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