My Other Husband: the heart-stopping new novel from the queen of the big reveal

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I was really excited about what I thought was being built up to, but it ended up going off on a completely different tangent to the one I was expecting. I didn’t know what to expect from this book, I really had no clue what would happen and how it would end. Written with a clear and non-judgemental insight into the human psyche, the story gathers pace and left me breathless. The plot was unique and unpredictable, and the twist at the end which I completely did not see coming. Rating: Thank you to the publishers for a free advanced copy and the goodies in the photo below in exchange for an honest review.

I use my writing to try to explore what I’m feeling, I try to get into the heads of other people so I can see things from their point of view. However, as she drafts her final ever episode her life turns upside down and people she knows start getting hurt and it soon becomes clear that someone is trying to frame her for murder and she thinks she knows why.As well as the main plot, Dorothy Koomson also makes important social commentary on how Black characters are removed or stereotyped from novels and TV shows and how it has to stop. I really enjoyed this book, maybe it was the different perspectives and the forced breaks in between which added to the reading experience. I haven’t read anything by Dorothy Koomson before, but I will definitely be checking out her other books now, and I 100% this being on your 2022 must-read list.

I have to admit, this is a huge plus point for me as Brighton is my hometown, so I love reading novels set there. As the reader gets to know more about modern-day Cleo, we are also taken back twenty-five years to when Cleo was a university student. A autora vai nos dando migalhas para irmos construindo o puzzle e quando as peças estão quase todas é incrível. Dorothy Koomson always knows how to pull her readers into a storyline and keep you completely wrapped up in the protagonist’s lives. I absolutely love in books when an author takes a fact, such as this and uses it, expands it and builds a very intriguing interesting character such as this.The story then flips back to her student days where she first meets Heath, a fellow student who develops an obsession with Cleo that never ends. All the words, no matter how pretty, no matter how clever, if they don’t come from the heart, they mean nothing. But now she has decided to walk away from it all including her husband, Wallace, before her past secrets catch up with her.

We’re taken back to Cleo’s life when she first met Heath, how Trina said he was so ‘intense’ and it evolved over time that his relationship with Cleo in his mind was so magical that he had to do whatever he could to keep her in his life. The story has a dual timeline - Cleo wants a divorce in the present day from her husband she's clearly still in love with. We spend a lot of time categorising people, while forgetting that very few of us sit in these categories neatly and stay there – we all fit into multiple categories. I appreciated how the theme of obsession was used throughout, but I just wanted to see more from a certain character.She just didn’t feel very realistic to me, which isn’t a problem I’ve ever had before with Koomson’s characters. This time it took a few pages in before I could say I enjoyed it but my goodness, literally I could not turn the pages quick enough to see what was going to happen.

It’s hard to say too much because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who might be thinking of reading it. Although this is a clever, multi layered slow burner there are some jaw to the floor reveals with information bombs that explode your expectations and opinions of certain characters. I had high hopes for this book after seeing all the rave reviews but ultimately it fell flat for me very early one. Overall, it was a really good read and if you like the slow simmering burner style of books then this one is for you. Dorothy was featured on the 2021 Powerlist as one of the most influential Black people in Britain and appeared in GQ Style as a Black British trailblazer.Her published titles include: Tell Me Your Secret, The Brighton Mermaid, The Friend, When I Was Invisible, That Girl From Nowhere, The Flavours of Love, The Woman He Loved Before, Goodnight, Beautiful and The Chocolate Run. I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Headline via NetGalley and this review is my own unbiased opinion. But now she has decided to walk away from it all - including divorcing her husband, Wallace - before her past secrets catch up with her. Never one to rest on her laurels, Dorothy Koomson really takes things to another level with My Other Husband. But now she has decided to walk away from it all – including divorcing her husband, Wallace – before her past secrets catch up with her.