A review by cath_reads_books
The Other Woman by Sandie Jones

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

Emily starts dating Adam, who then brings a complicated family into her life. Adam’s brother James ends up romantically interested in Emily at one point. Their mother, Pammie, is conniving, manipulative, and downright hostile toward Emily. Through a series of red flags that were visible extremely early on in their relationship, Adam is revealed to be an abusive narcissist, possibly even a psychopath. Despite all this, Emily is determined to make their relationship last, and to “win” against Pammie who is trying her absolute hardest to break up their relationship. 

Later in the book, it’s revealed that Adam actually murdered his first fianceé. Pammie was also abused by her late husband and accidentally killed him one night when they were arguing. Pammie also knew that Adam had murdered his former fianceé, so her trying to drive Emily away from him was for Emily’s own protection. 

I’ve got some huge issues with this book. The first is that none of the characters in this book - including Emily who we’re clearly supposed to fee bad for - are likable. They ALL treat each other terribly. Emily is so hell-bent on “showing” Pammie that she sacrifices her character and becomes an entirely different person. The second issue is that from the start Adam and Emily’s relationship wasn’t worth saving. She was clearly being abused and manipulated very early on, she was aware of it, yet she chose to stay with him. The third issue is that every issue in this book results simply because the characters refuse to openly communicate. Every problem was manufactured and could have been easily solved, but no. And when the truth finally comes out at the end of the novel, Emily and Pammie suddenly become best friends and “forget” all the abuse they put each other through. 

This entire book I couldn’t get over the thought that this is what it looks like when multiple people with untreated mental illness all get involved in each others’ lives. That’s all this book seemed to be.