Every Vow You Break

by Peter Swanson

From the Sunday Times bestselling auithor of The Kind Worth Killing and Rules for Perfect Murders.What if your dream honeymoon became your worst nightmare?'Deeply entertaining.' New York Times'Glamorous, dark and terrifying ... You'll struggle not to read it in one sitting.' IndependentWhen Abigail Baskin marries millionaire Bruce Lamb her life seems perfect.Until, on their remote island honeymoon she recognises a charismatic stranger...As the island closes in can she outrun the lies that surround her marriage?What readers are 'Chilling, extremely dark and suspenseful.''I read the book in one breathless sitting.''A real shocker of an ending.''Peter Swanson's masterful writing continues to wow me.''The twists are so unique.''A roller coaster ride.''A totally addictive nail biting thriller. I could not put this down.'

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

319 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 2021

About the author

Peter Swanson is the author of six novels including The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year, and his most recent thriller, Eight Perfect Murders. His books have been translated into 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine.

A graduate of Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College, he lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife and cat.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Seriously, you need to tell Bruce about this. You need to get off that island."

I'll start with, simply: I enjoyed Every Vow You Break. Quite a lot, actually, but I can also see right away why a lot of people won't. I think realistic expectations will help going into this. If you ask me, this book barely belongs in the mystery/thriller genre. I'd say Swanson is moving away from that genre and taking a good few steps into horror or dystopia with this book. There's nothing supernatural in the story, per se, but it does veer off into a highly implausible (though, for me, compelling) plot.

I came up with a comparison I like. Did you enjoy the 2020 film The Invisible Man with Elizabeth Moss? I found that film absolutely riveting, awful, anxiety-inducing... impossible to look away from. Obviously, it's also a kinda wacky concept, and I think Every Vow You Break has a similar vibe. It's also about the messed up gaslighting emotionally-abusive shit that men do to women.

If that sounds acceptable to you, step right up. But it now makes complete sense to me why the average rating for this book is pretty low... because I imagine most people went into this expecting a standard twisty thriller. In fact, I'd say this is far more fear/tension/action-based than it is based on clever twists. The first twist is so transparent that I'm actually not 100% sure it was supposed to be a twist.

The book follows Abigail Baskin who is marrying Bruce, the man of her dreams. He's a wealthy, stable, good guy and they're about to spend their life together. Then Abigail does something stupid. At her bachelorette party, she gets drunk and sleeps with a man she's just met. But it was a one time thing, a terrible mistake, and she intends to forget all about it. Until that same man turns up on the idyllic honeymoon island where she is vacationing with her new husband. Until he keeps following her. Until she sees a fellow guest on the island running through the woods, bleeding.

Trapped on the island with her new husband, the guy she had a one-night-stand with, and who knows what other horrors, Abigail has to find out what is going on and learn the true identity of the man who refuses to let her go.

It's some scary shit, I'm telling you. This whole creepy island setting with cabins in the forest has a real Friday The 13th feel to it (the original 1980 one; I haven't seen the others). And it is ultimately about the lengths men will go to in order to control and punish women.

If you're on the lookout for a clever psychological thriller, I would skip this one. Give Swanson's The Kind Worth Killing or Before She Knew Him a go instead. I almost lowered my rating to factor in what I know other people's disappointed reactions will be to this book, but it would be disingenuous. I rate based on how I feel, and I couldn't put this one down. Would make a great film, I think.

As well as the emotional abuse and gaslighting noted above, an additional warning for mentions of suicide.

[Emily (Books with Emily Fox on Youtube) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best part of this book is the ending.

Someone commented "this book wants to be feminist but comes off as misogynistic" and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It's predictable but you'll definitely go through it fast. It made me feel uncomfortable but not in an enjoyable way.

Every character in there sucks, except maybe the main female character's mom.

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy book birthday! And here comes my semi unpopular review! 🙈🙈🙈

3.25 stars stay as 3 it was totally above average but I hate the guts of her heroine and reading about past sexcapades stars!

I was so close to give 4 stars and like this book a little more because of:
- Slow burn high tension story telling and the delicious second half when things get uncontrollably delirious, shockingly lunatic! You keep popping your eyes, holding tightly your dropping jaw and screaming like Jamie Lee Curtis
- Haunted island premise, cut out of civilized world, weird stuff members lurking around , the place slowly closes on you were also perfect definition of escalating high tension thriller!
- Movie references of the story also worked so fine for a horror movie fan for me! I wish the heroine used her inner knowledge to save herself from the predicament faster!
- The blurb was intriguing! You have one night naughty stand at your bachelor party and the guy gets obsessed with you enough to stalk you at your own wedding and honeymoon! Yes, another batshit crazy character alert promises us an intriguing suspense story !

But... yes, here comes my ominous but...
If I didn’t read the author’s previous amazing works, I wouldn’t be tough bitchy grader! Those perfect and extremely nail biting, perfectly mind spinning books raised my expectations so much! I want something rock my world, make me forget my own reality! This book was okay but not freaking good!

I enjoyed the last parts which were whirlwind, mind numbingly action packed! But let’s be honest, the main twist we’re talking about it’s not even a twist! We can see it, feel it, even we can touch it from the beginning!

There are so many red flags flying around the heroine like Disney cartoon blue birds promising something awestruck! And from the beginning, Abigail was flat and not so adorable character to connect with! When a gazillionaire proposes you to pay your student credits, telling you this is the love at first at your first meeting, you should look around to find where the candid cameras placed before accepting his offer. That girl might be so narcissistic who can easily think everybody falls for her so easily or she must be the biggest fool accepting her too good to be true relationship and her husband’s weird honeymoon choice!

Overall: it’s still one of the good and smart thrillers I’ve recently read! I’m telling you guys, you may think dnf this book but please don’t! It’s slow burn and it deserves more of your patience. If I liked MCs just little bit more and if I get through the first third a little happier, I could give it more points without thinking any further. But I compared this book with the author’s previous works which made me leave at semi-satisfied state!

[ELLIAS (elliasreads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

well.....wtf.

it's a strong NO from me.

Probably the most predictable thriller I've read. Noobs would eat this up though.

2 STARS
(Liveshow for the book with my thoughts will be on Kayla's channel for her book club!!)
Twitter | Bookstagram | Youtube |

[Jayme · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are having doubts about whether or not you should be getting married while at your “Bachelorette” party-maybe you shouldn’t be going through with the wedding?

If you think a good way to figure out if your doubts are legitimate, would be to test your feelings by sleeping with someone else-perhaps you already have your answer?

If your honeymoon destination requires a small airplane to take you to and from the Island, will you feel it’s romantic or will that make you feel trapped?

Would you change your answer to the last question if the man you “tested your theory with” shows up there? 😱

Yes, the premise sounded amazing, especially because the author wrote my all time favorite thriller-“The Kind Worth Killing” but unfortunately, this time around, two stars feels generous! 🙄

And, it really pains me to say that. 😟

I was able to predict where this was headed from the start, AND then the actual resolution was even more implausible than I could have imagined.

SORRY.
But, I didn’t enjoy how this concluded, at all.

Every book has a reader who will love it-this time it wasn’t me-but, perhaps it will be you?

Thank you to my Secret Santa for providing a copy! 🎅

This book will be released March 23, 2021

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of Peter Swanson's latest psychological thriller is a line in the song Every Breath You Take by The Police, I had its sinister overtones playing in my head, so apt in what unfolds in the story. Abigail grew up helping her parents run the Boxgrove Theatre Company summer productions, although her parents have now split up. She moved up to New York, finding a job working for a small publisher. After a string of relationship fails with men and one woman, she meets Bruce Lamb, a self made Silicon Valley tech billionaire and within a short period, he falls in love and proposes. In comparison to her past personal history, Bruce appeals to Abigail for a number of reasons, he is level headed, logical, kind, generous and an all round good guy, and for a woman who had lived with constant financial fears and insecurities, his wealth is certainly an attractive factor.

The couple become engaged, with Abigail organising the wedding, no expense spared, and Bruce in charge of their honeymoon. At her bachelorette party in California, paid for by Bruce, a drunk Abigail with some fleeting doubts about her upcoming marriage, ends up sleeping with a stranger, choosing to call him Scottie, and she becomes Madeleine, references to Hitchcock's movie, Vertigo. Upon returning to New York, her doubts about Bruce vanish as her wedding approaches, but her life is about to become a nightmare when she spots 'Scottie' and later receives an email from him, he wants to be with her, certain they are destined to be soulmates. Fearful of the potential it has to ruin everything, Abigail's wedding goes ahead, although she thinks she might have seen Scottie there. The idyllic honeymoon is on the remote and exclusive Heart Pond Island, off the Maine coast, with no internet access and no phones allowed so the guests can make the most of the simple life, albeit served hand and foot, with gourmet food and alcohol.

Abigail goes into shock when 'Scottie' turns up, a stalker is the last thing she needs, determined to save her marriage, her life nevertheless begins to spiral out of control, a situation that develops into what she labels a horror movie, and lets just say that she is not wrong. This is a chilling story, with barely any likeable characters, although I have to say that I did feel for Abigail and the disturbingly unsettling ordeal that she finds herself facing. Swanson writes beautifully and I found myself immersed in a read where very little is as it appears. Many thanks to Faber and Faber for an ARC.

[Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Men are trash

[Holly B ( working on slowly catching up!) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Out of the 6 Swanson books I've read, 4 were 5 stars! This is the only one that didn't work for me! *So I'm upgrading to a 2 star (because others may enjoy it more than I did).

I can't believe that one of my favorite authors wrote this book! I hate writing this review, but this book was so out of sorts.

The first half was like a bad women's fiction, repetitive and uninteresting.

The second half was even worse, nothing thrilling, but definitely ridiculous. I did manage to finish this book. I wanted to give it a chance (chapter after chapter), wondering if it would suddenly surprise me and turn into that Swanson page turner (sadly, no). I would like to read his next book to see if its more on track with his past novels!

Lacking and predictable in so many ways. Throw in a creepy bunch of friends/cult and a honeymoon with so many unexplained plot holes and why not just add some graphic encounters?!

I would love to hear others thoughts about this book.

This one is OUT on March 23, 2021. Arc from NG

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

With a 3.51 rating we can all agree that this book isn't great

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A female protagonist named Abigail Baskin, who had a difficult childhood with divorced parents, now living alone in New York working for a small publisher. She falls in love with a rich guy (from Silicon Valley, in this case). His name is Bruce Lamb. She has a drunken one-night stand with a guy whom she calls Scottie on her bachelorette weekend. Now Scottie is stalking Abigail during her honeymoon. Peter Swanson tells us what will be the ramifications of the actions of Abigail through this novel.


There are, unfortunately, too many cliches in this novel. Still, the authors writing style is good and will keep us glued to the book.

What I learned from this book
1) Social media diet and social media abstinence
The author is telling us how social media is encroaching on all our hobbies, including reading. It is not a frivolous topic that should be considered later but a substantial one that should be discussed in depth. We can see his characters talking about social media abstinence and how it helped them read more books and enjoy their lives.

"I can't tell you how many times in a day I think about checking my phone. Social media abstinence is great. I feel like I lived more in the last few days than in the last few years. I have been swimming every day, painted a picture this morning."

2) How should we act when we see multiple red flags in our relationship?
Abigail is a perfect example of people who belabors in their minds that everything is fine even after they see multiple red flags right in front of their eyes. We can see her confused about her marriage even during her bachelorette weekend. We can see her seeing numerous red flags before, during, and after her marriage and getting perturbed by it. But she writes everything off in the name of love. Abigail is a character who teaches us so many lessons.

“Jesus, why are all the guests men. She suppressed her shiver. ”

3) How a single act of Infidelity can ruin your life?
Infidelity is something defined entirely differently by different cultures. But there is no doubt that a single act of disloyalty has the power to destroy your and your children's and even your parent's lives. It is one of the root causes of divorces all over the world. It has become a much more serious problem after the advent of social media. How to deal with the situation when you find out your partner can't be trusted is beyond the scope of this review. Peter Swanson tells us how people try to substantiate their adulterous acts and all the problems associated with them in this book.

"Do you believe that there are small pockets of time in space that exists outside of the rest of our lives. Like maybe this is one of them, and anything that happens doesn't count. It will be just forgotten. A secret only between us."

My favourite three lines from this book

“It wasn't just that they were crushed by the failure of their business, they were crushed what people perceived as the failure of their lives.”

“It feels so wrong but it feels so right.”

“There is always one person in each relationship who cared a little more than the other and wasn’t it better to be the person who cared less. ”

What could have been better?
We can see multiple similarities (even though we can't say they are entirely similar) between this book and the books like William golding's Lord of the flies and Lucy Foley's, The Guest list. There are a plethora of cliches in this book. The author gives away too many clues in the initial part itself, making this novel too predictable.

Rating
2/5 This will be somewhat a decent choice for everyone who is new to the world of thrillers.


—————————————————————————
You can also follow me on
Instagram ID - Dasfill | YouTube Channel ID - Dasfill | YouTube Health Channel ID - Dasfill - Health | YouTube Malayalam Channel ID - Dasfill - Malayalam | Threads ID - Dasfill | X ID - Dasfill1 | Snapchat ID - Dasfill | Facebook ID - Dasfill | TikTok ID - Dasfill1

[JanB]

DNF @25%

A truly stupid, unlikable, and boring MC who goes on and on ad nauseam about her past life, including her sex life, and a plot twist I could easily see coming (turns out I was correct), led me to throw this on the dnf pile.

I loved several of the author's previous books, specifically The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders so I'll definitely give his next book a try. This was a total miss.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's lonely out tonight
And the feelin' just got right for a brand new love song
Somebody done somebody wrong song
Hey, wontcha play another somebody done somebody wrong song - B.J. Thomas


Peter Swanson is a given for me. If I see that he has a new book coming out, I am going to read it. Pure and Simple. I do not even need to know the synopsis because I know it is going to be good! So, imagine my surprise when this one did not blow me away. I still enjoyed it and wonder was it me or the book?

Abagail Baskin is so in love with her millionaire finance, Bruce Lamb, that she a one-night stand with another man while on her Bachelorette weekend. Blaming her actions on alcohol, she goes on with her life and becomes a wife.

While on her honeymoon (at a camp where her husband has been before and is part owner) she sees the man, she had sex with on the island. Can things get any messier???? As a matter of fact, yes! yes, they can, and they will! I liked the idea of there being no cell phones or technology, it is your honeymoon for crying out loud, let the sex-capades begin, but at a camp? RED FLAG number one, but at least he did not take her to Camp Crystal Lake! (the couple are horror movies fans in case I lost you there). But...….

An enjoyable book, but it did not entirely wow me. Were my expectations too high because I have loved all the other books I have read by Swanson? Perhaps, they were. The synopsis was intriguing, and some will enjoy this more than I did; so as always, read their reviews as well.

Swanson's writing is still spot on, and he has created characters who are not likeable, and he may fool you a little in this book. You may also, if you are like me, see the red flags. Also, for someone who enjoyed watching horror films, Abagail's character learned nothing from them. Heck, I can name ten things off my head that I learned from watching horror films, but I digress...

There are some twists and turns here and a reveal which may or may not come as a surprise. Again, enjoyable but I had such higher expectations. This will in no way stop me from grabbing Swanson's next book. He is one of my go to author's and will continue to be! For some reason, even though this did not completely blow me away, I can see this being made into a movie. I think this would make for an enjoyable movie.

Thank you to William Morrow and Edelweiss for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own,

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

Peter Swanson is a fantastic mystery author, and this was one of my most anticipated reads. Unfortunately, the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.

Abigail is about to wed Bruce Lamb, a millionaire. Three weeks before her wedding, at her bachelorette party, she meets a man called Scottie. One thing leads to another, and they have intimate relations. It’s unfortunate, but Abigail chalks it up to a drunken evening and moves on.

Cut to the honeymoon at a luxurious campground...now a wooded paradise. Bruce has been there before, but Abigail hasn’t. Everything is fine until Scottie shows up.

It’s best to go in semi-blind, so I’ll leave it at that.

While this is an enticing story that is phenomenally written, I knew where it was going about halfway through. The book lacks genuine twists and the characters aren’t very likable. I would have preferred the plot to go in another direction. I enjoyed it enough, but after reading most of Swanson’s books and loving the twists, I expected more.

I read a physical ARC of this book. It will be available 3/23/21.

[Lindsay L · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Great start, eye-rolling ending.

Abigail and Bruce are on their honeymoon at a secluded, exclusive resort. Abigail starts to notice strange things happening within the resort which Bruce brushes off. Feeling more and more isolated and alone, Abigail begins to wonder if there is more to her husband than she is aware of.

This was an easy, fast-paced, quick read that sucked me in immediately. The characters and storyline were pure entertainment and mindless fun until I reached the halfway point and it took a nosedive into extremely implausible, unrealistic and cringe-worthy territory. I am usually turned off by thrillers when they have extremely unrealistic major plot points and although there were some of those aspects within the characters situations at the start, I was rolling with it and enjoying it for being an escape read. My escapism enjoyment factor left once I hit the major drama within the storyline. I just couldn’t buy into it and my investment was gone.

I can certainly see how many would love this for being a crazy, wild, twisty, unpredictable and mindless read that will leave you shocked and entertained. I simply wasn’t the right reader.

Thank you to Edelweiss for my review copy!

[Kim ~ It’s All About the Thrill]

OMG people...get ready...it now has a blurb and a cover! I can't wait!!! YES! My favorite author! One more reason to look forward to 2021!

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very appropriate title as it turns out, just a pity I’ve had the Police track ‘Every breath you take’ as an ear worm ever since I started the book! However, the lyrics are so apt. I don’t want to say much about the plot as it’s best to go in blind but suffice it to say it all starts to go wrong at Abigail Baskins hen do (can’t say Bachelorette, I’m British!) in California. She’s due to marry multimillionaire Bruce Lamb in a few weeks on the east coast ... which goes ahead and he duly whisks her off to Heart Pond Island for the honeymoon. Abigail narrates the story.

I really like the slow burn build up start of this one. It’s quite understated, reflective, almost introspective to start with and very easy to read. Then the pace picks up and you feel little ripples of unease and a few frissons of fear, like a freezing cold draught on the back of your neck. The island feels surreal and dreamlike which echoes Abigails own dreams which contain some interesting imagery. The sense of unreality deepens and you realise that it’s all quite theatrical which Peter Swanson matches in the many film references. Which film are we in? Well, initially it’s a creepy, claustrophobic one with plenty of suspense and tension. Then at around two thirds of the way through it’s a movie that starts to hurtle towards the edge of a cliff a la Thelma and Louise. Although my jaw plummets on occasions too, it starts to become predictable from this point because I’d figured it out. The build up to the end is far fetched, mad, entertaining and certainly bonkers! It feels a bit hysterical or is that me??!! The ending is a bit abrupt, coming to a somewhat rapid halt. As for the characters, I couldn’t get a handle on Abigail, Bruce is undeveloped and I’d have liked more, the nicest characters are Abigail’s parents and best friend Zoe.

Overall, the author is a fantastic writer and although I have enjoyed this one enough to warrant four stars I don’t think it’s his best book as his twists are usually unpredictable. In this one they are clear to see and so it doesn’t have the same impact.
3-4 stars rounded up.
With thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for the arc for an honest review.

[Tina Loves To Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Suspense Mystery to me. The beginning reads more like a Women's Fiction book then a mystery or a thriller. I did get pulled into this book very quickly. This book is very fast moving. The only character that is really developed is the character (Abigail) we follow, but that is how this story is mint to be to keep the suspense. I have to say the ending is really high suspense and fast pace. I really enjoyed the ending, but I did not think it was Thrilling. Overall, I really enjoyed the storyline and it made me want to keep reading.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear. Peter Swanson, I’m sorry to have to say this, but . . . . .



And by “not your best” I mean this is definitely your worst.

I think this is an example of how sometimes this isn’t always true . . . .



Sometimes when you are a hot commodity like Swanson has become the powers that be push for moremoremoremoremore and you just don’t have it left in the tank so you barf out a hot mess and slap a $20.00 price tag on a giant pile of turds.

So what didn’t work for me with this latest release? Well – EV.ER.Y.THANG. First off, it was only about 200 pages and yet the dramatic reenactment of me reading it would look something like this . . . .



Second, it was soooooooooooooo fucking boring. Was this started as a short story? I mean if it had been 30-50 pages in some sort of anthology maybe I wouldn’t have hated it so much. But oh my lord all the nothing going on was snoozing me the eff out. And the big reveal? That sucker was more run down and tired than I am. I’m also usually all on board with unlikeable/despicable characters, but again there was nothing here. Girl bangs strange on her bachelorette weekend, ignores the warning signs that her husband-to-be just ain’t all there with his love at first sight and no sense of humor and making all the decisions, and then when shit hits the fan and she should be doing this . . . . .



She does things like goes back to make sure she closed the door. I just can’t handle that type of stupid unless it’s a movie where some sorority girl’s big boobies are bouncing around while she runs directly into the serial killer while wearing only her underwear.

Do yourself a favor – read everything else by Peter Swanson and just pretend this one doesn’t exist.

[Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could’ve been so much better if the ending wasn’t so ridiculous. That’s my review.

[Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review published in: https://diagnosisbookaholic.blogspot....

3,5⭐️

Peter Swanson is one of my favorite mystery authors and the one responsible for one of my favorite books of the last years. When "Every vow you break" was announced I think I gave a little squeal, as the premise sounded totally amazing, so I tried by all means (with no success, btw) to get an ARC, cause I couldn't wait till next March to read it. I even included it in my most anticipated books of 2021 list. And then, my not so Secret Santas made me the most amazing early Christmas gift and provided me with a physical copy!

After reading some lukewarm reviews I was a bit afraid to read it and, although I liked it, it is not in the same league as "The kind worth killing", but, being honest, he set the bar very high with that one.

The start was quite slow and I found my mind wandering while reading (so much time waiting for it and now you wander? I wanted to slap myself!), but once the honeymoon starts things got more interesting. First of all, a honeymoon in a summer camp? Yeah, a luxurious one, but a summer camp in the end. Really? Girl, run away. NOW! That's not a way to start a marriage!

None of the characters were specially likable. I would have liked a bit more development in Bruce's character. He went from zero to sixty in an eye blink!

It wasn't hard to predict where the plot was headed and I missed the author's trademark twists and turns I enjoyed so much in some of his previous books. Despite it, the last 20% was completely nerve wracking, so that made up for the lack of twists a little bit.

Was the resolution completely implausible and totally bonkers? Yes. Was the ending a bit abrupt? Yes. Was it fun and mildly satisfying? YES.

Although it is not my favorite Peter Swanson, the very good and engaging writing made me devour this in less than a day.

Thanks, thanks, thanks to my Secret Santas for my copy!

[Katie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit I don't have a perfect rating system. I just kinda go with my gut and tend to place a high value on how much enjoyment I got out of the reading experience especially when it comes to mysteries and thrillers. Every Vow You Break was a popcorn eating type read and that means even though it went in a less than satisfying direction, it still was a fun read for me. The key word in that sentence is me. I totally get why other readers are unhappy with this thriller even though despite the flaws, I liked it.

Abigail is engaged to millionaire, Bruce Lamb. While attending her bachelorette weekend festivities, she sleeps with another man. Whoops! Looking on the bright side, after her drunken one night stand, Abigail is determined to put it behind her and fully commit to spending the rest of her life with Bruce. But there is a kink in her plan as the man she slept with tracks her down and insists they belong together. Sounds like a problem for Abigail!

The premise hooked me in right away as you just know Abigail's life is about to get crazy if stalker guy is going to stick around. The problem with the story is you have a general sense of the direction even if you can't predict the extent of how bonkers things will get in the end. Even I was disappointed the author chose what I consider the easiest path for this thriller.

I didn't bother to pinpoint the moment when things started going downhill but my estimation is I was thoroughly entertained by 3/4 of the book before I got a meh feeling. I don't want to defend the book and I don't want to analyze it to death. I simply enjoyed the reading experience despite not liking everything about the story.

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I must say that I found this book ghastly and not in a good way. The plot was implausible and unpleasant, its conclusion was crazy, and I found none of the characters remotely likeable. People were almost never what they seemed, and neither was the idyllic honeymoon setting.

Abigail believes she is in love with tech billionaire Ben, who clearly adores her. He is kind, generous, stable, a workaholic, and somewhat naive. Her parents are delighted that their wedding is upcoming. A couple of weeks before the wedding, there is an elaborate bachelorette party where Abigail has too much to drink. She is beginning to have second thoughts about her approaching marriage. Does she truly love Ben, or is the marriage based more on his wealth, enabling her to have a secure future?

She becomes sexually involved with a stranger she meets at the party. They have used false names. She regrets the one-night-fling and decides to go ahead with her marriage to Ben. She puts the stranger who she calls Scott out of her mind, relegating him to a drunken mistake and decides not to confess to Ben. To her dismay, she believes she caught a glimpse of him at her wedding.

For their honeymoon, Ben takes her to an exclusive retreat for the very wealthy. It is located on a small island about a 20-minute flight off the coast of Maine. It is a luxurious resort partly owned by Ben as a relaxing retreat for tech millionaires and other wealthy businesspeople. There is plenty of gourmet food, expensive liquor, wooded trails, and a wonderful pool and sauna. Cell phones and computers are not permitted.

To Abigail, it begins to seem slightly strange and later creepy. There is only one other female staff member and another honeymoon couple. She meets the other female guest, who seems distressed. There are far more male staff members to attend to them and provide them with every comfort than there are guests.

Abigail becomes alarmed and horrified to see that Scott is now a psycho stalker who has followed them to the resort. He claims to be madly in love with her and that they are destined to be together. He says he felt a passionate connection to her and knows she felt the same. He threatens her, saying he will inform her husband about her unfaithfulness unless she sleeps with him one more time. Then she will realize that they are meant to be together forever. Abigail is firm and angry with him, telling him it will never happen. This causes a change in Scott, who becomes reasonable to the extent Abigail almost feels she can trust him. Later she sees the other female guest outside her window. She seems distraught and injured. When Abigail goes outside to help her, the woman runs away. The next morning the young woman is missing, but Abigail is assured by the staff that what she saw was not real and that the woman is fine and has left the island. Ben does not believe his wife and considers her delusional.

Abigail pleads with her husband that they leave the island immediately. He agrees but tells her the plane cannot take them until early next morning. When they reach the airfield, Scott shows up and wants to board the plane. What happens next is completely bonkers and absurd. I can understand that some readers will be entertained and pleased with this weird and dangerous twist, but it was too over-the-top for me.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the third Peter Swanson book I’ve read. Unfortunately, it’s my least favorite.
A woman on her bachelorette party hooks up with a one night stand. But he begins stalking her, even showing up on the remote island where she’s honeymooning. But Abigail never felt real to me, let alone her stalker or even her husband.
The story did take some twists I didn’t see coming. But, these weren’t good twists. They were twists that made the story so unbelievable I thought several times about not finishing. I stuck with it only because I only had another 2 hours by that point.
I will give Mr. Swanson another chance but I hope he returns to his prior form.
Karissa Vacker was the narrator. All her male voices sounded the same.

[Melissa (Hiatus due to Death in Family) · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I had not read any of Peter Swanson's previous books, I probably would have rated this one higher than I did. As it stands, I have read them and this one just isn't as clever or as intriguing as the brilliant The Kind Worth Killing or some of his others.

I found Every Vow You Break to be predictable. I didn't really like any of the characters, they all did horrible things and lied about them. I know we're supposed to root for Abigail, but when the book starts off with her recalling cheating on her fiancé during her bachelorette weekend, I couldn't get on her side. I pretty much figured out all of the twists before they happened, and some of the events are just downright silly. The ending...well it is kind of a head shaker/eye roller.

Overall though this is definitely not one of Swanson's best. I think it would make a fantastic Lifetime-style horror movie, especially one where you yell things at the screen like "Why are you doing that?" "Don't go in there!" "Don't trust him!"

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

[Larry H · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the core messages of Peter Swanson's newest thriller, Every Vow You Break , is pretty simple: lying gets you every time.

I have loved a number of Swanson’s thrillers, so I was eagerly anticipating his newest one. But wow, this one just didn’t work for me in the slightest.

Abigail is set to marry Bruce, a wealthy man a few years older than she is. She never thought she’d marry someone with that much money, but that’s not what attracted her to him—it’s his stability.

While in California for her bachelorette party, she meets a man and winds up spending the night with him. They gave each other fake names and she chalked it up as one last fling, nothing to mention to Bruce. And then the guy shows up in New York, claiming he felt something for Abigail and believes she felt the same.

How can she get rid of this guy without confessing her infidelity to Bruce, who prizes fidelity above almost everything? And how did this guy find her in the first place? His reappearance in her life sets off a chain of events that has her questioning whom she can trust, and what is real and what is her imagination.

I don’t want to give anything away so I’ll stop the plot summary at this point. I felt like the setup of the book took a lot longer than it needed to—I was more than 100 pages in and I was wondering when everything would get going—and while the pace definitely picked up, so did the crazy factor. I’m not really good with suspending my disbelief in thrillers and I felt parts of this were preposterous.

A few people whose opinions I often agree with really loved this book, so don’t let my review dissuade you. I will still read Swanson’s next book and hope it’s more like the previous ones of his I’ve loved.

William Morrow Books provided me with a complimentary copy of Every Vow You Break in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.

Check out my list of the best books of the last decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.

[mina reads™️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay y’all were right this sucked

1.5 stars

[Katie Colson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun. Fast. Flashy. Over.
This is like a thriller movie. You’re having a great time. Then the credits roll. You walk out to your car and never think about it again.

Sorry, that sounds so horrible. It’s not. It was a lot of fun. It just won’t stick with me.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Woman meets tech billionaire who immediately proposes. Woman cheats on naive tech billionaire on her hen night - doesn’t tell him. Honeymoon time! On a weird island - something’s up…

If that summary sounds vague, poorly conceived and plain astoopid, then it’s representative of this novel. I’ve only read one other Peter Swanson novel, Rules for Perfect Murders, and it was pretty decent, so I was wholly unprepared for the boring, instantly forgettable rubbish that turned out to be Every Vow You Break.

Stilted characters, contrived scenarios, obvious plot twists, huge stretches of dreariness where nothing happened, bafflingly dumb reveals, a garbage final act worthy of M Night, and an underwhelming finale - this book has it all in spades.

The premise of the protagonist sleeping with some rando on her hen night was so clearly a setup for something more than it was that it wasn’t surprising in the least. And the further “surprise” made all the male characters look like idiot children that it was more amazing that such drivel saw print or that a writer as experienced as Swanson couldn’t come up with anything better and thought this drek would pass muster as convincing motivation.

Beyond the abysmal features of the novel, the absolute worst part was the plodding storytelling. It takes half the novel(!) before anything of note happens - up ‘til then all we see is the premise playing out. Even once things start happening, none of it’s memorable or exciting. If what’s happening comes across as braindead and the characters are uninteresting nobodies - essentially puppets that never convinced you they were real people to even remotely care about - then it’s never going to engage you in the least; and it doesn’t.

Despite this crapfest, I haven’t given up on Swanson - I’m sure some of his earlier books are as decent as Rules for Perfect Murders was. But I still highly recommend steering well clear of Every Vow You Break, which was an utterly dismal reading experience. I take that back - maybe the absolute worst part of the novel is the title which never failed to put that annoying Sting song in my head. What a ghastly concoction this book is!

[Danielle (The Blonde Likes Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

While on her bachelorette trip, Abigail meets a man and confesses to him that she's having some doubts about marrying her fiancé. After having a one night stand with him, she vows to move forward and marry her finacé, having gotten the doubts out of her system.

When her now husband takes her on a surprise honeymoon to a remote island where he knows everyone else there, Abigail starts to feel a little weirded out. When the man she had a one night stand with shows up on the island, she starts to feel REALLY weirded out.

I feel like this book is one that's better to go into blind - the less you know, the better! Even the synopsis of the book gives a little too much away in my opinion.

I struggled to rate this one, because I did love the writing, and felt like it was very engaging. I (regrettably) stayed up until almost 2am reading the book, even though I had to be up early for work the next day. I've always enjoyed Swanson's writing, and this was no exception. That said, the book lacked the twists and turns I've come to know and love in his books. I felt like the direction the story was headed was very obvious from very early on in the book, and it wasn't my favorite ending of all time. I also felt like the ending was a little abrupt. I was hoping for an epilogue or something with a little more information.

Overall, I'd say I'd rate this one 3.5 stars, largely because I did really enjoy most of the book, but felt like the ending and lack of twists and turns was a little bit of a let down.

I'd like to thank William Morrow for my advanced copy of the book. It was my pleasure to provide an honest review. You can read this one 3/23/21.

[Marialyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 disenchanted stars

I am a faithful follower of Peter Swanson as his books have put me in that category I call the "don't stop reading and take the book everywhere" shelf. However, this one, while it did entertain me also provided some epic eye rolling moments and even gave me (no Sherlock Holmes or Nancy Drew genes in this girl) the ability to figure it all out a quarter of the way through.

So, for me this one was disappointing. It just didn't have that "oh my god" factor I have come to expect in this author's thriller, or in other words the thrill went on vacation in this one.

That being said, I did read the story cover to cover as I wondered how our heroine could be so dumb. I mean one does fall in love at first sight, but really "Scottie" (the besotted one), besides being a stalker, fell for Abigail because she had the same eyes and voice as his deceased wife while Abigail fell into the sack with him a week before her upcoming nuptials! Oh please!!! There were numerous other things that powered my eye rolling moments but I will keep you in the dark as to what they were.

Abigail's intended is some sort of billionaire and he doesn't ask her to sign a prenuptial agreement (yea right?. Ok, I lied that was one eye rolling moment).....and he is part owner of an exclusive, hidden away island that the couple will honeymoon at.....and of course it has no internet. It's quite convenient for the dastardly doings about to occur on the island, and add to that, besides one female honeymooner and one female worker, Abigail is the only woman among the men. Me smells a setup!

At any rate, suffice to say, this story was tipping towards entertaining, but just lacked the pow zoom of Swanson's previous efforts. Does it deter me from reading his next books? Absolutely not! I will continue to hope that Swanson gets back his mojo that sent many of us into thriller nirvana.

Two and a half stars for this one with a thanks to Sam Boush for acquiring it for me through NetGalley.