Hello beautiful people! Welcome to a new review! For this review, I get into a book I have had on my to-read list for a long time The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose. I had heard so many things about this book and knew it was popular at the time of its release, and it definitely lived up to its popularity. A twisty, fast-paced, and scandalous novel, The Perfect Marriage follows the breakdown of a relationship in one of the worst imaginable ways possible.
Main Characters:
- Sarah Morgan: A popular defence attorney who has worked hard to raise ranks in her career, thinks that all is well in her life with work and her marriage to her husband Adam, has her entire world turned upside down when she receives a call that a body of a dead woman has been found in their vacation cabin and her husband has been arrested for her murder, knowing she’s the only one who can get her husband through this takes on his case and tries to get to the bottom of what really happened
- Adam Morgan: Sarah’s husband and a failing author who has never really been able to make it in his career and has heavily relied on his wife’s success to piolet his dream, has a huge shock when his mistress Kelly is found dead in their vacation home after he left her there in the morning after spending the night together, has to admit to his wife what he has done while also trying to clear his name for his other loves death
- Kelly Summers: Adam’s mistress who was found murdered in their home after having a passionate evening with Adam, like Adam has plenty of skeletons in her closet that get exposed upon her death and may explain why someone wanted to hurt her
- Anne: Sarah’s assistant and close friend who works with her to try and figure out what really happened to Kelly and why Adam is being blamed for it
My Review
I always love a good twisty thriller, but in the last little while I realized I’ve read quite a few thrillers that revolve around marriages or relationships. Going into The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose I was thinking to myself how is this one going to be any different from any of the other marriage-based thrillers I’ve read recently. I think there are a few aspects to the book that are a bit more basic in a way, but overall it was a super interesting and unique read that’s filled with sad and sketchy characters that are hard to trust. I definitely found myself getting wrapped up in what the characters were doing and the decisions they were making.
I gave The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose an 8/10 rating. When it comes to some of the twists in the book I did see a few coming but most of them I did not see coming at all. This book is definitely a roller coaster that doesn’t stop once it gets rolling. The book follows the perspectives of Sarah and Adam Morgan a couple seemingly in a good relationship. It quickly becomes clear however that Adam feels discarded due to his wife’s busy work schedule and uses this as an excuse to get into another romantic relationship with a different woman. After meeting Kelly Summers at the local café in the town near their vacation home Adam creates a ruse with his wife that the cabin brings him inspiration when it comes to writing his books, really the man just wants to get laid. After leaving Kelly in asleep in the cabin one morning to head home to Sarah, their life and relationship change forever. When police approach their home and inform Adam that Kelly was found dead in their bed, and he of course is one of the main suspects, all his lies come to light. In a controversial decision, Sarah takes on Adam’s defence despite this case changing her entire life as well. As the facts become clear we see that Kelly may have had an array of her own secrets. It’s a destructive tale of relationship woes in the deepest way, focusing on betrayal, gaslighting, and the question of whether we ever really know who those are around us. Whether it’s Sarah grappling with the question of whether Adam did this, and Adam fighting for his innocence while also questioning who really was the woman he let blow up his whole life, it’s hard to turn away from.
I can definitely see why when The Perfect Marriage was released it was such a popular read. It was super fun to go through because while it seems like we can trust the perspectives of Sarah and Adam its honestly really hard to tell throughout if you actually can. I mean Sarah at the start of the book seems like a very bossy woman, she’s worked hard to get to the top of her career and got there by being good. Despite this, she throws away any professional standing she has built for herself when she takes up defence for her husband’s accused murder case. I mean I know technically lawyers can represent family, but in a situation like this your professionalism would definitely come into question, and it does for her. It definitely made me shake my head a bit because early on she seems so much better than this, but it now does create this question in the reader’s head of if her narrative can be trusted. Adam at first in the book seems like a bit of a slacker. He doesn’t make the same strides in his career and then seems to be jealous of his wife’s success. Translating this into his reasons as to why he ultimately cheats on her. I struggled to know throughout the book if he did it or not because as we see early on his narrative is a hard one to trust. Any person who makes excuses that blame their partner for cheating on them isn’t exactly one you can trust… sorry if that’s hits home lol I really don’t mean that in a bad way more in a stockholmy syndrome kinda way!
I honestly don’t really have anything bad to say about the book at all. There were a few things that came up in the book that just felt like a bit of filler to me, but it wasn’t boring or anything so it really didn’t take away from the book at all, I just observed that it just felt a bit unnecessary. I can also acknowledge though that it also may have been there to distract and try and make the reader think something was going on that wasn’t but I just hadn’t exactly gone for any of it.
If you enjoy a twisty thriller I would definitely recommend The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose. I would argue that the book isn’t exactly anything overly special but it is a really good read and I enjoyed the unique aspect of a wife defending her husband in court over the murder of his mistress, I definitely can’t say this isn’t unique. I think it was more so just some of the manipulation and issues in Sarah and Adam’s relationship that are a bit more predictable. For example, given how Adam thinks of Sarah and her success it’s probably not a surprise to anyone that he has a mother who if it was legal would marry her son. Anyone who treats someone the way that he does speaks to having an enabler in their life in some form or another, it’s not always a parent but it often can be. It’s not a super long book and its pretty fast-paced so I definitely think it’s worth the read.
Has anyone else checked out The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose? What did you think?
*** Don’t go any further if you don’t want to read any spoilers ***
I’ll be honest, in these types of books, the ending often goes one way. I was defiantly suspicious throughout the book that Sarah maybe killed Kelly but it wasn’t a big one I had because in the grand scheme, it didn’t really make sense. I mean she was home when Adam got home from the cabin so she wouldn’t have been able to kill Kelly soon after he left so I dropped the thought. I mean I was kind of right but not totally.
It turns out that Adam isn’t the only one that’s been having an affair, Sarah has been too. Sarah has been sleeping with Bill another partner at her law firm. Turns out though that like everyone else in this book Bill also has some secrets. Bill’s brother was murdered by his wife, but she was let off because she started a relationship with a police officer who managed to cover everything up and get it passed off as a domestic violence dispute where the wife defended herself. The wife was Kelly, but she had a different name then. Kelly and her new cop boyfriend run off together, she changes her name due to people being angry about the case being put in her favour. Turns out they really were. It was the perfect storm really. Bill got to kill Kelly for what she did, and Sarah got to get rid of Adam for cheating on her forever. However, I was a bit confused as to whether or not she and Bill started their thing before or after Adam and Kelly because while that doesn’t change that the killing wasn’t cool it does differ how I see Sarah’s anger towards Adam.
The book tries to make you think that Anne Sarah’s friend did it but that never made sense to me so I never went that angle. Once I found out about Kelly’s past I defiantly thought that it would be someone from that who killed her but I just didn’t suspect that Sarah would have this hand in it all as well. I just sort of thought Adam was just the best fit for police at the time. Turns out though that Sarah made that so, and by defending him she could make sure his case was leading to a conviction and jail time so she could be with her man.
It was an interesting ending to the book, and that totally changed how I saw Sarah throughout the earlier bits of the book. She definitely had some darkness in her that’s for sure.
I hope you enjoyed this review, thank you for checking it out! Feel free to follow me on my socials @baddiebookreviews to be kept up to date for when I release a new review!
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