rebbemcc's review against another edition
3.0
For a book that I initially thought was “just fine,” I highlighted more passages than I thought I did. There was some really nice writing and even though I didn’t quite buy the lifelong friendship of these particular very different women, the author did a nice job convincing me that deep, abiding friendships like she portrayed are possible.
dduff's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
emmerboo's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mandy98's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kindledspiritsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I’d been meaning to read this one for along time but unfortunately it left me a little cold. The Other’s Gold by Elizabeth Ames tells the story of four friends, Alice, Ji Sun, Margaret and Lainey, who meet in college and become lifelong friends. The novel follows them through college, early adulthood, marriage and motherhood. The narrative of the novel is centred around the worst mistakes that each of the women makes over the course of their lives. For Alice; an accident in her childhood, for Ji Sun; an accusation she makes while at university, for Margaret; a disturbing kiss and for Lainey; a bite from seemingly out of the blue. My main issue with this book is it raised a lot of very serious issues (childhood sexual abuse, postpartum mental illness and infidelity among others) but the author didn’t seem to know what to do with this issues once they’d been raised. I felt the novel stopped in a weird place and left a lot of unresolved issues and questions for the reader. Perhaps this was intentional on the author’s part, but I would have liked a bit more resolution and clarity to this story, particularly regarding Margaret’s ‘mistake’. And without spoiling anything, I would seriously contest the assertion that Ji Sun's worst mistake was the accusation while she was in college!
ralhassan's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
gabbymm1003's review against another edition
5.0
I was blown away by the story and kept looking for reasons to sneak away from daily responsibilities and continue listening. I felt that I was friends with the main characters, loved them as I do my closest friends, cared about their well-being and future. This book also forced me to confront truths about myself, my friends, and society as a whole. It’s easy to acknowledge right from wrong while we’re judging distant stories much disconnected from our own lives. But when it’s you or a loved one and you know them in greater context than just this single incident, the lines become blurred. While I could place myself in some of these situations or could accept some of these incidents due to prior knowledge, some of the “mistakes” made by the main characters I could not fathom - they made me angry, disgusted, enraged, and disappointed in this fictional people. But I also could acknowledge that their personalities and their souls went deeper than their greatest fault, and seeing them more well rounded helped me to forgive these characters and continue to care about their stories. This compassion and acceptance found itself tumbling out of the book and into my own personal life; I’ve been able to see wrongdoers from my past in a more sympathetic light, and have been able to forgive rather than hold the belief that they are just a horrible human with no ability to turn towards goodness and light. This book does not shy away from tough subject matter, but it makes you think of issues in several viewpoints and gives you different perspectives. I absolutely adore this book and cannot wait to read more by this author.
may_brie's review against another edition
2.5
uninspiring and drab. none of the characters felt right