His Other Life

by Beth Thomas

[Leah]

Last year I read, and really enjoyed Beth Thomas’s debut novel Carry You. So I was dead excited to read her new book His Other Life, especially after I saw the gorgeous cover *points left* and while the cover accurately represents a scene in the novel, it actually seems like quite a light, fluffy cover compared to the insides of the book. This was a waaaaaaaaay different read to Carry You, and while it looks like a Chick Lit novel and has been packaged like one, it could also quite nicely fit in the mystery genre, because a lot of the novel revolves around Gracie trying to find out a) where Adam has gone and b) why he left all of a sudden, for no reason. Things are kept reasonably lightish, especially whenever Gracie’s best friend Ginger’s brother Matt is around, but it’s not your quintessential Chick Lit novel.

I was so surprised by His Other Life. I was captivated by page one (and dying for a bloody takeaway, every time it was mentioned I might add – not the perfect thing to read about when you’re on day one of a nine day cleanse and you’re not allowed to eat for the first two days) and very interested to know (as Gracie is) what had happened to Adam. Actually, first I was curious why Gracie had married Adam in the first place, because the first impression we get of Gracie is that she blatantly doesn’t trust him. She wants to check his phone, when it bleeps with a text message, and she’s dying to get him out of the way so she can look, just a peek. She checks his locked bedside cabinet “in case it was left open”; she’s comes across quite paranoid, and for a while I wondered why she had married him in the first place, considering she knew barely anything about him, at all. Can it really all be blamed on naivete? I don’t know. I’m fairly naive, people tell me, but even I wouldn’t go in to a marriage with a perfect stranger, and that’s what Adam and Gracie were to each other. I soon got over that, though, because sometimes you just have to read a book for reading’s sake and not think too much about logistics. What do I know about marriage or relationships? I’m single, never been married.

Adam disappears fairly sharpish (for that bloody takeaway!!!!!) and it was an interesting search to see Gracie try and figure out why he’d left and where he’d gone etc. I had no idea and it only clicked a certain way in to the novel what was going on which I assume will be the same for everyone because it becomes obvious from there on, but I take off my hat to Beth Thomas because I didn’t get it until it was blatantly obvious (and for a second or two, I was still taken by the first explanation, which made me feel as stupid as Gracie once the inaccuracy was pointed out).

I really enjoyed His Other Life. Once I got over myself with regards to wondering why Adam and Gracie had got married in the first place, it was such a compelling read. Gracie was a fairly compelling character, too. She annoyed me at times just because I wanted her to be a bit more of an adult, she seemed so young sometimes. I loved her interactions with Matt, and was not the slightest bit surprised she had no idea he had a crush on her. They teamed up very well together, and they could start solving crimes together if they were interested. I can’t wait to see what Beth Thomas does next – she’s quite the maverick writer, which I love! I love that she’s not afraid to write two novels more different to each other, it definitely keeps me intrigued and I’ll be waiting in the metaphorical Amazon line when book three is up for pre-order!