For Better and Worse Review

Given the overload of psychological thrillers, especially domestic suspense, in the recent years makes coming up with an original story that much harder. When I read Best Friends Forever last year, I was very impressed with what a page-turner it was. That made me eager to read Hunt’s second venture into this genre.

Natalie and Will Clarke met in law school, fell in love, and got married. Fast-forward to their only child, Charlie, in 5th grade, when a scandal shakes their small town. How far will this couple go to protect their child and their marriage? Given that Natalie is a criminal defense attorney, she knows the system inside and out and knows she has to take matters into her own hands.

Will didn’t seem as fully formed as a character to me as Natalie. He did get his own section he narrated in the book, which helped, but I was so used to Natalie it always took me a minute to realize it was his turn. It made sense she ran the household and was more in control, but he did play an essential part to this story.

I loved chit-chat and gossip amongst the neighbors as the scandal broke loose. The expression “gossip is nature’s telephone” really rings true here. (See what I did there?) I had a couple issues with execution and thought the story would slowly fizzle out at the end but was pleasantly surprised at its finish.

Trigger warning for child abuse. A tough subject to cover but Hunt does so in a way that it’s not the story’s sole focus. For book clubs looking for more of a suspense story, there’s lots that can be discussed with character motivations in this read.

My thanks to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for the review copy.

About the author: Margot Hunt is a USA TODAY bestselling author. Her latest book, FOR BETTER AND WORSE, was praised by Book of the Month as being the best thriller of the year. “A twisty tale for fans of domestic thrillers.” (Kirkus Reviews).