The Divorce by Freida Mcfadden Book Review

 The Divorce 

By Freida Mcfadden 

Published Year : 2026

Page Count : 380 pages 

Medium Used: Oneplus Nord CE6 phone

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Thriller, Psychological, Twists, Suspense, Mystery, 2026-read.

Rating: 3.75/5 😎😎😎😎

The main characters in the story are Naomi Roth the wife, Jeremy Roth the husband, Veronica the mistress and Teddy the child. Right off, I felt Jeremy and Veronica's characterization is not realistic. They seemed forced and melted to fit the mold of the story. While reading the Veronica's version of the tale,I was rushing through it and stifling a yawn. Its hard for me to see her in the light of her projection. The first narrative from Naomi showed her in a negative light so her own ought to show her in an exact opposite and pink light? I would have believed if there was some deception or weakness in her nature but the absence of it made me uneasy. And Jeremy - his story doesn't add up. He married so his kid can have two parents but he had been living an unhappy and nightmarish life with an unstable and unreliable wife all along? Which rich and accomplished man would do this ? Who would sacrifice their own satisfaction so that they are living not-completely-happy lives ? Even Naomi is unbelievable. I mean, like, her husband is playing dirty and dragging her through mud and lies so he can get his divorce from her but she refuses to take off her wedding ring and clings to the idea of a happy ever after, if only Veronica is removed from the picture? And all the three adults are madly in love with the child Teddy that they would do anything for him even if he is not their biological child? Preposterous. 

And then the formula of the book seems tried, tested and extensively applied by many authors already. Even more so by Mcfadden herself. We are shown one version of a character and then the twist is that they are nothing like we have come to believe. The first portion of the book is shown from Naomi's vision. She has been a devoted wife and mother for over five years. Upon her, her husband has abruptly sprung a divorce notice and she doesn't know what or where it went wrong. Shortly after that, she catches him red handed kissing a woman more than a decade younger to him. They claim to be madly in love with each other. Instead of backing off, Naomi reasons that her husband's attraction for this woman will wear off with time. So she holds onto the idea of getting back with her husband and their son. But the husband puts pressure on the divorce proceedings and she has no choice but to find a good lawyer. Her husband blocks her from enlisting a good one but nevertheless, she finds a man called Ezra Fletcher to represent her. Her husband tries to show her as a deranged, unhinged, unstable woman who is sloppy as a mother and so pushes that he should get full custody of their son. They both love Teddy and don't want to give up their custodial rights to parenting him. Even after the book ends,I am not fully sure who is right. If Jeremy is right in saying Naomi is a sloppy mother or if she is right in showing herself as a devoted parent. If I have to take a guess, I think Naomi is right on this one and Jeremy was mud slinging her for his own ends. 

This divorce fight doesn't get much farther before we see the Veronica's version of the picture. She was a drug addict and had a boy friend who died from drug overdose. She is not a gold digger but entered the lives of Jeremy and Naomi with some other plan altogether. The plot at this point is too predictable and it's only the amazing prose and writing skill of the author that kept me from leaving it half read.  

I thought the ending is not fair. I mean innocent people had to die so these maniacs get what they want? They are all duplicitous and unhinged in one form or another. Veronica is the least touched by their murder madness and even she ain't a saint or mother theresa. She wanted what was hers and ripped a family apart by concealing her true motives right?

Lol, still read it because I learnt much about drugs, DNA testing from this book! Cheers 🥂🥂🥂