First of all, I love reality television. And I love a good parody. I thought The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey would be like Unreal, a parody of The Bachelor type shows, but about the catty the real housewives shows instead. This book was attempting that feat but, unfortunately, falls short. It also has a mystery to solve that seemed like an afterthought.
Eden and Hope are cousins who grew up in a California religious cult. Both have since escaped to jobs in reality television. Eden is the showrunner, who will do anything to get ratings. Hope is the naive new housewife who is married to the son of a possible mafia made man. Carmela is his sister-in-law, Valerie is his ditsy sister, and so on into a Sopranos’esque web of family pride, secrets, and lies.
Both of these themes seem familiar, right? And that is my problem with The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey. Like all parodies, it incorporates the plots of its source material. However, in this case, it takes outrageous, even shocking, shows and makes them less interesting. I find more laughs on The Real Housewives than anything written here. I so wanted this to work but regrettably, it just didn’t. 2 disappointed stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advanced review copy.