The Wrong Family

About this time last year, the Book of the Month Club world was abuzz with a new book: The Wives by Tarryn Fisher. It was the latest in the genre of “female-driven psychological thrillers that make you never want to get married” and I really enjoyed it–on reflection, at least a solid 4 star read! And so when I saw her new book, The Wrong Family, on the review sites, I immediately downloadd it. And then, in typical Aryssa fashion, I waited until the last minute to read it! But I read it–and this one also fits into the aforementioned genre, but with a little bit of a Parasite-twist.

This book is told in two points of view. There’s Winnie, an uber-in-control mom to a 13 year old who is mostly happy in her marriage right? And then there’s Juno, who lives in the Crouches house. One night, during a particular bad fight, Juno hears the Crouches say something that haunts her, and she–a former therapist–decides she needs to get involved so that justice is served. But with an unhappy marriage, an unstable brother, a teenager trying to find his sealegs, and an unwelcome house guest…things are going to get explosive.

It’s hard to talk about this book without spoiling it, but I was intrigued! Juno’s such a fascinating character–a really new way into a story like this, and I like how this both leaned into and subverted some of the typical tropes. The dual POV was pretty well balanced, in my opinion, but didn’t give too much away before it was time. It wasn’t too long–which is such a problem these days–and I thought the epilogue ending was really strong!

It’ll be interesting to see if this is a BOTM pick in January—I don’t love when they lean too heavily on repeat authors–but I know that vein of readers will be intrigued by this one!

The Wrong Family is on sale December 29th, 2020.