More Than You'll Ever Know

by Katie Gutierrez

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

"Fantastic . . . A sweeping novel, unflinching and evocative in its engrossing study of love, motherhood, sex, Mexico, journalism and more." -- WASHINGTON POST

"Masterful . . . Elegance, darkness, even fear are deftly intertwined . . . A wonderful read." -- LUIS ALBERTO URREA, Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author of The House of Broken Angels

Recommended by Los Angeles Times - Washington Post - Parade - Good Housekeeping - NBC News - Goodreads - Audible - The Millions - Popsugar - Tribeza - CrimeReads - Library Reads - She Reads - and more!

An evocative drama about a woman caught leading a double life after one husband murders the other, and the true-crime writer who becomes obsessed with telling her story--this masterful work of literary suspense marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer

The dance becomes an affair, which becomes a marriage, which becomes a murder...

In 1985, Lore Rivera marries Andres Russo in Mexico City, even though she is already married to Fabian Rivera in Laredo, Texas, and they share twin sons. Through her career as an international banker, Lore splits her time between two countries and two families--until the truth is revealed and one husband is arrested for murdering the other.

In 2017, while trawling the internet for the latest, most sensational news reports, struggling true-crime writer Cassie Bowman encounters an article detailing that tragic final act. Cassie is immediately enticed by what is not Why would a woman--a mother--risk everything for a secret double marriage? Cassie sees an opportunity--she'll track Lore down and capture the full picture, the choices, the deceptions that led to disaster. But the more time she spends with Lore, the more Cassie questions the facts surrounding the murder itself. Soon, her determination to uncover the truth could threaten to derail Lore's now quiet life--and expose the many secrets both women are hiding.

Told through alternating timelines, More Than You'll Ever Know is both a gripping mystery and a wrenching family drama. Presenting a window into the hearts of two very different women, it explores the many conflicting demands of marriage and motherhood, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone--especially those we love.

"A seductive, urgent tale about desire, family, the pursuit of truth, and the art of storytelling, More Than You'll Ever Know will astonish readers with its vastness, romance, tragedy, and abundant heart. I didn't want this book to ever end." -- JESSAMINE CHAN, New York Times bestselling author of The School for Good Mothers

"A gripping and thoughtful exploration of motherhood and marriage, the complexity of female desire, and the consequence of our obsession with true crime . . . One of the best suspenseful dramas I've read in years. An exceptional, stunning debut--I absolutely loved it." -- ASHLEY AUDRAIN, New York Times bestselling author of The Push

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Adult, Suspense

448 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 7, 2022

Reviews

[Melissa (Semi Hiatus Until After the Holidays) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book based on the synopsis, but it just didn't quite deliver for me. There are two reasons, and if you've read any of my recent reviews this book suffers from the same two problems I keep running into:
1) It is way, way too long. Seriously this book could have been well told in 350-ish pages, yet we have 450+ pages here. Editing was definitely needed.
2) It is marketed as a thriller and it really isn't. It's more of a drama with a touch of mystery.

The core story here is good. I was very invested in the dual marriages and the true crime aspect. The book has great bones, it just needed to be a LOT shorter! It is a slog to get through, and I fear that many readers won't have the stamina to stick with it.

I will definitely read more by this author, because the writing is good, hopefully the length can be edited a bit in the future.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy book birthday 🥳🎈🍾

Wow! Some books can truly rock your world! Make you think everything twice, question your own life story and the choices you’ve made!
This was one of those thought-provoking, captivating books that haunts you forever!

Lore Rivera might be one of the most unforgettable fictional characters: an international banker, a woman married with two men, living two double lives, having two families: she’s married with Andres Russo who is recently divorced with two teenage children living in Mexico City and she is married with childhood sweetheart Fabian Rivera in Laredo/ Texas, raising twin boys who are at the same age as Andres’ children from his first marriage.

But when Andres decides to make a surprise visit to Texas for introducing himself to his wife’s coworkers, he realizes he’s not the only man his wife is married to. And the same night he’s killed by Fabian Rivera who is sentenced to 30 years in prison.

All those events take place in 1985. And as we move forward to 2017, we are introduced to Cassie Bowman, a young true crime writer, blogger, who encounters an article that includes Andres’ kids ( now they are nearly 50-year-old adults) telling how Lore used their family and threw them like trash. She gets intrigued and decides to talk with Lore to write her side of the story.
Lore is not only one who struggles with her past demons. Cassie is about to get married to Duke: a lovely farmer, working on his food truck with a big and caring family. She hides her own family history from him. The history contains domestic violence, neglect, alcoholism, and an abandoned little brother she left to save herself.

Lore accepts to talk with Cassie because she thinks she can manipulate her to write everything she wants, and Cassie needs this story for her new start as a true crime novelist. But as soon as she starts digging out more, she realizes she starts confronting her own secrets she’s buried for years!

Normally this book started too slow and at the first third nothing particularly happened. But the back stories of two women, their circumstances, their inner voices were told so realistically and it still picked my interest. I couldn’t stop reading it. And of course a few chapters later when I started learning more about two women’s pasts, I was hooked!

Was Lore sociopath who could lie about her life and gaslight people without feeling guilty? What kind of woman was she? A pathological liar, a user, a hedonist or simply selfish woman who thought she was too wise to get away with everything she’s done or was she just dreamer who wanted to live in two parallel universes with two different families. Lore might be all of them and also none of them!

This book made me think a lot. I didn’t approve any actions Lore took but I accept who she was and I didn’t hate her. The pure realistic approach to the flawed, broken characters’ stories were truly impeccable.

It took more time for me to finish this book because this is whirlwind, mind bending historical journey telling the compelling parts of America and Mexican history: recession, devaluation, earthquakes, people’s struggle to keep their jobs, keep a roof over their family’s head.

I enjoyed to read both women’s stories and the big twist was a little foreseeable but it was still heart wrenching.

Overall: even though the book is a little longer and slower for me, I enjoyed each chapter and easily resonated with each character so I’m rounding up my 4.5 stars to 5 double life, finding yourself, secrets we kept stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

[Michael David (on hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

How long can someone living a double life get by before two worlds collide?

Delores “Lore” Rivera thought she could maintain it…until she started having doubts.

In 1985, Lore is a banker in Texas, and she’s married to Fabian. She has twin sons, Mateo and Gabriel. She’s always been happy, but stress looms as a recession hits and Fabian is close to losing his business. She travels to Mexico City for a wedding and meets Andres Russo. They hit it off immediately. Given her job, she’s able to travel back and forth, and ends up marrying Andres.

Two husbands? Two lives?

All is fine and dandy until one husband murders the other one and all secrets are revealed.

In 2017, Cassie Bowman writes blog posts related to true crime. She catches wind of Lore’s double life, and is intrigued. She decides to track Lore down and see if she’ll collaborate on a true crime book about her. Couldn’t hurt. Both women have reasons for this “project”. Both women have secrets. Both women are not prepared for what will happen to their quiet lives.

I know this sounds super enticing and unputdownable, but fair warning: it is NOT a thriller. It’s more of a domestic drama with historical fiction vibes…and yes, there is some mystery. However, it takes a while to get to that aspect of it. Not to say that’s a bad thing, but make sure you go in with your expectations in check.

This book is long…longer than it needs to be. Some scenarios could’ve been trimmed while still maintaining the integrity of the story. It’s broken down into 3 parts. The first two are rather slow, but I wasn’t bored per se. I was always intrigued to keep on going. Part III is where things hit their peak, and I really did fly through the pages at this point. Going back to that mystery angle I mentioned…I guessed it correctly. It still proved to be satisfying.

Overall, this is a decent debut with an interesting story. I would definitely read another book from this author, but I hope it’ll be a bit shorter in length.

3.5 stars

This was a group buddy read with Jayme, Holly, Michelle, DeAnn, and Regina. Make sure to check out their amazing reviews!

Thank you to William Morrow and Scene of the Crime for a widget of the ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 6/7/22.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

[Jayme C (Brunetteslikebookstoo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down

“Whoever Writes the History Has the Power”

Told in three parts, and an alternating timeline, this is the story of Dolores “Lore” Rivera who in 1985 marries Andres Russo in Mexico City, even though she is already married to Fabian Rivera in Laredo, Texas, and the mother of twins. (Cuates)

Her career as an international banker, has her splitting her time between two countries until the truth is revealed and one husband is arrested for murdering the other.

This is also the story of Cassie Bowman, who is a struggling true crime blogger in 2017. For fifteen hours a week and thirteen dollars an hour, she would scour the WEB for the kind of killings that would make a jaded reader “click”-gruesome with an element of brilliance or ineptitude by the killer.

One day she gets a Google Alert for a crime she thinks will change her fate as a writer- the story of Dolores Rivera.

What kind of woman would risk everything she already has because she wants more?

And, what kind of woman reads about other people’s tragedies and wonders how she can use them for herself?!

Are they really that different? Or more similar than either on is willing to admit? I didn’t find either woman particularly likable.

This story explores who Dolores is as a mother in the depressed economy of Laredo, TX and as a woman in vibrant Mexico City. (DF) and how the two men in her life, bring out different aspects of herself. Writing Lore’s story will also expose the kind of woman that Cassie is.

It may resonate with you, if you feel like you lost a piece of yourself when you started defining yourself as a mother first, and as a desirable woman, second.

Although there is some lovely writing and thought provoking passages, I have to admit that I almost threw in the towel after Part One! Things seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace and I wasn’t interested in Lore’s spicy love lives, but rave reviews had me press on.

In Part two, we begin to hear FROM Lore, instead of ABOUT Lore, as the two women begin their interview sessions, and things picked up but it took until about 50% for things to become interesting.

Nothing revealed about what really occurred on that fateful day was overly shocking, so although this Is described as a gripping mystery and wrenching family drama, it read much more like a family drama to me.

A LONG ONE

Also, Lore speaks to her family in both English and Spanish, and although I could figure out many of the words based on context, I did Google some and just skip over others. Perhaps this slowed down the pace as well.

Although a promising debut, at 448 pages this story was just too drawn out for me, and I wasn’t quite as enamored by it as many other reviewers were, so be sure to read a sample of reviews to determine if this one is for you!

This was a group read with a lively discussion, and we ended up with mixed opinions about this one! Thank You to Michelle, Holly, DeAnn, Regina and Michael for the buddy read!

NOW AVAILABLE

Thank You to William Morrow & Company for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

[Chelsea Humphrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Than You'll Ever Know is a uniquely ambitious tale of domestic fiction with a hint of mystery at its core, and as long as you go into this book knowing it is NOT a thriller or suspense novel, the reader can wholly embrace it to the fullest. The changing POV between modern day Cassie and Lore's past provide a compelling narrative that ties in true crime to the identity of women, and in Lore's case a woman of color. The story weighs the precarious balance of motherhood against the career life, and brings up many thought provoking aspects as which is more important and how society tends to demonize women who value their career after they become mothers.

I've yet to come across another story in my reading that has tackled polygamy from the female standpoint in contemporary fiction, and I found it fascinating to watch how Lore finds herself in this predicament. Highly recommended if you're looking for a thoughtful, prose-filled, slow burning novel that intricately details the female identity and discusses timely issues that have affected women in the past, and still do in the present.

*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.

[Holly B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone is leading a double life, and it isn't the husband.

Dolores "Lore" is caught between two worlds. One is with her loving family in Laredo, Texas. Her and her husband, Fabian have twin boys. She risks more than she bargains for when she marries Andreas Russo in Mexico and the dance begins.

Her double life will soon unravel when she is caught, lies are revealed, someone ends up dead.

This is one long book, close to 450 pages. The premise is intriguing and my expectations were high, I was expecting a "gripping" mystery. This is very much a slow burn, family drama. If you go into it with those expectations, it may work better for you.

I found it thought provoking, and I did want to finish and find out the deets, but the ride needed some more energy and intensity. This was a debut, and I like to give debut authors another chance.

A fun buddy read with Jayme, Michael, Michelle, DeAnn, and Regina. Go check out their awesome reviews and find out who solved the case!

Thanks to Scene of the Crime and NG for the arc. OUT June 7, 2022

[Catherine (alternativelytitledbooks) - tired of sickness! · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Scene of the Crime, William Morrow, and Katie Gutierrez for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 6.7!!**

This book reminded me of a quote from one of my all-time favorite shows, Frasier, from none other than Frasier himself:

"“Ah, but if less is more, then just think of how much more ‘more’ will be!”"

From touches of historical fiction to drama, true crime to romance...More Than You'll Ever Know threw in everything but the kitchen sink...and unfortunately suffered because of it.

Cassie Bowman eats, sleeps and breathes true crime. Aside from soon-to-be husband Duke, every moment of her waking life is spent wrapped up in fascinating cases to explore on her blog. She thinks she's seen it all...until she stumbles on the case Delores "Lore" Rivera and her unique double-life...two husbands, two families, two cities (Laredo TX and Mexico City)...and ONE murder. Her first husband Fabian, father of twins Gabriel and Mateo, is held responsible for the murder of husband two, Andres, and is locked away...but what is Lore's side of the story? Cassie feels this is the perfect opportunity for collaboration, and gets trapped in this whirlwind tale of love, revenge, and inner torment...and ends up revealing a few secrets of her own. Did the police get it right and was this the open and shut case it seemed to be? Or has Cassie popped open the lid to Pandora's Box and an even more tangled snarl of family secrets and lies than she ever could have imagined...where SHE is now the bait, trapped in the middle of the spider's web, with no hope of escape?

Well, as I said, in the case of this debut...LESS needed to be more. This applies to so many aspects of the book I'm not sure where to start, so I'll dive in:

1) Spanish words. I took 4 years of Spanish, and thank goodness, or I would have gone absolutely insane reading this book. Gutierrez sprinkles Spanish and Spanglish in frequently. As in, every page. Multiple times a page. And sometimes only ONE WORD in a sentence. Which would be fine if it was a word that made sense to arbitrarily have in Spanish, but I remember at one point there was a sentence written entirely in English except for the word 'but' (in Spanish, pero.) Of all words...that's the one that would randomly be in Spanish? It just didn't make a lot of sense to me. Many of the instances in the book you can blow by without missing a beat or figure out via context clues, but there was still a bit too much of this going on for my taste.

2) Dual timeline hopping. I am always game for a good dual timeline, and since Lore spent so much time recounting her story to Cassie, of course it made sense to use one in this book. However, the hopping was CONSTANT. There are LOTS of chapters in this book, and each one bounces around. While long chapters probably would have been too weighty with all of the detail going on here, the short chapters felt a bit all over the place and at times it was hard to keep track of what was going on...and when.

3) Length. Perhaps the biggest miss in terms of this book is sheer length itself. It's about 450 pages (!) and should have probably been capped at 350. The extra heft does nothing to help tell the story, and for it to feel like a fast-moving mystery as well as a drama, a shorter book would have certainly helped. By 75%, I felt the narrative was spinning its wheels a bit and I was eager for Cassie to figure out what had happened and just move on.

That being said, Gutierrez is a SUPERB writer, and this was quite the debut! Her use of language was so lovely at times, poignant, lyrical, and evocative that I truly considered rating this book a star or two higher on that basis alone. She is a writer who has found her home, and since this was only her first foray into novels, I truly hope to hear more from her...and soon! All of the pieces were there when it came to this story, and my emotions ran the gamut. I just wish my fatigue and frustration hadn't overshadowed the captivating writing and interesting tale explored in this one.

And with any luck, Gutierrez will have just one MORE up her sleeve! 😉

3.5 stars

Nominated in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Mystery/Thriller!

[Kezia Duah · Rating 4 out of 5]

“How can shame exist without remorse ?”

This sounded so cool when I read the description, and although it was quite slow-paced, I still found it to be an interesting experience.

Lore is incredibly manipulative. She really had us all fooled. I thought this story was just going to be her recollecting her past for Cassie, but she certainly wasn’t going to make it that easy for us. The twists and turns in the remaining pages helped make up for the pace of this one. The exploration of having a sense of dissatisfaction as a mother and wife was so real and this was the part of Lore that had me connecting with her and holding back some judgment. I usually don’t like stuff like this being romanticized so I think Gutierrez did well with keeping that balance of telling a story with great emotion but exposing the burdensomeness of such decisions. Honestly, the idea of having two marriages just sounds exhausting and I don't really understand why anyone would do that, but I really wanted to hear her out.

I’m glad that we got a complicated journalist as well and I like how she and Lore connected over the complicatedness of their lives. I wouldn’t say their complicatedness was similar but they were both women of secrets. Her secrets also help make up for the slow-placed storytelling. I really connected with her and wanted to hug her because she was really hard on herself for some personal decisions she made. Like every mystery book with a journalist, she has some talents to be a detective. Her suspicions and questions were definitely what make me want to keep reading. Suddenly, I had questions I didn’t know I had and I needed answers too!

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favorite read of 2022 so far! I love when an unknown book/author takes you by complete surprise and blows you away. Katie Gutierrez, you are brilliant! I cannot believe that this is a debut work. Mind-blowing! This book has elements of a true thriller, with a compelling whodunnit, with bits of true crime, historical fiction, and domestic drama mixed in, making it wholly mesmerizing.

When Cassie Bowman, an unknown, true crime blogger, reads an article in 2017 vilifying Delores Rivera, aka Lore, a woman who was caught leading a double life - married to two men in the 1980's and now alone, as one husband murdered the other - Cassie becomes obsessed with the story. Lore won't speak to anyone about the it, but Cassie convinces her to share her side of the story and Lore agrees with one condition - that they don't discuss the murder. Cassie agrees but finds herself investigating the murder behind Lore's back. She comes to respect Lore and even relate to her, as she finds herself immersed in Lore's story. Cassie too, has events in her past that she doesn't share with anyone and her relationship with Lore opens up deep crevices in her psyche. Ultimately, what she finds shakes her moral compass and makes her question what is important in life and what family loyalty means.

There is no way my review can do this book justice. I laughed, I cried, and in one way or another, I empathized with almost every single character in this book. Gutierrez drew me in immediately with such "real" characters with relatable experiences - not because they are perfect or even likable - but because they are so damn human. One mistake, one choice, can alter a life in unspeakable ways but should it define one forever? I found myself asking that question several times. There were so many quotes that I read and then would immediately go back and re-read them because they were just so poignant. When Lore is discussing aging, she says, "one of the cruelest parts of getting old is how unnecessary you become, like a helium balloon released by a child's hand, floating and forgotten, drifting toward the inevitable pop." And in comparing her twin sons and why she found herself drawn to one of them over the other as teens, she muses, "that's the terrible truth: mothers love best the children who best love them." Both of those quotes struck me to my core, as they are things I've pondered in my deep moments lol, but have never been able to pen them so eloquently. Both Lore and Cassie started out thinking they could manipulate the other for their own means, but both learn things about themselves that forever change them. For some reason, I didn't fully see the ending coming, and I think it's because I was so immersed in the two women's lives that it was secondary to my having to know the whodunnit. I had no idea how Gutierrez could bring the storylines full circle in a satisfying way, but wow! she nailed it and left me completely amazed.

This is a June release and is a must-read in my opinion. I hope this book receives every accolade out there, as it deserves it and more!

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOW AVAILABLE!

looking at the cover of this book, you might think, as i did, that this was going to be another domestic thriller/psych suspense-y kind of thing, but this is something entirely different. there is a mystery at the center of the story, but it takes a backseat to a more robust, multilayered character-driven story centered around motherhood, marriage, and the secretive inner lives and desires of women.

it's the story of dolores (lore) rivera and cassie bowman; two women whose lives intersect when cassie—a true crime blogger with journalistic aspirations, discovers a juicy subject in lore—a woman whose secret polygamy was exposed decades earlier when one of her husbands was incarcerated for murdering the other.

people who lead double lives are inherently fascinating, and the first and most obvious question is always "how did they get away with it?" in lore's case, the mechanics of how she managed to keep her marital-double-dipping a secret is the least interesting part, although the way she maintains the precarious jenga-balance of her secrets is fascinating to watch unfold:

She hasn't yet told him an outright lie...and she doesn't want to start. Once she does, she sees how the lies will build, brick after brick into a fortress designed to protect, but protection means separation, means they will never be as close as he thinks or she wants, and one mistake, one misremembered detail, will be enough to take down the whole thing, burying them both beneath its rubble.

the real hook here is the novelty of a woman carrying on two separate lives, because the world is a little less forgiving towards women—towards mothers—trying to have it all:

Sometimes it still shocked me, the way Lore didn't seem to see what she'd done as unforgivable in the eyes of those she'd hurt. How did she learn to judge herself so gently in a world that taught women to nail themselves to the cross for any tiny infraction?

i know, right?

lore eventually agrees to be interviewed by cassie, against the wishes of her family, with the stipulation that she won't talk about the night of andres' murder. lore's story unfolds in a series of flashbacks of her past and what drove her to risk her happy life in texas with fabian and their twin sons gabriel and mateo by marrying andres in mexico.

during the course of these interviews, lore and cassie's relationship develops into a familiar quid pro quo dynamic; lore becoming a sort of lady-lechter forcing cassie to excavate and take a hard look at the shame she's been marinating in over the secrets of her own past—her alcoholic father, the death of her mother, and the brother she left behind—and both women are profoundly affected by the emotional clarity that comes from revisiting their life's most painful choices.

lore proves to be a somewhat unreliable narrator, giving cassie a version of the truth while holding on to some of her secrets. however, cassie is a highly motivated amateur sleuth, hoping this story will kickstart her journalistic career, and once she susses out the whole truth behind andres' death, she is faced with a difficult choice that makes her reevaluate her own long-held beliefs about her chosen profession.

When it's done right, true crime tells us who we are, who we should fear, who we are always in danger of becoming. Under a careful investigative eye, someone opaque briefly becomes transparent. Even if what's revealed is ugly, it's true. And nothing is more beautiful than the truth.

like so many books seem to be nowadays, the reader (and cassie) are invited to consider the sticky nature of our fixation with true crime as entertainment, commodifying other people’s secrets and blanketing epicaricacy-nosiness under the noble banner of truth.

and there’s the looming "there-but-for-the" of:

...someone who had killed under a set of specific circumstances. And couldn't that be true for most of us? If true crime had taught me anything, it's that if we never see that version of ourselves, it's only because we're lucky.

so it's basically two excellent character-studies smooshed together in a story of sacrifice and secrets, perspective and the justification for tiptoeing that fine line between selfishness and self-preservation.

lore is a deliciously complex paradox of a character—she loved her family, but felt that, given a different set of circumstances, she could have become a different kind of woman—she needed two separate lives to become the best version of herself. lore's was an extreme, unconventional form of personal growth—happy with her life, but inquiring what else what else

...it wasn't the recession or loneliness that brought her here. It wasn't that she no longer loved Fabian or wanted their marriage to end. It was a different kind of yearning. A nameless suspicion that there was more to herself than she'd ever accessed, and only by falling in love could she discover it, for only then do we become new to ourselves again.

instead of getting a room of her own she got a whole 'nother husband, and she felt she became a fuller person enriched by both of her lives.

...perhaps not every affair is about lack in the primary relationship; perhaps some are about a complement. Perhaps multiple relationships can illuminate different parts of the self, like a prism turned first this way, then that, toward the light. Perhaps to love and allow love from only one person at a time is to trap the self into a single, frozen version, and it's this that makes us look elsewhere.

however, there's always a price of a woman knowing herself, of wanting more than she has, and in her case, it was ruinous to both of her lives.

Lore had never been blameless to me. That was the point. She was so hungry to know her own heart she was willing to destroy those she loved most, including—paradoxically—her children.

this is a perfect summertime book—a richly descriptive slow-burning page-turner that delivers more to consider than the average suspense-genre novel. lore is a beautifully flawed character and cassie is a fine counterpoint to her larger-than-life personality. it is a spectacular debut full of deft insights that doesn't skimp on the rough fallout of domino-consequences.

i'll let lore play this review out with her musings on the cost of motherhood to a woman's sense of self:

Now the idea of more children is unthinkable. Lore lost herself in those early years with Gabriel and Mateo. If you'd asked her then what her favorite meal was, her favorite movie, her favorite hobby, she wouldn't have known. It was as if Lore—the person, the woman—had disappeared, consumed by Lore the mother. The idea of taking maternity leave again, molding her life around a baby's insatiable need while also making sure the cuates were fed and clean, their homework done, chauffeured on time to school and sports—and the house livable, groceries bought, bills paid, her marriage nurtured: quicksand. By the time she clawed her way out, she wouldn't recognize herself.

Motherhood is the thief you invite into your home.

come to my blog!

[Michelle]

My first buddy read and it turned out to be a bust!!!!

DNF at 28% - no rating and will not be included in my reading challenge.

The pace is too slow, there is far too many Spanish words and terms for anyone unfamiliar, the Mexican economic crisis of the 80's is too boring a subject matter to hold my interest, both Lore and Cassie are very unlikable women, and at over 400 pages this is much too long and I dreaded whenever I had to pick this up.

Thanks for the company Jayme, Michael, Holly, DeAnn, and Regina. Some of us liked this more than others but I'm the only one to abandon it. Make sure to check out their thoughtful reviews!

Thank you to Scene of the Crime and NetGalley for my complimentary copy.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded down
This was promoted as the story of a true crime blogger who gets interested in the story of a female bigamist, whose first husband murders her second. That had me thinking mystery. But it really was more family drama than mystery. Told in dual timelines, we hear from Cassie the blogger, who dreams of bigger things, and Lore, the bigamist. Cassie isn’t nearly as interested in the murder as in why a woman would risk her existing family to marry again.
Lore’s story takes place in 1985, during a recession. Gutierrez does a good job of giving us a sense of the time and place. The recession has hit Laredo, TX especially hard. Lore’s husband is fitting to keep his business and its a strain on their marriage. When she meets Andre in Mexico City, where she travels for business, she doesn’t mention she’s married. And as one thing leads to another, she finds herself marrying him.
This book could have benefitted from a better editing job. As with so many dual timelines/POVs, one is much more interesting than the other. Cassie came through as more a means to an end. And for me, while I don’t need to identify with characters in a mystery, I do when it’s a family drama. And I didn’t really identify with either woman. Lore and Cassie both are living lies, but for entirely different reasons. And it doesn’t end well for either of them. The book takes on those that put themselves first and those that sacrifice for others.
I saw this one through to the end, but I did increase the audio speed to 150% (from my normal 130%). I was just invested enough to want to know if there would be any twists and how it would end. The speed of the story finally picks up at the end and I enjoyed the ending enough to award an extra ½ star.
The two narrators sounded so similar I didn’t even realize there were two. Both did decent jobs but nothing special.

[Ceecee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cassie Bowman has always had an obsession with true crime and so inevitably journalism calls as a career with her specialism, yes, you’ve guessed, being true crime. In 2017 she finds becomes fascinated and compelled to investigate the story of Dolores “Lore“ Rivera. In 1985 Lore marries Andres Russo in Mexico City (always referred to as DF, had to look that up!). There’s only one little snag, well a big snag actually, she’s already married to Fabian Rivera and what’s more has twin sons, Mateo and Gabriel. Needless to say this is not going to end well and in this case it leaves one husband dead and the other languishing in prison. Cassie wants to understand what led Lore to risk it all and in doing so she uncovers explosive information. It is told from Lore and Cassie’s perspective.

Well, if this premise sounds interesting that’s because it is! However, this should have been a blazing inferno of a fast paced revelatory thriller but instead it’s a slow burner domestic drama (snail pace at times) with an occasional smoulder.

The story is divided into three parts and the best is the last third where it does rev up a gear, although we’re probably only in third, as up until then it’s been a bit of a slog. It is way too drawn out, it’s at least 150 pages longer than it needs to be and don’t get me started on the amount of Spanish I have to keep looking up so much so I give up in the end .

It also doesn’t help when you don’t especially like Cassie though oddly I do like Lore who is clearly a very good liar but that does not necessarily a murderer make!

So, if you don’t mind a slow paced domestic drama then you’ll be fine with this.

PS as I’m English I’m definitely with Andres on Maradona‘s “Hand of God“. The cheat. It’s fair to say we’ve never got over it, LOL! Apologies to non-football/soccer fans!!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[DeAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 slow burn stars - now available

This debut novel really grabbed me in the final part. We have two viewpoints presented – Cassie – a true crime blogger; and Lore – a woman who is leading a double life.

Cassie becomes obsessed with Lore and her life of deception. Lore is married to two men and has a family in Mexico City and one in Laredo. How she manages to keep up the charade for years is an interesting tale! Things explode when her first husband murders her second husband.

As Cassie digs deeper into Lore’s life and story, she tries to understand Lore’s motivation and justifications. It’s a slow burn story as we follow Lore meeting Andres at a wedding in Mexico City, witness them falling love, surviving a major earthquake, and eventually to the fateful day when Andres is murdered.

This one has a lot of Spanish phrases that I thought added to the authenticity, but I would have appreciated a few more translations. I think it could have benefitted from editing to make it shorter. This is not a fast-paced thriller but does have a mystery element. I did enjoy exploring how and why someone can build a second life. It was also interesting to read about Cassie and how she becomes obsessed with the subject of her book. Is that a good thing or the only way to get it done?

This book made for a compelling buddy read with Michael, Jayme, Holly, Michelle, and Regina. Be sure to read their reviews to see if they agree with me or not.

My thanks to Scene of the Crime/William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review this one.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a disappointment.

I mostly enjoyed this book. As I read it, the book was a solid 3.5 star read. I had already decided to deduct half a star because I didn't think the Cassie prospective was necessary but I really liked Lore.

Lore is a very unlikable character who you actually start to love halfway through the book. She's selfish, manipulative, and oblivious to how her actions affect others. I enjoyed her wild story of being married to 2 men at the same time, one inTexas and the other in Mexico. It's obviously a completely crazy thing to do but Lore makes it make sense. You know it ends badly....one of these men is murdered but you're still kind of rooting for her.

The Cassie character meanwhile is useless. We didn't need the writer's life story...which was boring in comparison to Lore's. And I think it says something that the writer Cassie is more unlikable than the bigamist.

All that being said, I was still prepared to give it 3.5 stars but....but...then the last 100 pages just tanked the whole book. The character motivations make no sense. In my head I had an idea for why Lore would tell Cassie her story and boy how I wish that had been the reason because the actual reason makes ZERO sense.

What was the purpose of this book?

This is Katie Gutierrez' first novel so I can only hope her future novels don't shit the bed at the end.

No rec.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been hearing buzz about Katie Gutierrez's debut novel More Than You'll Ever Know for a few months now, so I was really excited to push my TBR aside when a copy arrived in the mail for me to read. The story is part of this newer type of mystery genre that I've seen blowing up lately—mystery with a true crime atmosphere. I've seen it successfully done in other very fun mystery novels, such as The Nothing Man and The Book of Cold Cases, so I definitely was ready for this journey that Gutierrez has in store for us readers!

The book focuses on two protagonists, Cassie Bowman and Dolores "Lore" Rivera. Cassie is a struggling true-crime writer, planning her wedding with her fiance Duke, and trying to come up with new material to write about. It isn't until she hears about Dolores' past that she begins to find something she can work with. Dolores apparently was married to two different men, and consequently, one of them was murdered by the other. Cassie can't seem to understand why someone who lead such a double life, and she notices that the press did not take kindly to Dolores. This is the perfect story and Cassie believes she can write a book based on Dolores. Once she meets Dolores and tries to entice her into crafting this story, Cassie is now immersed into this family's drama that continues to painfully affect everyone around them. Is Cassie opening a door that was meant to be closed years ago?

I kept battling on my thoughts for this book because its ultimately a family drama and that normally isn't my thing. However, I guess that's a bunch of BS because I really enjoyed More Than You'll Ever Know and should stop saying that I don't resonate with family dramas, because this is definitely a family drama I would recommend to readers. As mentioned above, there is a story within a story, which I found to be an engaging factor to why I resonated with this story. Cassie and Dolores' lives are showcased in an unapologetic way that you'll catch yourself turning the pages and realizing that you just spent hours reading and need to go to bed (guilty as charged!). This story is part detective / sleuth, part love story, and part family drama. If you like those types of fiction novels, More Than You'll Ever Know interweaves each of those elements perfectly. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.

[Rachel L · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

Taking place in 1986 and 2017, this book follows Cassie a true crime writer as she interviews and covers the case of Lore who was the center of a murder. Lore married two men without their knowledge, and when one found out he murdered the other. Fascinated by this story, Cassie interviews Lore for a book even as her own life falls apart.

While I really liked this book, this is definitely a case where less is more. There was a really great mystery in here, but I feel like the author got wrapped up in things that I think she felt were interesting (historical wise) and this book could have been pared down a bit. An interesting story filled with lies and double lives, Katie Gutierrez is a great writer and someone to watch.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I focus on my journey to read all the Goodreads Choice Award mystery nominees and winners from the last decade, this novel fell into my reading queue. At first, I wasn't thrilled with the style: a young woman in modern days talks about the trauma she went through and how it was only when she read about a woman who was married to two men at the same time did she find her identity and purpose. The chapters then alternate to forty years ago where we learn why the woman was married to two men and which one killed the other one. At twenty percent in, the book becomes solid and I am fascinated by Lore from 40 years ago. But I still question why she chose to give her story to the woman from modern times, Cassie. She could have left everything buried and no cataclysmic events would have happened again. That said, we also wouldn't have this book. I loved learning more about a border city in the south and life in Mexico, especially when things were different 40 years ago and I was way too young to understand anything going in the world, i.e. a financial crisis and the earthquake that took so many lives. I liked the writing but did feel on the whole things were a bit disconnected. I will read another book as this was the author's debut, and hopefully the sophomore effort evens out the gaps in how she tells her stories.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

I think it is important to note that I actually started More Than You'll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez twice. The first time I was trying to work and listen to the audiobook at the same time, and it just wasn't working for me. I thought it was too slow and nothing was happening, but also had to acknowledge that I wasn't paying very close attention. So, I decided to restart it and give it my full attention and guess what, I loved it! The story alternates between Cassie in 2017 and Lore (Delores Rivera) in 1983, and I loved both stories equally. Cassie's viewpoint gave me that true crime/journalist quality while Lore's viewpoint gave me the backstory and character arc, I never knew I needed. Granted, Lore's backstory was more interesting for me, but I loved the way this allowed the reader to really get to know both of them.

I thought the audiobook for More Than You'll Ever Know was tremendous, and I loved both of the narrators, Inés del Castillo & Yareli Arizmendi. They truly brought the book and characters to life for me and felt absolutely perfect for the story. This book is indeed on the slower side, so the audio with Castillo & Arizmendi's narration really helped me with pacing as well. There are some Spanish words used in the novel that don't get explained, so you may have to do some Googling if you feel like you're missing something. This did provide a very authentic feel for the characters though, and I can understand why Gutierrez made this choice. I was so invested in seeing how the story played out that I was basically blindsided by the end and wasn't mad that I didn't figure it out. So, who should read this? If you like literary fiction with an air of romance, intrigue, and mystery as well as potentially unlikeable characters (looking at you Cassie) - More Than You'll Ever Know is for you.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Tina Loves To Read]

This is a Mystery Thriller. I had high hopes for this book, but I have to say it let me down. I ended up DNFing this book at page 100. The characters in this book to me did not have a personally or made me feel anything for them. The characters did not shine or feel totally developed. I also felt the pacing of this story was way too slow. With how I felt about the characters and the pacing I just overall felt the story was dry. This was just not the book for me. I won a Paperback copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

[Fiona Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dolores – better known as Lore – Riviera knew she shouldn’t dance with the handsome stranger who wasn’t her husband, knew she shouldn’t climb on the back of his motorcycle, knew she shouldn’t meet with him again after that first night in 1985.

But even she couldn’t have known how tragic an unravelling it would lead to, how allowing herself to make those mistakes could lead to even more trouble than she imagined in her worst dreams. Twenty-two years later, reporter Cassie Bowman is driven by her own tragic past to uncover the whole story behind a murder whose headlines intrigued her – and to capture it, she’ll need to talk to the only woman who really knows the truth.

Told in alternating timelines and viewpoints, More Than You’ll Ever Know is so much more than just a search for the truth. Don’t get me wrong – that part of the storyline is gripping, and I absolutely needed to know the story of how it all went down. But to race to that ending would be to miss a stunning novel – a beautifully-written portrayal of family, of the second coming-of-age that is getting to know the truest part of yourself rather than a number that can be reached by anyone.

It’s her expertise that gives More Than You’ll Ever Know the nuance and consideration needed to keep it from sensationalism. Bigamy isn’t excusable just because the perpetrator is female, and the book never tries to sway the reader into thinking that it is. But bad decisions never happen in a vacuum, and Lore felt real, human, and it was easy to see how stuck she was, feeling like she was playing roles in support of other lives rather than truly living her own. Cassie, too, while not the focus of the story, was a fully realized individual, one who had plenty of her own concerns – she wasn’t relegated to a key to Lore’s truth, but even found some of her own along the way.

Katie Gutierrez may be a debut author, but she writes with an insight and confidence that usually belong to much more seasoned writers. I so enjoyed this first of her novels – and I’ll be here waiting for the next.

This review originally appeared on mysteryandsuspense.com

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to know all my possible selves, live every possible life.

Gutierrez has created a wonderfully layered character in Lores - a woman who loves her husband, sons and family passionately, but who also wants to explore other sides of her self, of who she could be, of who she is as a woman beyond the shaping constructs of 'wife', 'mother', 'sister', 'daughter'.

What makes this stand out from many books that focus on an unruly woman who desires more than society has deemed she should, is that Gutierrez doesn't fall into a simple ideological position where disruptive women are always punished and, preferably, rescued by a man. Lores has a form of agency, albeit willingly compromised, that is quite rare in fiction.

The writing is not flashy or conspicuously 'literary' but is fluent and involving - I found this completely immersive from the start but, as the book rolls out, the alterative story of young journalist Cassie seems to intrude unnecessarily. The switched narrators mostly works well but the book does start to get a bit bogged down in the last quarter and some strict editing would have been good. Ditto the final turn to a 's/he did it... no, s/he did... no...' which got a little comical and smacked too much of Hollywood screenplay. With about 80% of the book focusing on personal drama, the last minute attempt to turn it into a murder mystery fell flat for me.

But that's not to take away from this as both a gripping page-turner and a book with important things to say about female social roles and selfhood.

Many thanks to Penguin for an ARC via NetGalley

[Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

90% of this was SO incredibly boring for me. The only reasons I didn’t DNF was because 1) it was a GMA book club pick & 2) I was intrigued by the plot and was REALLY hoping for some sort of suspenseful and thrilling elements as the 400+ page book went on…. I kept telling myself “it’s going to get better, it’s going to get better….” But it didn’t get much better.

The marketing for this one is way off IMO and I think that realllllly made this one turn out to be an underwhelming read for me. Going into this one, I was expecting such juicy, dark drama with a murder mystery/thriller feel. This is NOT a thriller & honestly barely had any mystery elements, either. It’s more like a historical drama…

What a LONG, slow burn.. this book could’ve been half the length tbh.

Did not love it.

[May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely could not put this book down! My head is still spinning!! Enthralling, breathtaking, and propulsive, More Than You'll Ever Know is the kind of book that only comes around once every decade. With hypnotic, shimmering prose set against a masterful plot, Katie Gutierrez has crafted an explosive modern classic--a groundbreaking, razor-sharp exploration of what it means to be a woman in all its complexity, as well as a deep dive into the morally gray areas of the double lives we all lead. Equal parts literary tour de force and domestic suspense, with a sweeping, sprawling narrative, More Than You'll Ever Know is poised to become the buzziest book of the year.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this.

Elegance in the writing, beautifully atmospheric with two hugely engaging central characters and an emotionally charged plot that is wonderful to read.

The story was thought provoking and very real, the settings popped and I loved both Cassie and Lore, drawn together by a long ago crime and the truth they are seeking

I adored it first page to last. Another possible no 1 of the year for me.

[Jordan (Jordy’s Book Club) · Rating 3 out of 5]

QUICK TAKE: first of all, love the cover. Unfortunately, I struggled with this book that totters between a journalist investigating a Dateline-esque murder mystery and the woman at the center of said mystery. I was bored by both timelines and I think in an oversaturated marketplace of thrillers and domestic suspense novels, this one just didn't rise to the top for me.

[Erin (from Long Island, NY) · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some mystery aspects, but this story is definitely more of a character study than a thriller. The author did a great job helping us see how something unbelievable could actually be possible, maybe even understandable. I enjoyed both storylines, Lore’s & Cassie’s.. & what they brought out in each other. I listened to the audiobook & would recommend it when you’re in the mood for some storytelling.

[Aoife Cassidy McM · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a little mystified by the hype around this one. A Good Morning America book club pick billed as a true crime thriller, this was like a long, melodramatic telenovela mashed up with a boring true crime podcast where the host blathers on for ages before getting to the meat of the story. I kept reading, hoping it would get better. It didn’t.

Dolores (Lore) Rivera is a married mother of twin boys when she meets the handsome philosophy professor Andres on a business trip to Mexico City(/DF) in 1983. Dissatisfied with the state of her marriage to Fabian and falling head over heels for Andres, Lore embarks on a passionate secret affair with Andres, culminating in their marriage and her new life as a bigamist.

Cassie is a true crime blogger and writer who stumbles upon Lore’s story when she reads about Andres’ violent death. Fascinated by what drove Lore to commit bigamy and lead a secret double life, Cassie makes contact with Lore and is met with more than she bargained for when she begins to scratch the surface of the story.

I have several gripes about this book (a cast of characters that were for the most part neither likeable nor interesting, an unnecessary amount of detail provided which led to a lot of repetition, a lot of detail about Cassie’s own backstory which proved largely irrelevant) but my chief complaint is the length of the book. It’s a story that could have been told in 300 pages or less but is dragged out to 435 pages.

The book had potential - I felt there was an direction it could have taken that resulted in a different ending. How the book panned out in the end however was very disappointing. I’m afraid it’s a no from me this time. 2/5 ⭐️

[Louise Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1985, Dolores "Lore" Rivera marries Andres Russo in Mexico City. even though she's already married to Fabian Rivera in Laredo, Texas, and they share twin sons. Through her career as an international banker, Lore split her time between two countries and two families - until the truth is revealed and one husband is arrested for the murdering another.

In 2017, while trawling the internet, for the latest, most sensational news reports, struggling true-crime writer Cassie Bowman encounters an article detailing that final tragic act. Cassie is immediately enticed by what is not exposed: Why would a woman - a mother - risk everything for a secret double marriage?

The story is told from Lore's point of view an the story alternates from the 1980s to the present day, 2017. The pace is slow to begin with but it soon picks up. By the third part of the story, the pace is racing. But we do need the slow pace to begin with because of the build-up to the main part. The authors writing style was a little different but it kept the book interesting.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #MichaelJosephPenguin #RandomHouse and the author #KatieGutierrez for my ARC of #MoreThanYoullEverKnow in exchange for an honest review.

[Dallas Strawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is going to end up in my top 10 favorites of the year; yes that’s saying something, I genuinely loved it THAT much. What a remarkable debut novel.

And no, it’s not a thriller. So don’t get your hopes up going into it.

But, it somehow has every single other genre merged into it beautifully, it’s suspenseful, there’s true crime, there’s romance, there’s family drama and lies and deceit, there’s big revealing twists, but it’s not a “thriller”- the way the author was able to craft this story just astounds me, you can see in so many sentences how carefully worded phrasing is, and just the art of storytelling that is present in the prose.

I can’t wait to see this adapted into a limited series or movie; it will be so good!