of was it the wife was it the husband. Then it was the husband and the maid? But the main character was tricked multiple times?? Don’t love that. But definitely didn’t expect it! I was wondering who the unexpected murderer or bad guy would be because McFadden always includes that

Ava DeFrances

I liked this one but didn’t love it as much as Freida’s other books. I don’t believe that this is a carbon copy of Verity. There could be similarities but to me there were way more differences. The whole meaning of this book was different. Now I will say from my reading experience compared to other Freida books was that this one was drawn out too much and because of that I was able to figure out every twist that happened. So I didn’t have a jaw dropping moment like some of her other books but was still a good read. 

Priscilla Stanfield

4/5⭐️

I liked this one but didn’t love it as much as Freida’s other books. I don’t believe that this is a carbon copy of Verity. There could be similarities but to me there were way more differences. The whole meaning of this book was different. Now I will say from my reading experience compared to other Freida books was that this one was drawn out too much and because of that I was able to figure out every twist that happened. So I didn’t have a jaw dropping moment like some of her other books but was still a good read. 

HOLY HELL. Talk about a THRILLER! The way my heart races through this was insane. Like you have this it’s obvious viewpoint and then it’s like curveball, curveball, curveball! Recommended to anyone who need something unique but fun and insane ! 

Brianna Hickey 

Valeria 

Lola

I wanted to give this book 4 stars, it started well, kept me on the edge of my seat i couldn't put it down but the further along i got and the more both female characters suffered severe denial it just drove me nuts, it was like screaming at dumb characters in a horror movie to JUST F*CKING RUN!!

Some of the character development/ romantic development felt rushed and poorly executed, which was rather disappointing. So, considering i rolled my eyes several times throughout the last 3rd of the book i can't give it more than 3 ⭐️'s

Verity meets the Housemaid. Good but predictable. 

Jillian Roberts

big fan of freida but this book reminded me of The Housemaid's Secret way too much

sab ☻

l ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

** spoiler alert **
           frieda mcfadden is one of my favorite thriller authors, but this was just not ... that thrilling. the story itself was great - i read this in one day. it kept me hooked!

sylvie, the main character, was a little annoying but i sorta liked her. i liked how she easily trusted victoria and did what she could to help her when she thought adam was harming her. obviously, i hate that she developed a relationship with adam considering she was working for HIS WIFE? but i admire that she tried to end things and apologized to vicky. i also liked that she genuinely tried to be her friend!

one thing i didn't necessarily like was that victoria didn't do much? she knocked over a cup of water, fed herself, and then somehow bent down and opened a whole trunk and then rolled herself over to adam's room? i feel like it would've been nicer if victoria had done more things that showed what she could do.

although i knew that the book was like verity and would probably end the same way, i was still shocked when i read the final chapters. i don't know why i thought that adam was actually being honest about his relationship with vicky. oh wait, i do know why. little miss maggie called sylvie up and LIED. adam had those women wrapped around his slimy little finger .. and i respect him for being able to handle all that. 

overall, good book! i love freida's writing it's extremely entertaining - just wish that this was a lil creepier and more thrilling.

Enna Burton

Petaco

A tad bit predictable. Surprising since I usually never guess.

Samantha 

If you liked Verity by Colleen Hoover, then you would like this one. Freida McFadden is now my favorite thriller author. This is the 3rd book that I read from her

Cassie Casaburi

Love this book. Didn’t want to put it down. 

*possible slight, vague and non-character specific spoilers*

Of course from the outside peering in, some parts are a bit far fetched. Little comments by characters, tell tale signs of things, etc seem a bit obvious that somethings wrong - why do characters in thrillers always ignore these warning signs? But the thing is, we would all probably ignore the small warning signs if we crossed situations like this in our lives. People every day are manipulated, lied to or gaslit. Many people have abusive parents or partners or toxic people in their lives and they ignore the warning signs. So i don’t believe it’s as far fetched as some might say. I loved the plot, loved the characters and found the writing style to be excellent. Love Freidas work.

Susan 

** spoiler alert **
           The first time I picked up this book, I put it down. This time, I was determined I would finish it. The book pretty much tells you right away who the “bad guy” is. But then it had you questioning towards the end. Really good book! Glad I came back to finish it.

FEVRONIA AVERI

Reading With Chris

When I first started this book, I found the main character infuriating. I also found the plot line similar to Colleen Hoover’s Verity. I almost did not finish it, but I’m glad I kept going. 

Although similar, I think there’s enough differences in this book from Verity that it stands on its own. I ended up enjoying it in the end. This plot is twisted and I was not expecting all the twists in the end. The audiobook was well done and made for easy listening.

The Wife Upstairs A Novel

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Highlights