Helpful Score: 4
This is a most unusual book, but I found myself reading it constantly, as I was so engrossed in the story. It's a very cerebral tale with extremely deep insight into a life that has come apart at the seams due to a spouse becoming a complete stranger after 18 years of marriage. The protagonist wife is in deep denial about her husband's lies and terrible secrets, but eventually she gets through it and moves herself and her 12 year old son to another state. This is definitely one of the best books I've ever read. If you're looking for a crime novel, this isn't it. This is a deeply psychological and emotional story of a woman's transition through extreme horror and emerging on the other side changed and improved.
Helpful Score: 3
I could not put this book down - I was so caught up in the story and the unraveling of the secret life of the husband and the wife's slow realization that she had no idea who she was married to. Honestly, I didn't really like the main character until the end; I found her to be smug and very full of herself, and wanted to shake her half the time. I also wouldn't want to live in the world of upper class New York City - what a terribly snobbish world. This novel was very wordy, but the story was excellent.
Helpful Score: 1
YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN was the November 2014 pick in my neighborhood book club.
If you enjoy rambling, skimmable narratives where the author dumps pages and PAGES of irrelevant backstory and musings in-between lines of dialoguethen this is the book for you. Nothingand I mean nothinghappens until about 150 pages of mindless New York City private school nonsense and Birkin bag shallowness.
Nothing. Happens.
Then we finally get to the point. Kind of.
A murder occurs. And Grace Sachs, a shrink who's married to a pediatric oncologist for 20 years, is shocked to find out she never knew her hubby at allit's really a wonder they even lived under the same roof for all she knew about him! It was pretty ridiculous, but this is clearly the reference of the book's title.
The pacing of this novel was slower than a snail. Seriously. But somewhere underneath the tedious, meandering narrative lay the potential for a pretty riveting psychological thriller. The author should've just hired a ghostwriter.
YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOW had an excellent premise but a dreadfully poor execution...unless you're a reader who enjoys books most other readers find boring. I give it a C-. I can't recommend it.
★
(¯`·.·´¯) (¯`·.·´¯)
`·.¸(¯`·.·´¯)¸ .·
×°× ` ·.¸.·´ ×°×
If you enjoy rambling, skimmable narratives where the author dumps pages and PAGES of irrelevant backstory and musings in-between lines of dialoguethen this is the book for you. Nothingand I mean nothinghappens until about 150 pages of mindless New York City private school nonsense and Birkin bag shallowness.
Nothing. Happens.
Then we finally get to the point. Kind of.
A murder occurs. And Grace Sachs, a shrink who's married to a pediatric oncologist for 20 years, is shocked to find out she never knew her hubby at allit's really a wonder they even lived under the same roof for all she knew about him! It was pretty ridiculous, but this is clearly the reference of the book's title.
The pacing of this novel was slower than a snail. Seriously. But somewhere underneath the tedious, meandering narrative lay the potential for a pretty riveting psychological thriller. The author should've just hired a ghostwriter.
YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOW had an excellent premise but a dreadfully poor execution...unless you're a reader who enjoys books most other readers find boring. I give it a C-. I can't recommend it.
★
(¯`·.·´¯) (¯`·.·´¯)
`·.¸(¯`·.·´¯)¸ .·
×°× ` ·.¸.·´ ×°×
Helpful Score: 1
While I enjoyed the book, I was itching to know more about the husband's story. You learn parts of it through Grace's investigations, but I finished the book wanting to know more.
A great novel for those interested in counseling, therapy, etc. Terrific story line. This was a page turner for me.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a compelling read. The further I got into it, the more I was glued to the pages. Well written, unfolds very gradually with a few twists. I love a good plot twist, and this was one I didn't actually see coming.
I found this to be a slow read and rather "wordy". It was an interesting story, it just took a while to get there. I agree with another review that I wish there was more information on Jonathan and his back story. I felt the ending was almost an "Ok, we're at the max number of pages, let's wrap this up." Not sure I'd actively seek out this author again.
Highly engrossing, full-bodied and believable... up to about the 3/4 mark, at which point the plot turns in ways that I found formulaic, as if the author wrote the whole book on a bet: Let's see if I can write a book in which such-and-such happens. For that reason I would not read another book by this author. Ultimately I do not believe that a story could happen in real life the way this one does, and that harms the pleasure of reading it.
I attempted to read this book a few different times. For some reason I could never get pulled into the story line. I think the premise of the book was great, but the writing style was hard for me to focus on as I felt there was a lot of detail included that probably wasn't needed. However, I did not read enough of the book to find out if perhaps all of the added detail was important to the story. In general, I was quite disappointed, for I was expecting the story to pull me in right away. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Maybe the story picked up at some point, but I gave up on it after a few chapters.
I tried very hard to like this book, but it was so wordy and descriptive, that it was difficult to keep plodding along. The main character, a therapist, is unlikable and smug in her rarefied New York snobby society. Her world is shaken by events beyond her control and she learns that her husband of 18 years has been leading a double life. It is hard to feel sympathy for this unlikable woman as her world crumbles beneath her feet.Very long and full of flashbacks and descriptions irrelevant to the story.
So realistic I was pulled in immediately. Could not put this book down until it was finished. Secrets and lies in marriage are all to familiar and all too damaging in real life. A great read and will be too close to home for many.
Grace Sachs has a picture perfect life. She is a respected therapist who has recently written a book advising people to be aware of the signs that indicate a potential spouse may not be suitable. Married to a pediatric oncologist with a 12-year old son in a prestigious Manhattan private school, her life abruptly crumbles when she is blindsided by a revelation that is staggering in its magnitude. Korelitz slowly unravels the story with a captivating style, which underscores the ironies in Grace's life.
