It’s book club day! It’s book club day! I’m so excited it’s finally here. I finished The Other Woman weeks ago and have been dying to discuss it with you guys. February’s historical fiction pick is definitely different from the last book and has been highly recommended to me by multiple people. I have a feeling it’s going to be a good one. But let’s start with a discussion of last month’s book first…
Discussion of The Other Woman
I chose this book mainly because it was one of Reese’s Book Club picks and I’ve really loved all of the books she’s recommended so far. This was my least favorite out of the ones I have read, but it was still a good, fast read and I had to know what happened in the end! I gave it a B rating, but I know a lot of you loved it and I definitely want to hear about why you did or didn’t.
The twist: I did end up figuring out the twist pretty early on, mainly because it was so similar to The Wife Between Us and The Last Mrs. Parrish. Did you see it coming? For the record if you haven’t read any of these three books and want to start with one, The Wife Between Us was my personal favorite.
The female lead: What really got to me, however, was the fact that Emily put up with her husband and the whole situation for so long. Adam seemingly had no redeeming qualities and she saw flaws in him from the very beginning. Obviously love can be blind and I’ve been in relationships in the past with some questionable characters, but this seemed way over the top.
In The Wife Between Us and The Last Mrs. Parrish, the men held something over the women’s heads (fear in one and blackmail in the other). In this case, I wanted to keep screaming at Emily to leave him and start fresh! The situation with her mother-in-law and his defending her was obviously out of control. Did anyone else feel that way?
The antagonist: Although she turned from antagonist to side kick at the end, Pammie was by far the best part of this book! She was so deliciously evil and pretty smart in her schemes actually. I mean clearly she was also a crazy person and Emily should probably have stayed far away from the whole dang family.
What did you think? Comment below to let us know and if you want to continue the discussion about this book and any others that you’re loving, join my new Lemon Stripes Book Club Facebook group.
February Book Club: Beneath a Scarlet Sky
When I wrote about my love for WWII novels, I got so many recommendations for Beneath a Scarlet Sky that I bought it immediately. But then I needed a break from the genre because it is so depressing. Now that I’ve given it some time, I am ready to jump back into the WWII books with this one! I started it two nights ago to make sure it was something I really wanted to read with you guys and I’m already hooked.
If you’re joining me this month, be sure to read the preface because the author writes about how he interviewed Pino Lella, the main character in the book, and did years of research to write a fictional story based as closely to reality as possible. Pino was a driver for a top Nazi official in Italy, and I am excited to see where his story takes us.
The book is on the longer side, so I’m going to give everyone a few days to get it in-hand and then a full four weeks to read it. So we can reconvene here on March 13th to discuss.
Don’t forget to join the Lemon Stripes Book Club Facebook group! Photo by Julia Dags.
