I don’t watch a ton of reality television. I just didn’t grow up watching it and so it’s just not something I think to watch as an adult. The only shows I tend to watch are the Bachelor (when we have girl’s night), Design and Home shows, Big Brother (because my husband’s family are die hard fans), and now The Secret Lives of Morman Wives. I’ve watched a few others, and honestly I’m not sure why I don’t watch more, I love me some messy drammaaaa!

Coming off my binge of The Secret Lives of Morman Wives, I was so ready to jump into The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey. Catty drama AND a murder mystery, YES PLEASE! & just like you would expect from a Housewives season, this sure was messy and not necessarily in the best way.

Things I loved, catty housewives, a peep behind the scenes of reality TV, and Birdie. Things I didn’t: swallow character development, extremely unlikable characters, the plot is hanging on by a thread, and overall trying to ‘do’ to many things. Plus, for having ‘Dead’ in the title, the murder(s) are flimsy.  

Reading this book was the equivalent of turning on trash tv in the background while your focus is on something else entirely. Even at only 288 pages, it was entirely too long. It could have used some additional editing as it skipped a few natural points to end the story but instead kept going and even set it up to potentially have a sequel. If you like reality TV or soap operas, you might give this one a go. It’s not my favorite book and I don’t think I’d read a sequel.

AMAZON | GOODREADS | BOOKSHOP |★★

The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey is out now! Huge thank you to Simon & Schuster for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.  If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.