The Last Housewife: A Novel

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Praise "It’s not every day I finish a novel and decide right then and there that the author is now an auto-buy. While I was anticipating a great story from Winstead, I wasn’t expecting to inhale her new book in one breathless read. The Last Housewife is a propulsive, unputdownable thriller with a dark, beating heart. It chilled me to the bone, and I’m still recovering. Ashley Winstead, I bow down." Stupid ass Shay decides to leave her rich housewife life in the dust and jet off to New York so she can team up with Captain Save a Hoe aka Jamie the Podcast Man to figure out if her old college bestie Laurel really k!lled herself or was murdered. I thought it was odd how everytime she got freaked out and managed to leave that she kept getting invited out and no one punished her. The author’s debut In My Dreams I Hold a Knife was one of my top thrillers of last year. I think it’s safe to say that The Last Housewife is my favourite thriller this year. AW has fast become an auto-read author for me, whether that’s romance or thriller, I will eat it up.

While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world works, bringing them under his thrall. By senior year, Shay and her friend Laurel were the only ones who managed to escape. Now, eight years later, Shay's built a new life in a tony Texas suburb. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel's death―delivered, of all ways, by her favourite true-crime podcast crusader―she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive, and the predators more dangerous than ever. I thought you couldn't bring anything into the tongue cut sparrow but how did the Nicole bring her purse into the place. Aaaaaaahhhhh! Can you hear my shriek? If you didn’t, at least my entire neighborhood absolutely heard. The polite and old couple at next door super nicely advised me stop reading the most exciting parts of the book aloud and shut the freak out! ( of course they didn’t choose the freak word to emphasize their situation but I still think they are nice people! ) I barely breathed through most of this horrifyingly engrossing story, so consider yourself warned." — Good Housekeeping, 20 New Book To Add To Your Summer Reading List

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The message we are taught as women is that the ultimate goal is to have people like you. Shay really grapples with the fact that the way for her to gain power is to play by the men’s rules but in the process she is giving up her agency. The story also explores whether sexualization of women gives them power over men or the other way around. Truly so much to think about and I think it would be a perfect book to buddy read and discuss with friends. I’m hooked up from the beginning of the story as soon as I’m introduced to Shay, a new housewife after quitting her writing job, living in Texan suburb, still listening to the podcasts as guilty pleasure. If you enjoy dramatic twists and don’t mind suspending disbelief once in a while, then you’ll likely love this as much as I did.

There's a part where Shay is talking about Don hitting Clam with a belt over his lap. It would be so awkward to hit someone with a belt on that position. The way these men in the Pater Society were able to use feminism and intellectual ideas to manipulate women into giving away their power was insane. But it happens every day (obviously to a lesser extent). I have seen it in college classes as a chemistry major and in STEM academia - the way that women are treated as if they are inherently less intelligent and inferior. AND men are able to get away with these behaviors due to the “understanding” between powerful men that keeps abuse towards women under wraps (I know you can all think of well known instances where this was the case). Have you ever been driving down a highway and then suddenly see a bad accident has taken place? You know you should look away and keep driving, but you don’t. You slow down and stare and take in whatever information you can get. Yeah well… that’s what this book was for me. I knew I should stop reading as some of the content was so disturbing, but I just couldn’t look away. The book has hugely compelling characters and plot but what I loved most about it was the through-line of important feminist ideas. Really the book is not about a cult, but about our society, and the way many people (including powerful and famous ones) still believe men have to right to dominate women. The book also really skillfully explores why so many women not only participate in the domination but maybe also enjoy it, both sexually and emotionally. A difficult subject for sure but the book handles it extremely thoughtfully and always from a feminist perspective. In the process of reading about this philosophy in the cult, you'll bear witness to a lot of violence and horrible treatment of women, which is not easy. (But then again, if you live in this world and if you are a woman, you've already seen and experienced this yourself on a regular basis.) The content is disturbing and hard to read at times but for me the feminist perspective and the thoughtfulness with which it was presented actually made it an important read. I gave a lot of thought to issues I had never considered before in this way. When Shay was at these sex parties, it felt like she was in no real danger, she would walk away easily every time! And when she actually allows herself to be branded? And then just leaves right after?Pretty sure that I formed new neural pathways while reading and trying to absorb everything that happened! Special thanks to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN/Graydon House for sharing this intriguing ARC in exchange my honest review. While chatting with a friend this morning I told her I felt like my brain was clouded. I just couldn’t grasp reality after concluding this book late last night . The story focuses on Shay Deroy, a 30 year old married woman living in Texas with her successful husband Cal. Shay loves true crime podcasts, especially one created by an old childhood friend of hers, Jamie. While listening to the true crime podcast, Shay finds out that one of her high school best friends, Laurel, has died and the police are calling it a suicide. The facts don't line up with a suicide and Shay wants to avenge Laurel's death. Shay and Laurel had a very dark past that Shay would like forgotten, but when Shay and Jamie dive into her college BFF's life to find out the truth, Shay realizes that sometimes the past just won't go away.