Monday 30 March 2015

Review: His Other Life by Beth Thomas


"He was hiding a terrible secret . . .
Grace’s new husband Adam seems like the perfect package. Good looking, great job, completely charming – almost too good to be true . . .
So when Adam suddenly disappears from Grace’s life, she is left bewildered and heartbroken. And with a lot of unanswered questions.
As she tries desperately to find him, Grace opens a Pandora’s Box of secrets and lies – and starts to learn that Adam wasn’t so perfect after all.
What shameful secrets was her husband hiding? Is Grace in danger? And can she survive the truth? However terrible it may be . . ."



What a hilarious, funny read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The story follows Grace, whose husband Adam leaves the house one day for a takeaway and doesn't return. This opens up Grace to take a proper look at her marriage – that it was actually a secluded, secretive marriage and that she didn't actually know as much about Adam as she thought.

The writing for this novel is hilarious; Beth has such a brilliant way with words that you are chuckling out loud. She is creative in how she describes situations and feelings in a way that makes you think ‘I wish I could write like that!’

It’s hard to pin down the exact genre of His Other Life. Part chick-lit, part thriller the story is a mixture of love, romance and mystery and I loved it. Bringing the two themes together made what would have been a usual ‘will they won’t they’ storyline more unusual and gripping. The thriller part wasn't obvious – you spend most of the time wondering, like Grace, what exactly happened to Adam and made him walk out and not return.

There wasn't a single character in this book that I didn't like or felt added another interesting element to the story. Adam’s mum Justine is, frankly, a little crackers which adds further intrigue and funny moments. Ginge, her best friend is brilliant and the kind of character you just want to head out to the pub with. She’s supportive in her own unique way and is hilarious while she does it. Grace’s parents are great- her mum is slightly eccentric but caring and her dad reminded me of my own, sensitive and caring and always giving her a bear hug. The family dynamic took me back to my teenage years and was a great element to the story. Finally, I need to talk about Matt. Matt is Ginges brother and has known Grace for most of her life. Gone is his geeky demeanor and emo hair and is replaced with a serious, handsome copper who wants to help Grace through a difficult time. Matt had me swooning – he’s charming, funny and a really, really nice guy. Part of me thought ‘do men like him really exist, he seems to perfect!’ – maybe they don’t, but he’s a great character and one of the few I've read recently that jumped off the page at me.

If you haven’t read this book yet, what are you waiting for? It’s a funny, easy read with a great element of mystery and intrigue that makes you want to read on and on until you've finished. You may get some funny looks from people as you crack up at some of the one liners (a business man in Costa coffee thought I’d lost it slightly as I chuckled away at my ipad) but it a great read and one I’d highly recommend. I hadn't read any of Beth’s other books before, but her previous novel Carry You is now on my to-read list. 

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