NetGalley ARC | The Golden Couple

 

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐

So I didn't love this one, but I liked it marginally better than The Wife Between Us, which I rated two stars. I just don't think this writing duo is going to work for me.

So Marissa and Mathew Bishop are this supposed golden couple, though I found them downright dull. We'll get to that though.

Marissa seeks out Avery Chambers, a therapist who has recently lost her license due to the unique method that she's developed for helping clients overcome whatever it is they come to her for.

Marissa confesses to a fling with a guy from the gym, something that naturally sets off her husband Mathew and she says she will do anything to gain back his trust. Mathew comes around to the idea of therapy, and Avery promises that she can fix them in ten sessions. In fact, that is Avery's promise to every client she accepts, and it seems her results are as good as she claims.

The problem is, of course, EVERYONE is lying.

At this point, that's not even a twist anymore. One who often reads thrillers have to expect that at least two major characters are lying.

Since that is basically an expectation at this point, the twists and turns weren't as twisty and turny as the authors were going for. I get how everyone is connected and it makes sense, though I can't say how without spoiling some things. I do try not to spoil brand new books, but sometimes it can't be helped.

So, here is one itty bitty spoiler that you should not read if you are going to read the book:

SPOILER START

I had a pretty good idea who the real villain was and it was immediately confirmed upon Bennett asking Marissa if he could only live with her if she and Mathew got divorced.

That's a pretty big tell. Kids know stuff even if they don't know what they know exactly, but they know when things are not right.

SPOILER END

Anyway, I said before, the Bishops are kind of boring. Except the reveal at the end, and someone is outed for being a psycho murderer...who would be a sociopath, given behaviors throughout the book...except can one be a murderous psychopath if they go thirty years between crimes? I don't know. Seems like kind of a stretch.

I liked he alternating perspectives because I wanted to know more about Avery's methods and what it was about her way of doing things that cost her her license. I found that to be really interesting.

I did not find HER side story interesting though, and it was distracting. Random Big Pharma stalking and other shenanigans because of one of her previous clients...it was kind of ridiculous and not necessary to the story.

There's also a lot of background missing. Skip, Marissa, and Mathew have known each other since they were teenagers, yet we don't get many glimpses of them together in the flashbacks provided. We see how Marissa and Mathew met, and get some backstory, but not a lot. The friendship between Mathew and Skip needed to be explored and fleshed out much more than it was for me to care.

Overall it is not the worst way to spend a couple hours, but there are way better thrillers out there.