Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Wrong Family

Top positive review

Team Winnie

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2020

I devoured this book in one day and I’m so glad I went in blind. Tarryn has a way of making you question everything you read in the chapter before, and this book is no exception. The story is woven in such a way that you are hanging on each word waiting for the big reveal.
Each of Tarryn’s words are important, they are strategically placed for the reader to interpret or misinterpret. Not everything is what it seems, it never is. There’s what you see on the outside and then what you see when you delve deep into the recesses.
So many secrets and so many lies. Each of them more detrimental than the last. Are you the saint or are you the sinner?
I really enjoyed the POV of all the characters in the book and after our beta read we had two clear teams, Team Winnie and Team Juno. Both characters were written exquisitely, I could put myself into both of them and feel things from their perspectives, but Winnie just spoke more to me. Both characters were trying to do the right thing always. This book was twisty and had turns you won’t see coming. I left this review super vague because I want you to go in blind. It’s for the best. Trust me.

41 people found this helpful

Top critical review

All critical reviews›

Ricki Lewis

Can't Read Because of Blatant Ageism in First Chapter

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2021

I can't get beyond the first chapter. The author looks to be a young woman. The first chapter depicts a 67-year-old woman as the picture of decrepitude, her life so miserable from her declining body that she wants to die. I do not want to pay to read this. I am 66 and may in fact be in better physical shape than the author. The first chapter never states what medical condition is responsible for Juno's constant pain, nor under what circumstances a sick person moves in with a family of strangers. I feel as if I am owed what I paid for this book. The blurb stating "The Wrong Family is your new obsession" is simply obnoxious. I shouldn't have fallen for it. Perhaps I'm descending into dementia because of my extreme age? Would an author use such a stale stereotype for a Black or Jewish person? I have to wonder.

281 people found this helpful

Sort by

Filter by

Filtered by

CriticalClear filter

1,349 global ratings | 175 global reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

Ricki Lewis

Can't Read Because of Blatant Ageism in First Chapter

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2021

Verified Purchase

281 people found this helpful

Helpful

K. Bergamo

A big NO

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

For the first time I couldn't finish a book by this author. Sadly I didn't like anything , the plot , the characters are extremely boring and seems like the book have been written by another author. :-(

118 people found this helpful

Helpful

LoveToRead

Save your money

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

I love Tarryn. But this book was awful. Some parts were compelling and entertaining but the book itself as a whole was a complete waste of time. So damn disappointing.

114 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ellen

Not My Favorite

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2020

Tarryn Fisher remains one of my favorite authors but this book just felt very different from her other books. The character development fell short for me so I was not invested in their actions at all. Winnie, Nigel and Juno did not hold much interest for me so by the ending, I did not really care about them as I should have. I also felt that the mental illness of Dakota, Winnie’s brother, was merely a plot device thrown in and not as fully developed as it could have been.

This book is told from two points of view and has an almost Parasite-like feel to it. Winnie is a mother to a young teenager who seems to have a terrible marriage. I am not quite sure what her motivation was throughout this story. Then we have Juno, who is a former therapist, living secretly in Winnie and Nigel’s home. It seems very unlikely that a stranger can go undetected in this era of Ring and Nest home security systems but there you have it.

Juno feels she must intervene in Winnie’s domestic situation before things get too out of hand. What ensues is a wild, violent and unpredictable story that just was not fleshed out enough for me. While I love a good domestic thriller, the violence felt heavy-handed and the plot twists just seemed too far-fetched for me. Sadly, ‘The Wrong Family’ was a miss for me.

87 people found this helpful

Helpful

Lanelcharty

Disappointingly disappointed

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

I debated with 2-3 stars but I didn’t HATE it so skipped the 2 and went with 3. I didn’t like it either though which is so disappointing! Honestly I didn’t “anything” it. It was. Boring. Eek. *hiding face in disappointment*

Juno and Winnie. These are the voices throughout the story. Winnie the house owner who has a husband named Nigel and a son named Samuel. All their issues seemed. Normal. It wasn’t anything GASP worthy or thrilling it was...Dull. Juno the ex therapist who had become homeless in her lifetime was the never let things go type of person. The need to find truths and dig deeper into what is really behind this family was exhausting. I mean sure there were secrets and there were surprises and twists. But those turns were merely baby hops into something slightly more intriguing. TF did a good job with Juno’s description I guess I found her disturbing and Blegh which is as much emotion was stirred in me.

I didn’t really get engaged until about 60% of the book and then I went back downhill just wanting to hurry up and finish it already. TF books have always been jackpot but I don’t know why this was a crash and burn for me. It just didn’t have that clinging must devour page turner effect on me. Bummer.

48 people found this helpful

Helpful

urkbor_98@yahoo.com

No. Just no.

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2021

Verified Purchase

This was one of the worst books I've ever read. I felt nauseous by the end. I love Atheists Who Kneel And Pray so much that I've read it three times. I believe Fisher is a talented writer. The Wrong Family is a total mess that was painful to read from start to finish. The writing was clunky and seemed as though it should have gone through another 2-3 major revisions. The plot was disjointed, while all of the characters were deeply unlikable. The ending read like a fever dream and made little sense. Don't waste your time.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jaclyn Buettner

I love Tarryn's writing, but...........

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2021

Verified Purchase

This one just didn't catch me. Unfortunately it was just kind of boring. I felt no real connection to any of the characters, there was no arc where anyone grew or changed, they were all just kind of awful and boring the whole time. Read any of her other novels but skip this one.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not My Favorite

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2021

Verified Purchase

** spoiler alert **

This book is one of my most anticipated books for the month. It did take me some time to get into the story, but once I did I couldn’t stop reading. The story is told in dual points of view by Winnie and Juno. Both are flawed and I liked both of them for different reasons. I also disliked as well if that makes sense. The twists in the story did take me by surprise. My only issue was the ending with Dakota. Dakota is Winnie’s brother and I felt what he did was way over the top. Also not all people who suffer from mental illnesses are violent. I would have LOVED to witness a show down between Winnie and Juno as well. This story also showcases the stigma about homeless people, how they are treated poorly, denied help, and don’t count all because of their circumstances. Overall, I did enjoy this book not as much as The Wives, but it was still an enjoyable read.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Boring as boring gets

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

I made 110 pages and not going to finish. I want a book to hook me in at least in the first chapter, and this one unfortunately isn't doing that at all. I just keep wanting something exciting to happen and so far, nothing.

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

I think fans of Herman Koch will enjoy this

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2022

Verified Purchase

I really enjoy Tarryn Fisher's books, even though they all kind of have a "samey" vibe to them. You know what I mean. The plot of every Tarryn Fisher book ever can basically be summed up like this:

F***ed up individual meets another f***ed up individual and then reader discovers that FUI #1 has been grossly downplaying how f***ed up they actually are to FUI #2. But FUI #2 has also been grossly downplaying how f***ed up they are to FUI #1.

Both FUIs become suspicious of each other, and the suspense builds, only for the reader to find out that FUI #1 and FUI #2 are BOTH F***ED UP INDIVIDUALS... BUT in a COMPLETELY different kind of f***ed up way than we, the reader, have been led to believe.

And you know what? That's exactly what happened in this book.

THE WRONG FAMILY is about the Crouch family: Winnie, Nigel, and Sam. On the surface, they're basically your average boring WASP-y family, but all of them have secrets, and Winnie's might just be enough to rip the threads of the family apart. Add to that a dysfunctional brother-in-law who's self-medicating his issues with alcohol, and you've got a ripe recipe for disaster.

But there's one more narrator, and that's Juno. Juno is staying with the family too, but not with their knowledge. She's a homeless lady who's made herself right at home, and before she lost everything, she used to be a therapist, so she's decided that maybe she knows what the family is hiding and how to fix their problems. Orrrr she might just make everything worse. Your guess is as good as hers.

A lot of people are hating on this story but I actually liked it. It's got a mean-spirited, defeatist view on humanity that I actually see a lot in German mysteries and thrillers, particularly Herman Koch (an author I LOVE that a lot of Americans hate because he writes despicable and unlikable characters really, really well). I personally don't mind reading about unlikable characters as long as they are interesting and the author wrote them that way intentionally. Here, it definitely feels intentional, and I found myself engrossed in the deconstruction of two very different sets of lives, through a set of very unwise choices that ended up having a magnifying effect.

No, this isn't like Fisher's other, smutty thrillers, but I ended up liking it anyway.

3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Need customer service? Click here

‹ See all details for The Wrong Family

5 star		48%
4 star		27%
3 star		17%
2 star		5%
1 star		3%

The Wrong Family

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

The Wrong Family

Top positive review

Top critical review

Filtered by

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

The Wrong Family › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

The Wrong Family

Top positive review

Top critical review

Filtered by

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

The Wrong Family

›

Customer reviews