THE LAST MRS. PARRISH Book Review

The Last Mrs. Parrish¹ (book 1 in The Mrs. Parrish series) by Liv Constantine, audiobook, 12h

Synopsis from Audible: Amber Patterson is fed up. She’s tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more—a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted. To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne—a socialite and philanthropist—and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson, are a couple straight out of a fairy tale.

Amber’s envy could eat her alive...if she didn't have a plan. Amber uses Daphne’s compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family’s life—the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long, Amber is Daphne’s closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrishes and their lovely young daughters, and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards, and if it is discovered, her well-laid plan may fall to pieces.

With shocking turns and dark secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end, The Last Mrs. Parrish is a fresh, juicy, and utterly addictive thriller from a diabolically imaginative talent.

BOOK REVIEW: I listened to this book about four years ago when I was driving in the evenings for DoorDash and GrubHub. I was binge listening to books because I was in the car so much and I loved it. I was getting really into the psychological thrillers and whatnot and this one was recommended in a book club and I loved it! As the synopsis says, it keeps you guessing to the very end. I'm really impressed at how much I had forgotten but how much I remembered as I was listening however I didn't remember everything and so it kind of felt like listening to it for the first time. Around the time this book came out, it seems like a lot of authors were writing from one POV and then like 2/3 of the way through you flip to the other POV and then get a back and forth to the end. I love it.

I can't say my favorite part because it will give something away. So let's see. I love how blunt Bella is. She's only saying what everyone else is thinking. We get the illusion of spice without the details and after Fury Bound I might need a little break from that heat! As far as the audiobook is concerned, we have two narrators. One for Amber and one for Daphne. They both do a great job. The narrator for Amber almost embodies the character and you can almost fell her disdain when she is talking with Daphne. The narrator for Daphne did a wonderful job also conveying all the feelings which I can't say because it would give something away.

This is a 4.75 rounded up with the only reason it getting knocked down a little was because the narration was way too slow. For the first time in a long time I had a few people in my book club say they had to increase the listening speed because it was too slow for them. I think at one point I had to go up to 2.2x speed just to feel conversational. That's rough because I do enjoy listening to books at the pace they're read in but not that slow. That's the only reason it's knocked down a little because the story is a 5! I got the second book in the series but hadn't listened to it but now I'm going to since this one is fresh in my head!

4.75/5 Stars

2026 Reading Challenge: 38/55 complete

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