Review: For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt

Official Synopsis:

On their first date back in law school, Natalie and Will Clarke bonded over drinks, dinner and whether they could get away with murder. Now married, they’ll put the latter to the test when an unchecked danger in their community places their son in jeopardy. Working as a criminal defense attorney, Nat refuses to rely on the broken legal system to keep her family safe. She knows that if you want justice…you have to get it yourself.

Shocked to discover Nat’s taken matters into her own hands, Will has no choice but to dirty his, also. His family is in way too deep to back down now. He’s just not sure he recognizes the woman he married. Nat’s always been fiercely protective, but never this ruthless or calculating. With the police poking holes in their airtight plan, what will be the first to fall apart: their scandalous secret—or their marriage?

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

For Better and Worse will be available December 11, 2018. 

I’m going to preface this review by saying my expectations may have been a little off for this book. I was expecting a fun, twisty story of a husband and wife team doing some very bad things, in the vein of (the far superior) My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing. However, For Better and Worse was neither fun nor twisty. It was a heavy, somber, and agonizingly slow paced tale of two unlikable people trying to get away with something and at the end of the day I really didn’t care if they managed it or not.

The story starts with Natalie and Will in law school on a date where the topic of how to get away with a murder comes up. Flash forward seventeen years and they’re married with a kid. When their son’s principal – and family friend – is put on leave due to accusations of abuse, Natalie decides it may be time to put their idea for the perfect murder into action. Will doesn’t exactly agree, but that’s not going to stop Nat, or keep him from getting involved.

Nat and Will were both really unlikable. Natalie was the too-smart-for-her-own-good control freak and Will was the put upon husband that looks for validation elsewhere. At no point in this whole book did I find myself rooting for either of them. They were bad spouses, parents, and people in general. I also expected a lot more from them in the “perfect murder” department. Natalie acts like she’s so smart and has covered all the angles, but she barely makes any plans and the plans she does make are anything but fool-proof. They honestly deserved to be caught.

The outcome of the investigation is anti-climatic and unbelievable. It kind of irritated me, to be honest. The very ending has something that I guess is supposed to be kind of a twist, but I found it predictable and lackluster.

Overall, I just didn’t care for For Better and Worse. Perhaps if I had different expectations going in I would have felt differently, but I don’t think so. With the slow pace, unlikable characters, and all too convenient ending, I think this book just failed to live up to it’s potential. However, I have read some really great reviews on this one, so it might just be me.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

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Reviewing the Unreviewed: November 2018

I read a lot of books that I don’t end up reviewing for whatever reason. Some because I wasn’t impressed. Some because I didn’t have the time. Some I just wasn’t feeling it on whatever particular day I finished. Reviewing the Unreviewed is my monthly post where I share my few thoughts on all the books I didn’t formally review.

The Supervillain and Me (Morriston Superheroes #1) by Danielle Banas. Read November 3-5. 3 Stars.

I wasn’t terribly impressed by this one. I thought the story was a little too drawn out. Very little happened until the last couple chapters. The characters were ok. I thought the mystery of the Iron Phantom’s identity should have been wrapped up sooner. It was written to make you think it was so obviously one person that you knew it couldn’t be that person, so it obviously had to be the other person. And it just took way too long to reveal it. It looks like this is supposed to be a series, but I don’t know if I’m interested enough to pick up the next book when it comes out.

The 100 (The 100 #1) by Kass Morgan. Read November 6-8. 3 Stars. 

I kind of just want to write a long, drawn-out list of all the ways this book and the tv show are different. I feel like a bad bookworm for mostly preferring the show. However, if I read this first I might feel differently. But maybe not, because the book really wasn’t anything special. I thought Glass was a completely useless character that could have been eliminated. I understand that she was there to still have a connection to the ship, but honestly I just didn’t care. Let’s be real, though, the reason I read this and will continue to read this series is for some Bellarke shipping that won’t end in frustration.

The Faithful: Heroes of the Old Testament by Priscilla Shirer, Kelly Minter, Beth Moore, Jennifer Rothschild, and Lisa Harper. Read October 11 – November 13. 4 Stars. 

This was a different type of devotional than I’ve done before. It’s a 5 week study and each week is from a different person, on a different topic. There is also a video for each week. Each session comes from a more detailed Bible study and sometimes it felt like this was put together just to sell more books. However, there were some really great sessions and lessons that I really needed to hear. Jennifer Rothschild on Hosea and Beth Moore on Esther were my favorites and I will definitely be looking into more from them.

Marriage of Inconvenience (Knitting in the City #7) by Penny Reid. Read November 16-18. 3 Stars. 

I think I would’ve enjoyed this a little more if I read the previous books in the series. Though this is one of those series where each book can be read as a standalone, it involves characters from the previous books and they all got a lot of page time. I had a hard time keeping them all straight and other than one or two I didn’t really care about them. I thought the whole marriage of convenience plotline was a little far fetched. We also didn’t get a lot of the cute fake relationship aspects I was expecting. They basically tell their friends the whole story whenever someone asks and everyone else just goes with it right away. The relationship also became real very fast. The book was about 200 pages longer than it needed be. I thought Dan could be pretty crass at times so I never really fell in love with him. However, there were some cute, romantic moments and there were also several humorous moments. I’m giving this an extra star just because I was invested enough to finish it.

*****Book with Future Reviews Scheduled*****

            

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing – 4 Stars

The Hiding Place by C.J. Tudor – 3 Stars

For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt – 2 Stars

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella – 4 Stars

Lovestruck by Kate Watson – 3 Stars

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Want to Read Before 2019

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday, hosted by the Good Reads group, is: Books You Want to Read Before 2019: Our Goodreads goals are quickly closing in. What are you prioritizing for the end of the year? I surpassed my Good Reads goal awhile ago (yay me!). Lately I’ve been having a hard time to find time to read, so I’m going to prioritize the library books I want to read before they expire – and also the ARCS I’ve recently been approved for.

1. Pride by Ibi Zoboi

2. Marriage of Inconvenience by Penny Reid

3. Kiss Her Goodbye by Susan Gee

4. For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt

5. I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

What books do you want to read by the end of the year?