The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
Format: Print, Hardcover
Pages: 324
Start Date: May 9, 2023
End Date: May 15, 2023
My Ratings
Overall: ★★★★
Character Development: ★★★★
Ending: ★★★
Spice Level:
Suspense Level: 🔪
Tear Jerk-ability:
Pace: Medium
Recommend:
Triggers: Suicide
Summary - Goodreads
Get Ready for a thrilling, addictive novel about marriage, betrayal, and the secrets that push us to the edge in Sally Hepworth's The Soulmate. There's a cottage on a cliff. Gabe and Pippa's dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular sport for people to end their lives. Night after night Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge. Until he doesn't. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral...Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa's life, her soulmate...lie? As the perfect facade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel.
My Thoughts - Contains Spoilers, Continue at Your Own Risk
I'm not sure how I felt about this one, overall. I agree with Ashley, I wouldn't call it a thriller. I also feel like where they built "suspense" kind of fell short, too. For example, we don't ever really know if Gabe pushes Amanda off of edge.... though in my opinion I feel like he did (subconsciously or not). I can't say I particularly enjoyed "present" Amanda, either. Seemed like filler chapters to me, though I did enjoy the background development between her and Max. Overall, I think I'm on the fence on this one.....
Since Ashley read this one first, here are her questions that I have answered:
Were you expecting Asha to be the child of another woman? I was trying to do the math as more and more information was being revealed because something just wasn't adding up for me. Still, that twist did surprised me in the end. I'm not sure why, I did go back and forth on whether or not Gabe was unfaithful from the start....
Amanda seemed to have sacrificed some of her wants in life for her husband. Do you think you'd be as willing to sacrifice some for your partner, if they could promise you your biggest want? I think marriage has a lot of compromise in it to begin with, going both ways. With that being said, I feel like given Amanda's view on marriage, I was not suprised she was so willing to compromise. For me personally, I feel like it would have to come down to what exactly I was sacrificing.... I feel like if there was genuine love involved, and I wasn't compromising some of my "non negotiable" items I look for in a partner, I feel like I could.
Pippa's family seems to know that Gabe is "imperfect". Why do you think it takes so long for them to say so to her? Do you think they were right to just support VS pointing out to her that he might not be what she thinks he is? I feel like they were trying to let Pippa come to that realization on her own.... Like they were afraid if they said something it would push her MORE towards Gabe. With that being said I'm not exactly sure why you wouldn't say anything after Gabe's first "episode". You can still support your family and their loved ones while expressing concern.... I also feel like if they "knew" from the start, why were things not pointed out when they were dating? Seems like that would have been the most appropriate time to voice concerns.....
Were you curious like I was about what Gabe thought when he realized who Max really was? I wish they had given us his perspective on that realization. I agree. I would have liked more about Gabe and his reaction once finding out Max was his uncle. I also wondered if Gabe was ever curious as to how and why this random marketing company would offer him a job seemingly with no experience. To me, seemed fishy......
What do you think of HOW Max decided to be in Gabe's life? Do you think a lot could have been avoided if he had just come clean from the beginning? My initial thought would be yes, I feel like a lot of what happened could've been avoided. At the same time, Gabe seemed to have some stability issues so I question on whether that is actually true. For example, Amanda didn't come to kill herself and I personally thing Gabe pushed her....or at the very least let her fall. I can understand Max's reasoning, though, wanting to be in his life as a for sure thing as opposed to taking a chance once he revealed himself. Especially given Gabe felt abandoned by his extended family.
I'm Curious
How did you feel about Pippa covering for Gabe over the suicide? Do you think you would behave in a similar matter as Pippa, even with your gut feelings and Gabe's past behavior?
As Pippa, do you think you would lie to your husband about being unfaithful? I understand Pippa wanting to hurt Gabe, but seems like such an odd thing to lie about....
If you were Max, and your employee's wife came onto you, would you tell the employee? I understand Gabe was in a tough mental state at the time, but would you ever come clean?
I feel like a lot of what happened boils down to Pippa lying about sleeping with Max. Did you get the sense that Pippa ever had that kind of realization or feeling of responsibility for what happened?
The ending of the book: Were you suprised that after all Gabe and Pippa had been through, they ended up separating? How did you feel about Max ending his own life once he got the answers from Gabe?
Next Book: The End of Her by Shari Lapena
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