The Last Mrs. Parrish: A Novel
[{'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I can’t believe the good ratings. I forced myself to finish it, because it was too late to return it.\nThe first part is dragging on and on about the easy life of the entitled riches. The beginning of part two gave me hope, but that was short lived. The third part felt rushed.\nI didn’t like the book for the following reasons:\n- Monotonous writing, limited vocabulary\n- predictable plot. I mean take all your favourite movies about abusive relationships like Sleeping w the enemy, Enough, Gone girl, and of course All the pretty liars, give it a good shake, and voilà, you have a story. I mean, seriously, this book lacks creativity.\n- The characters have no depth whatsoever. All clichés.\n\nThere are much better books out there, don’t bother with this one.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-2 review-rating', 'review_body': '****SPOILERS AHEAD****\n\nI can honestly say I didn\'t like The Last Mrs. Parrish, not one bit. I\'m disappointed. It was on Reese\'s Book Club, and had raving reviews. But, I honestly can\'t say it had many redeeming qualities. My review can\'t be done without some spoilers. Please do NOT read this if you do not want to know what the twist of this book is.\n\nI liked the idea of Amber; I thought she was cunning, manipulative, and deliciously evil. That is, until she called guacamole "green goo" and said she hated avocados. I mean, what kind of person...anyway. The thing that bothered me is that the author\'s didn\'t let Amber be all the way evil. She would do something horrible, unforgivable, and then admit she felt a "little guilty", and justify her behavior. In my opinion, if you\'re going to make a evil character, especially if you are taking the readers along by that character\'s perspective, really go for it.\n\nThen, the "twist" was awfully predictable. Maybe because I had just read The Wife Between Us, which had a similar story line, but was executed much better, in my opinion. The tagline of The Last Mrs. Parrish is "Some women get everything. Some women get everything they deserve." Amber was a horrible person, yes. But, Daphne ended up taking the cake in my opinion. Amber went after her husband, lied about who she was, tricked her, deceived her. But, Daphne found out, and tricked Amber right back into seducing her abusive husband away from her. Please, explain to me how a woman could ever deserve a life filled with domestic abuse? I don\'t care how evil Amber is, she did not deserve to be married to a man as horrible as Jackson. To have the entire tagline of your book rely on the fact that a women deserves to be emotionally and physically abused the rest of her life just doesn\'t sit well with me. Women are supposed to lift each other up and stick together. Amber broke that, yes, but Daphne destroyed it as well.\n\nI rated it more than one star because the writing was really good. I find it absolutely amazing that Liv Constantine is the pen name for two sisters that don\'t even live in the same state! How they managed to write a seamless book is beyond me!\n\nRead more of my reviews at Amy Reads It, amypauline.com'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'The Last Mrs. Parrish is an AMAZING READ!!!! Just be prepared to do nothing else until you have finished the very last page!!!!\n\nAmber is tired of the life she has lived, and she decides it is time to change all of that. She isn’t going to just be a wallflower anymore. She has spent years putting her plan in motion, and now, it’s time. Unfortunately, Daphne and her husband, Jackson are the target.\n\nAmber truly exemplifies what a villian really is . She is full of envy, and it eats her up alive until all her darkness consumes her. She uses Daphne’s compassion to gain access to her family. She feels like everything that Daphne has should be hers, and she is going after it no matter what.\n\nThe genius of this book is that it is told in both Amber and Daphne POVs. The first part is narrated by Amber. It gives readers a deep look into her deranged mind. The second part is narrated by Daphne. Readers get a look into her life, and they discover that privilege and wealth isn’t all it appears to be. All I can say is the deeper you get into it, the more addictive it becomes.\n\nThis is a book filled with shocking twists and layers of deceit and secrets. It is somewhat of a slow build-up until you get to Part 2, and then buckle your seat belt because it is a FAST ride after that! Don’t lose patience because the build-up is completely worth it. It really is the foundation of the story and sets the tone for the rest of the book. If you are looking for a fast-paced psychological thriller, you can’t go wrong with this one.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This may not be the worst book I ever read, but it comes close. The prose sounds as if it was written by a voice-recognition device. The plot is predictable and lumbering. It even ends with a letter to a dead person. Sigh. The bad characters are all bad. The good character is all good, and everybody gets what they have coming. Don’t waste your money.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'The Last Mrs. Parrish is a very unusual novel by Liv Constantine. It is told in three sections, the first section is by Amber, the second by Daphne and the third is the conclusion. I had a little trouble getting into the book at first. It seemed to be just another novel about friends. However, it soon changed gears and caught my attention and then I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. There are definitely some devious twists and turns to the story that catch you by surprise. It makes for a fantastic book. I still want to know what happens to the characters next.\nDaphne Parrish has it all. She has a beautiful home, two beautiful children, all the money that she wants to spend, is looked up to as the main society lady of the town, is the head of a foundation, and to top it off, has a gorgeous husband who is totally in love with her and is exceedingly rich. If that isn’t enough, she is a very nice lady in her own right. What can she possibly be missing? Well, first of all, her sister died young of cystic fibrosis and her loving father died early of heart attack. She still has her Mother; but she is tied up with running their B&B. So, when Amber shows up having lost her sister to CF too, Daphne takes her into her heart and her family.\nAmber Patterson was tired of being poor and unimportant. She hated working from paycheck to paycheck and wanted to be among the rich, society types. To do this, she needed a rich husband so she looked at the various women at the gym and chose Daphne Parrish as her victim. Daphne had it all and Amber wanted it. Can she sneak her way into Daphne’s life and steal her husband and her life? Can she do it without betting caught up in her friendship with Daphne? What happens if she gets caught? What happens if she succeeds? Will her life be what she wishes it to be?'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "What can I say really but that I really enjoy this book a lot.\nThere alot on this book that some people might not like but for me I like it cuz it just a book.\nI read with a friend on Instagram we both where enjoying this alot. By the time I got to part 2 of the book I finger what was going to happen. Like that Daphne was going to find out about Amber and who she really is. Daphne play her part very well and great. Just like Amber try to play her but it back fire but Amber didn't now. I so bad wanted to jump in the book and knock out Amber. Jackson was other! While reading more I was hating him also. I felt so bad for Daphne! By the end of part 2 going to part 3 Daphne new what she had to do to get out her marriage with Jackson and get her daughters out with her.\nIn one part of the story Amber pee on herself. I would to if somebody had a gun in my mouth.\nBy the end of part 3 Daphne was free and she screw over Jackson badly that the FBI was in the office. This is the part I didn't see coming at all. I was loving every bid of it! Jackson really thought that he was in control but guess not.\nWhat a Ending!\n\nWhat a great read! This had me hooked from the beginning. What a Rollercoaster! The sitting, theme, and the Characters had me pulled so in. Everything was well put together and it was just perfect. This novel would have you guess and thinking all these way to the end. What a great thrill and suspense. I love a great suspense that would have me think and guessing. This novel did just that to me. To the point that am wrong. When the ending comes am on shock. I wouldn't of never believe or guess. Like OMG!\nHighly recommend everybody get this book and read it. Its so good!\nCan't wait for his next book."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I can\'t believe the negative reviews about the plot. I loved it because I personally know of women who fit the characteristics of both Amber and Daphne and behaved almost the same way. I just had different names for the characteristics. For me, the author "hit the nail on the head" with the little nuances in regards to behavior and language.\n\nI\'ve recommended this book to several of my friends and like me, they enjoyed the story line too. I\'ve also read the prequel which gives you another story line of Amber.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2017', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-4 review-rating', 'review_body': 'Let\'s hear it for escapism! Not everything I read and enjoy has to be "literature", sometimes I need to follow a long literary tome with something frivolous and deliciously fun. "The Last Mrs. Parrish", by two sisters who write under the name, Liv Constantine, is exactly the transition novel I needed this week (it will make an excellent travel/holiday novel and eventually a film)!\n\n"The Last Mrs. Parrish", is what I like to call "Wealth Porn". Part of its appeal derives from the meticulously detailed descriptions of the lives and luxuries of the Very Very Wealthy: private jets, opulent homes, designer clothes/shoes/handbags/lingerie, jewelry, et. Now, this might not appeal to every reader, but I\'m happy with my Never-in-Business-Class lot in life, so I\'m not crushed with envy, instead it\'s fun to imagine how the other 1% lives while eating my home-made lunch at my desk. Throw in a suspenseful and just-complicated-enough plot, plus a dash of twists, and I\'m having a grand ole time.\n\nAmber Patterson is a completely amoral young woman who has designed a detailed and diabolical plan to acquire wealthy entrepreneur, Jackson Parrish, via a fake-friendship with his wife, Daphne. You don\'t really need to know more than that! Who need Major Themes, Symbolism, and Life Lessons? Is the villain TOO villainous? Yep. Will you anticipate some of the twists? Sure! So what?! Just jump in and enjoy!'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I usually don't dip into best seller lists but this book I finished in two days. Finding out two authors are behind it makes so much sense because of the duality and darkness within each character. The only caveat I have is that sexual tastes correlate to a fondness for abuse or sociopathy. However, that aside it was such a twisted tale. I picked up on the husband's true nature early on, and the domestic violence and abuse were done spot on, in terms of realistic expectations. I swelled with pride for Daphne, who could finally be herself. With so many books going into a murder route, I was so thrilled to see certain characters get the ending they deserved. Five stars just on that note alone. Such a page turner."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'A manipulative woman purposely comes into the life of a rich housewife in order to steal her husband and her life. This book is the dictionary definition of “be careful what you wish for” and has a Gone Girl type of plot twist\n\nWhat I Liked.\nI love books with multiple narrators. It makes the book much more full bodied; it explains holes in the story and fills in gaps because there are multiple perspectives of the same story\n\nWhat I didn’t like.\nHonestly there isn’t anything not to like. This isn’t an epic novel, but it doesn’t exactly what you are hoping for when you read this book. You get to read a book, decide who is good and who is the villain and wait for the plot twist'}]