The Soulmate A Novel

Sally Hepworth — 2023

Prepare yourself for a thrilling, addictive novel about marriage, betrayal, and the secrets that push us to the edge in this latest book from the bestselling author of The Good Sister and The Younger Wife. Picture a lovely cottage on a cliff, with sloping lawns, walking paths, and beautiful flowers. It’s Gabe and Pippa Gerard’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Over the past several months, Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge. Until one day, he doesn’t. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral. . . .Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate . . . lie? As the perfect façade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel. Because sometimes, the most convincing lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

Reviews

Erin Goss@erinmg22

Feb 23, 2024

A pretty average thriller for me: characters were okay, but nobody was super likeable. Pippa’s continual insistence that her husband is such a good person was honestly irksome, and I can’t say that Gabe was really all that great lol (he is just a man after all). It was a bit slow despite short chapters, so took me awhile to get through. As a psych student, the big “twist” was actually so obvious from the start, so can’t say I was too surprised. Interesting concept, but could’ve been executed in a much more thrilling way.

Katie B.@thismermaidreads

Jul 5, 2023

I mean, let's talk about wild ride...I almost DNFed about 3/4 of the way through the book. I was so tired of the representation of Gabe's mental health struggles. I think this book also made me decide that "rich people drama" just isn't my bag. Like, "boo hoo I have millions of dollars and live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet I am so bored let me cheat on my whoever because apparently I'm <i> crazy </i> and I have no idea how else to manage my life..." And Pippa's willingness to continue despite her spouse's flaws [crazy] and at the end how she was able to have sole custody like Gabe wouldn't have fought that, wooow...it's just crazy. So yeah, unlikeable characters, almost put me in a reading slump, rich people problems, a web of lies and deceit, all culminated in the TRUE soulmates being #dead. That's my rant...oh also, like the AFTER portions of the book for the dead character was just ABSURD to me like, for real, we couldn't get that information from Max's perspective? Like I get wanting to have dual female perspectives, like girl power yada yada, but like why not have Max's perspective then for after Amanda's downfall (CRAZY). ok now I'm really done lol

This review contains a spoiler

Amanda Autumn Berrey@booksofautumn

Apr 26, 2023

Needed a better twist

Cheri McElroy@cherimac

Pipa and Gabe have moved to a small, coastal Australian town. Things seem better after a tumultuous past few years. Then someone jumps off a cliff right near their house, while Gabe tries to help. But does that make sense, given what Pippa saw happen?

This is Sally Hepworth at her domestic mystery best. I really enjoyed all the layers to this.