Review: Unfaithful by Natalie Barelli

My first encounter with Natalie Barelli was when I read The Housekeeper over the summer. I couldn't get enough of the diabolical narrator in that one, so I snatched this November release up as soon as I saw it was from the same author. Unfaithful is definitely as "unputdownable" as the cover claims.

Anna is an associate professor in mathematics at a decent university. She seemingly has a perfect life that includes a satisfying career, a husband she adores, and two adorable children. From the outside, Anna appears to have it all, but it doesn't take long for her world to start tearing at the seams. A grad student Anna worked with to crack a previously unsolvable math concept suddenly kills himself in front of her. While this is bad enough, his death could also take away her hard-earned chance at a prestigious professional prize. She makes the shady decision to claim his work as her own, which leads to a whole slew of stress and anxiety as she waits for someone to find out what she's done.

I thought this was going to be the major problem in this novel, but it turns out Anna's life is a veritable s**t-show. Her husband's cheating on her and his mistress rubs it in her face every chance she gets; Anna has zero friends and a toxic relationship with her mother; she's somehow become the target of a dangerous stalker; and to top it all off, she finds herself the prime suspect in a murder case. Oh yeah, she lies and drinks every chance she gets. I'll be honest, I don't really blame her for imbibing excessively because this book filled me with anxiety. I'm still not sure if this a good or a bad thing, though. 

I will say that this is definitely one of those books that you won't be able to put down for long. I was so engrossed with Anna's crazy life that I couldn't wait until I could begin reading again. It was suspenseful and the ending was both unpredictable and satisfying. At first, the number of major obstacles the narrator had to face seemed excessive, but I'm honestly impressed with how smoothly Barelli was able to pull it all off. Besides the stress this story added to my life, my only real complaint about Unfaithful was all the unlikable characters. I never did end up liking Anna, primarily because of how she handled her cheating husband, but she also lied and whined way too much. In the entire book, there was only one character I even kind of enjoyed, but she got annoying at times too. 

Overall, this is a fantastic, suspenseful thriller that will keep you reading way past bedtime. If you can get past the objectionable narrator, I think most mystery fans will enjoy the ride!

My Rating: ★★★★ out of 5 

*Thanks to the author, Dreamscape Media, and Netgalley for providing me with this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!