Reviews

The Other Mrs by Mary Kubica

dad_bro_39's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

1313magicway's review against another edition

3.0

The writing was overwrought and made almost all of the characters very unlikeable. The trope it uses to "explain" the mystery was not a good one and I didn't enjoy the ending at all. I was engaged and interested until that trope was introduced.

ajstat's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

jbkreviews's review against another edition

3.0

⤹ 𝙖𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬:

🎧 The Other Mrs. - Mary Kubica

📈 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ★★★

❗ 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ★★★★

…

𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:

I’m going to do my best to review and not spoil “The Other Mrs.”

I’ll be frank—I did not love the first 90% of this book. I didn’t even plan to rate it at one point. I considered DNF-ing a couple of times because it felt so predictable. The last 10% was pretty good though despite the fact that I didn’t love how everything was wrapped up.

The story centers around a specific trope that I was able to figure out very early on. I don’t mind this trope, but I’ve read other books that have done it better. I think what threw me about it was that I couldn’t tell if the writer was purposely making it super obvious for the reader’s journey or if it wasn’t supposed to be obvious. Maybe if I had clarity around that, I would’ve had a more enjoyable experience. I do think someone that has never read a book with this trope would really love and enjoy this one.

I know, I know. So vague. It is just so hard to say what needs to be said without ruining it for someone.

“The Other Mrs.” has been picked up by Netflix to be a film. I will probably watch it.

𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙩 (𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦):

At around 20% I worked out the whole plot except for one piece of the puzzle that popped up near the end of the book that did genuinely surprise me and made me audibly say, “are you kidding me?!” I think this may be because I was so in the weeds on what I thought was Kubica’s intention for a grand twist that I didn’t expect much outside of what I had pieced together. If I hadn’t had those blinders on, I would’ve guessed it. I’m disappointed in myself haha

𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠:

The audiobook was okay. The story is told from a few different POVs with two narrators that did a good job. It didn’t add anything to the story for me though.

winecellarlibrary's review against another edition

4.0

I love psychological thrillers that keep you guessing. The only reason this book merited four and not five stars is because I figured out the twist before it was revealed. I wouldn't consider the twist predictable, and even though I guessed it, I still very much enjoyed reading through to the end. This book does tackle some dark themes, so it should be read with caution.

I received a free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin.

birchcanread's review against another edition

4.0

I really liked this book! The last few chapters had me biting my nails with anticipation

sammiebee's review against another edition

3.0

I was hooked through 75% of the book but the ending really lost me.

adrianafedz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Definitely keeps you guessing and hooks you right away. 

natasha0410's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

vacantbones's review against another edition

3.0

Here's the thing. Mary Kubica and I have a strained relationship. I read her first book and was intrigued by the writing style, and I've read each one since (minus the one where

Spoiler

apparently the whole thing is a dream, because I cannot tolerate that kind of bullshit in my life, okay?

The problem is . . . I don't think I care much for her books, and I feel bad saying that because she is clearly a competent writer. It just always feels like it takes too long to build up to the main event, and then the climax is something of a cool burn. The Other Mrs. was entirely fine, and I'm sure the average, everyday domestic thriller reader will be more than content with it. It just felt far from special to me. Not by any means a bad read, but one that I'll have forgotten within months.

Also, let's talk about the book's "twist."

Spoiler

DID is clearly a hot topic in the last few years, what with its appearance in the film Split and plenty of other pop culture staples since then. But it's entirely worth noting that the existence of DID is still being debated. This is not meant to discredit the existence of people who are experiencing things like alters, but just to raise the point that every single psychiatrist/therapist has a different opinion - some believe that it's a result of coached treatment, others saying that it's a normal response for those having suffered from severe trauma and not necessarily its own disorder. I don't have a fully formed opinion on the subject as someone who merely studied psychology for a few semesters in college, but it's worth noting how fractured the community is around this subject. And there's a character in this book who basically diagnoses Sadie with DID and says all of these different statistics, which is fine and all, but the truth is that the entire psychological community is still trying so hard to fully understand what DID is and what is/isn't included, so I just could not buy Kubica writing about DID like she's a professional when professionals are still trying to wrap their heads around this controversial diagnosis.

I also have a hard time believing that Sadie's manifestation of the disorder would allow her to be a medical professional for as long as she was able, but perhaps the fact that she worked in emergency medicine kept her from slipping into alters. Anyways, that's really kind of moot.

Anyways, this read was fine. Give it a read if your TBR list is running dry or if you're excited for that Netflix adaptation that we're apparently getting, according to the cover of my library copy. *shrug*