Dorothy Koomson

Kez is asked to go undercover at an elite boarding school where girls have disappeared and a teacher has died. Winifred is given the chance to leave her state school and attend Axton Manor which will give her many opportunities but as a working class black girl she doesn't really fit in and then she disappears as well. What Kez discovers is an institution confident in its power that accepts abuse as part of the development of a female power group.
Well, this is something different! To me it show more starts as an adult Harry Potter and ends as the Hunger Games and it's a breathless ride all the way. I liked the telling of the story from the two perspectives and will forgive the completely preposterous plot because the journey is so good. show less

For me, the unbelievable parts really took away from what could have been an insightful and groundbreaking novel. I think the author took on a very difficult subject (domestic violence and sexual abuse) and did a fantastic job in showing how such a relationship might be instigated and maintained. I think the relationship she portrayed was realistic and heartbreaking. Hard to read in some places because it was so heinous. I also really liked the premise, that one of the girls had been show more imprisoned for murdering her abuser while the other one got away -- and yet, not really because the trauma poisoned her life. This part of the story was very good.

BUT -- there were so many aspects that were just unbelievable to me. How can total strangers recognize Serena from the twenty-year-old case but not her husband or any of her husband's family? How can her husband not see how Serena's strange actions (hiding the knives) and paranoia are a result of some past trauma? Plus, she must have scars from stitches and a medical history of extensive injuries, including broken bones and hospitalization. How does he not notice? He's a doctor for Pete's sake! How could both girls' families -- parents, siblings, grandparents -- not have seen the extensive injuries their abuser inflicted? We're talking broken bones, gashes that need stitches, black eyes and bruises and cuts. And what about their teachers? How could the girls be spending all this time with their abuser, days and nights for years and no one noticed anything wrong or strange? Especially because their families were basically loving and supportive?

Also, there were aspects to both women's relationships with men that really bothered me. Serena's husband Evan is described by the author as 'an almost perfect' man. But he routinely makes big decisions without consulting her, uses their children to manipulate her, and his sudden reversal from being hurt and angry and convinced of her guilt when he discovers her secret, to suddenly being convinced of her innocence when she gets hurt did not make sense to me. And Poppy falls for someone who first deceived her and repeatedly crossed the boundaries which she set, but he was so 'nice and gentle' and treated her well that she ended up falling for him. Ugh. I guess I just wanted Serena and Poppy to be more empowered, especially Poppy after her time in prison. It would have been understandable if their trauma made them choose poor partners, but the men are presented as being these great guys, even though their actions show them to be otherwise. It would have been more interesting to see Poppy become independent as she healed her relationships with her parents, and Serena work to heal the relationship with her husband. As it was, their relationships with men were very one-dimensional.

Lastly, the crime. I figured out who the murderer must be pretty early on. But as presented, it was not believable. Marcus doesn't realize he's stabbing himself multiple times? No way. Marlene comes to his house even though she has a restraining order out against him, and knows how violent he is? No way. Marlene wipes her fingerprints off the knife but misses the place where Poppy's fingerprints are? No way. Too many implausible things. It would have been more interesting if one of the girls HAD been guilty. show less

Last word first: Heartbreaking and sweet, if a little predictable in some ways. Recommended reading.

Synopsis: Kamryn and Adele were best friends for years, right up to the day Kamryn found out Adele had slept with Kamryn's fiance. Broken-hearted, Kamryn ditches her friend, her fiance and her former life and does her best to forget. And she thinks she's succeeded, when Adele's dying request for Kamryn to adopt her daughter brings it all back to the surface. Tegan isn't just Adele's show more daughter... she's also the daughter of Kamryn's former fiance, though he is unaware of it.

My thoughts: There are two things that just make me fall apart - dying mothers and abused children. (That's actually a lie. There are many things in books I find tough to deal with, but those are biggies.) This book serves up both within the first 80 pages.

You'll have guessed already what happens, so I don't really feel like I'm giving you a spoiler when I say that Kamryn (Ryn) decides to adopt Tegan, Adele's daughter. Adele passes away fairly early in the story, though her presence continues to be felt throughout. Ryn has been adamant that she never wants children, so it's both funny and sweet to watch her trying to be mummy to a heartbroken five year old.

Precocious Tegan adds to the fledgling family by adopting Ryn's boss, Luke. The one problem is that Luke really doesn't like Kamryn very much. And in order to finalize the adoption process, Kamryn has to contact Tegan's biological father. Also known as Nate, the man who broke her heart that she hasn't seen since.

I want to emphasize that while there is definitely a strong romance component to this book, the story is more about the relationship between Ryn and Tegan. And to a lesser extent, about Kamryn coming to terms with herself and her past. The story didn't have a whole lot of surprises (though I didn't expect it to end exactly the way it did), but it was highly enjoyable. show less

My Other Husband by Dorothy Koomson is a highly recommended thriller.

The novel opens with Cleo Forsum Pryce being charged with attempted murder but she is not guilty. Then chapters jump back in time to weeks earlier when she begins to take steps to ruin her life. These chapters alternate with chapters set in 1996 when she was a student and best friends with Trina. Weeks before the charge, Cleo is divorcing her husband. and is going to end the successful TV series 'The Baking Detective' based show more on her book. She is sabotaging her own life before her past secrets catch up with her. Now people around her are starting to get hurt and someone is trying to frame her for murder.

The alternating chapters work well to contrast Cleo then and now. She was fun, happy, and carefree and now is obviously carrying a heavy burden. The characters are fully realized and resemble real people, even the antagonists. It is revealed why Cleo is sabotaging her life through the look into her past.

However, the novel does have a a very slow pace after the attention-grabbing opening and doesn't really pick up until after the half-way point. The second half is intense, full of plot twists and suspense. It is a story about obsession, but is also full of murders and revenge. The final denouement is very satisfying. All in all, My Other Husband is a very good thriller but the slow pacing in the first half lessened my enjoyment.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the Hatchette Book Group via NetGalley.
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