Book Review – The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher

The Wrong Family: A Novel <— PSYCH-THRILLER ALERT!! The perfect family at least… appearance wise. 😏 Humans are fallible, and this is what the author so proficiently explores. And I LOVE HER for it. (P.S. I know… I know. I got an early review copy and it’s not LIVE yet, but not that much longer to wait… and worth the wait!)

Oooooh boy how can I possibly review this without spoiling anything? I am going to tread SO carefully, because I went in completely blind, and things kept revealing themselves slowly and surprisingly, throwing me off my “guessing game” every so often.

This is so perfectly “Tarryn Fisher” in that it’s got a subtle yet thrilling level of “demented” that will keep you guessing (and everyone has the potential to be a little or a lot… er… unstable). So while you might suspect who the villain is – or even if you’re sure of it, it maybe someone else. Or it may be all of them. My lips are sealed. 🤐

So what’s it about? This synopsis is perfection and totally chilling and I couldn’t have teased you better, myself: 😉

Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son—the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.

Still, she isn’t one to judge. After her grim diagnosis, the retired therapist simply wants a place to live out the rest of her days in peace. But that peace is shattered the day Juno overhears a chilling conversation between Winnie and Nigel…

She shouldn’t get involved.

She really shouldn’t.

But this could be her chance to make a few things right.

Because if you thought Juno didn’t have a secret of her own, then you were wrong about her, too.

There are two main characters (women) in this one… each having their own POV, and while I sometimes struggle with switching between POVs, being in these women’s heads was fascinating and had me stressed to no end. I couldn’t believe what I was reading (especially regarding one character), but I WAS TOTALLY into it!!!

…she didn’t have anything to lose; this time, Juno could throw herself into the project. And the project was the Crouches, who needed her help.

I wish I could tell you but I can’t. But just realizing “this aspect” of the story when it hit me (and pretty early on, too) made me that much more excited.

I was all… NO. WAY!!!!

Oh YES.

So… there are a few potential villains (<— I say potential because MAYBE NOT!!) in this one, but until you get to the end you’re not 100% certain. Some of them might just be “good people” that got caught up in very bad moves. You know the proverb… “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” and all that. 😉

No, she chided herself. There was no wrong in doing right.

Orrrrrrrrrr…. villains. 😉

I guess it depends on who you’re looking at and how you’re looking at it. As we slowly get to know the characters, we begin to see them for who they really are (or who they believe themselves to be), but some reveals are eeeeeked out ever so slowly.

With Tarryn’s stories, we’re used to love, and obsession and stalkers, and all that good stuff (in books!! ONLY in books!!) Though this one is not so much of a “stalker scary” love story, there IS marital strife, so you’re already on edge with the main couple

Nigel was clever and Winnie was beautiful. She’d cultivated the perfect life, but it couldn’t erase the past. 

(and wondering… what happened??!).

When they’d First started dating, he’d accepted her enthusiastic affection with the amusement an owner would have for a new puppy. And Winnie had loved being Nigel’s new puppy; the joy her personality seemed to bring him gave Winnie’s every day meaning. He’d given her the nickname Bear, a Winnie-the Pooh joke. 

But then the bad thing had happened. 

After that, it was as if the rosy illumination with which he viewed her had been replaced with harsh, supermarket lighting. She wasn’t Bear anymore. Now she was just plain old Winnie. But it wasn’t like she still had hearts in her eyes every time she looked at him, either. They were settled into their arrangement, whatever that was, and though Winnie loved her husband very much, she saw him through human eyes now.

Oh I couldn’t WAIT to find out!! You’ll find out. 😉

But this one still has her signature “mental distress”, and human mistakes with a potential for a lifetime of consequences and downward spirals.

Humans had a way of uprooting happiness. They found flaws in it, picked at it until the whole system unraveled.

And oh boy, does it!!

The storm was coming, she knew, but for now there was the eerie stillness inside of her. 

And this one had all of that!! Though the ending threw me for a loop (well… I should say the almost ending – what a grand finale!) because yes, there’s another ending called… the Epilogue.

So I’m going to give you my rating right now and ask that if you haven’t read it yet… stop reading my review here! Please and thank you!!

4.5 STARS

Okay now… skip this part below until you’ve read the book. I don’t spoil it per se but I give you my ending reaction so…  just don’t read it yet, okay? 🙃 

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AND OMG that had me wanting SO much more. I got to the end. I was all… NO!! And then I was all *scroll scroll scroll* downwards… trying to see if there was more. I scrolled back. Read it again. Tried scrolling down again… nothing.

GAHHHHHHHHH!!

But that’s what she’s good at… leaving you satisfied-ish and yet needing to know more. Oh and boy do I need to know! Though I’m pretty sure I do. Right? Maybe I’m wrong?

4.5 STARS <— 5 stars for the whole first half to 75% of the book and 4-ish stars for the grand finale. I still have some questions and a couple of grievances over a few over-the-top scenes and a few bone-headed decisions – but hey! As I mention above, and must repeat in my wrap up, humans are fallible, and this is what the author does SO well. After all, without bad decisions and crazy situations that may or may not blow up into disaster… we wouldn’t get these kinds of stories, right? And I LOVE HER for it. This is totally my kind of read! 😉

I may just need to re-read the ending now that I’m fresh from it, and see if my perspective changes.

Thank you to the author for sending me a review copy!

➔➔➔  Love this author? Browse more Tarryn Fisher features and reviews on my blog. 😀

➔➔➔  Looking for more of my must-read recommendations? Browse my 5 star and 4.5 star and 4 star reviews. 😀