The Hunting Wives by May Cobb

 

This was one of the hit books of the summer and I remember thinking that the cover and premise both looked so good and being absolutely steaming hot jealous over everyone brandishing their shiny ARCs on Instagram. I wanted a copy soooo badly, but because I am a book peasant, I had to wait until it went on sale to finally read this gem.

And OH MY GOD, I am still reeling from the wild rollercoaster that this book was. It's everything I love in a thriller-- gossipy in tone, with a damaged and morally grey heroine, small town politics, seriously messed up twists, and bad people doing bad things. I read most of it in a single sitting and couldn't put it down once it started gaining speed. It was everything I'd hoped for and then some.

Sophie, the heroine, is a lifestyle blogger who has moved to a small East Texas town to escape the fast-paced city life of Chicago. It doesn't take long for her to quickly grow tired of her earth mother friend, Erin, and develop a woman crush on one of the society princesses in town, a woman named Margot, and her cliquish group of friends: Jill, Callie, and Tina, who have a secret club called "The Hunting Wives."

Eventually, Sophie gets an "in" and the book becomes a whirlwind of long nights in the woods, parties at the pool, and a constant flow of wine and liquor. Sophie's husband isn't keen on it but he wants to be the "cool dad" who's okay with his wife having fun. But pretty soon, The Hunting Wives move beyond "fun" into seriously debauched behavior and Sophie ends up lying and rationalizing her way into spending more and more time with these people who she simultaneously admires and fears.

I don't want to say too much more because the less you know going in, the better. I will say that there is some shady stuff that happens with minors that will probably be uncomfortable for some readers, but everything that happens happens with characters who are of the age of legal consent in Texas. Also, Sophie has a seriously messed up, WHITE OLEANDER sort of childhood with a mother who neglected her, which plays into a lot of her issues and secrets. I mention that because people in a lot of the negative reviews are hating on her, but with what she went through, it kind of made sense why she came across as such a self-destructive flake. She was basically emulating her mother.

Anyway, TL;DR I loved this book and will read anything this woman writes next. LOVE.

4.5 to 5 out of 5 stars