Cover Image: Those Other Women

Those Other Women

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Member Reviews

I enjoyed this book of female solidarity and friendship. Bit of a plodder though and took me a while to get through but glad I stuck with it.

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Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have read a few books by this author and have to honest this was not the best and do not feel I could give an honest review hence the lower score

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Right - ever since I can remember, becoming friends with females has been rather difficult for me to do. I don't know why, but many females have always found a problem with me. It's safe to say now that, as I am friends with multiple females on an online capacity, those women are now genuine friends of mine. But as I say, it's been very difficult and being friends with women offline doesn't get easier.

So, when I began reading 'Those Other Women', I couldn't help but think that the storyline was about a bunch of women who weren't happy with their own lives, became bosom buddies with the 'green eyed monster' and, in all honesty, I thought that they just fancied a moan about everything and nothing. Boy, how wrong was I?!

Yes, in m opinion, the storyline did start off like that. Poppy's life had just been turned upside down and her future was more uncertain than ever. She decided that she didn't want to become a mum, becoming slightly annoyed with the idea that mummies everywhere get given a 'green card' in society and can do as they please. Whether her forum idea was due to her own decision or whether it was because she was bitter about what happened to her, I'm still not sure. Either way, Poppy was determined to get her voice heard, yet she had absolutely no idea how much it was going to blow up. If Poppy and her new group of friends didn't want to become mums, surely they would have wanted to leave the playground antics to the rightful owners?

Females have got to be the most bitchiest gender - the claws come out, the knives get sharpened, and they go in for the kill, yet, underneath all of that bravado lies women with hearts of gold and enough love to power multiple generators. At first I saw women as the first part of that sentence. But, as the story progressed and the characters personalities took a different turn, I ended up seeing the latter. I ended up resonating with characters on both sides of the 'playground' due to the fact I am a mum, and the fact that before I became a mum, my opinion of mummies was similar to Poppy's. Wrongly or rightly, who knows, but everyone has an opinion. What matters most, however, is the way it's delivered.

Nicola Moriarty has completely hit the nail on the head with 'Those Other Women', keeping the whole mummy VS non-mummy debacle very real and relatable. Moriarty could have made the storyline take sides, but she didn't. She could have shoved one of those sides under the bus, but she didn't. Nicola Moriarty chose to write about a topic which is evident in modern day society, whilst keeping the whole theme very neutral without overpowering the reader and making them feel as though they have to choose sides.

I surprised myself with how I reacted to this storyline, especially as near the end I found myself brushing away the tears I never knew had fallen. Watching a group of women, all with completely different outlooks on life, come together and build a wall of solidarity around a woman who needed the strength to go on, empowered me in a way I never knew possible.

'Those Other Women' is proof that nothing is ever as it seems. 'Those Other Women' is also proof that, regardless of whether you have the same opinion as Jane Doe or Joe Bloggs, you can still build a true friendship with another person. I absolutely loved this book with its honesty, empowerment, hilarious anecdotes and strength.

Nicola Moriarty was a firm favourite of mine before I read this book, yet she has gone up like a rocket in my estimations after reading 'Those Other Women', and I urge you all to pick up a copy. This is a fabulous, heart-felt, relatable read which will change your emotions far quicker than the weather.

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Enjoyable read about how things can get out of hand very easily, especially where there's opposing groups of women involved!

Poppy is one of the main characters and she thought her life was going along great, until her husband and best friend announce they're in love and having a baby, even though Poppy and her husband had both agreed that neither one of them wanted children when they got married.

So Poppy moves out and gets an apartment in the same place as her new friend and work colleague Annalise. They are also fed up with women in their company taking time off for various child related things, leaving them to do the work left, and on hearing about a Facebook group just for mothers decide to set up their own group for women who just don't want children and don't want to be made to feel guilty because of that.

Of course the mother group hears about the non-mother group (NOPs), along with a few run-ins in pubs/restaurants with the mothers with children (MOPs), and things start getting completely out of hand with nasty messages posted and the small group turns into a larger, more bitchy group, along with an infiltrator in the non-mother group who no-one can initially find.

Poppy did irritate me a bit I must admit. She was quite judgemental and only seemed to see her side of things. She could be quite bitchy and both her and Annalise jumped to a wrong conclusion without proof, which could have (and very nearly did) go badly wrong. I can totally understand her feeling betrayed and wanting a bit of revenge, but when things started getting really out of hand, and she started panicking about the direction the group was taking, she should have stepped in and said something as she was the founder. Annalise also had secrets which we start to find more about as the book goes on.

The second half of the book starts to focus more on Annalise and Frankie, another of Poppy and Annalise's co-workers, who they have been, again, been rather bitchy to. I really liked Frankie, probably the only character who had any redeeming qualities to be honest! Things come to a head when both the MOPs and NOPs run into each other on a dinner and drinks outing on a boat and secrets are revealed and near disasters happen.

So it just goes to show how things can really get out of hand on social media sites, because some people feel a lot braver when they're just posting messages online and don't have to deal with the fall-out in real life, or the actual people behind the names. There are real people involved, with real feelings, and when it's just messages flying back and forth these feelings and certain situations the person may be in aren't taken into account.

A very thought provoking book that got better in the second half and kept me turning the pages.

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Those Other Women by Nicola Moriarty is one of those books you pick up thinking you’ll read a couple of chapters then the next thing an hour has passed.

In a baby obsessed world, Poppy’s family just can’t understand why she doesn’t want kids. Then she experiences the ultimate betrayal and ends up moving her life to the city where she becomes best friends with Annalise and their Facebook group is born.

This book has great characters, it’s well written and flows easily. If you enjoyed The Fifth Letter then you’ll love his book too.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK Michael Joseph and the author for the chance to review.

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I loved Nicola’s first book, The Fifth Letter, so I was very excited to be offered the chance to read an early copy of the book.

Nicola is fantastic at writing stories about realistic situations that could actually happen. As a mother myself I have heard mainly the mother’s side of the story so it was fascinating to go behind the scenes and hear the other side of the argument. I think I now understand a little more about the frustrations women without children must feel and the prejudices they face on a daily basis. I do hope however that things in my home town don’t errupt quite the way they do in the book.

Some of the situations described in the book are so spot on and are things that I have experienced in my time as a mum too. For example I often try to hide from my kids in the toilet just to get a few minutes peace! I found myself laughing out loud at some of the descriptions and situations in the book. Nicola has definitely observed or experienced some of these things as they are just too realistic!

I didn’t really warm to any of the woman in the book as the story meant it was quite hard to. Out of all the characters I did have a bit of a soft spot for Poppy as I did feel sorry for her when everything starts going wrong and the safety net she has built for herself suddenly unravels. She did seem quite bitchy and full of herself at times though which made it hard for me to like her completely.

For me this was a slow moving book but that was half of the fun of it as it allows the reader time to get to understand the situation and the women more so you are more involved in the story and more shocked about the events that happen. The pace gradually picks up towards the end of the book and I was definitely intrigued until the last page.

This is Nicola Moriarty’s second book and the second one I have read. I can’t wait to read more from her as her stories are always original and relatable ones.

Huge thanks to Sam Deacon from Michael St Joseph publishers for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

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It's all very well promising to write a review in return for a copy of a book, but this is where it gets difficult. I didn't like 'Those Other Women.' Please bear with me here because I have read through many other reviews that have praised it and provided excellent scores and I do seem to be very much in the minority. As I always say, mine is an entirely subjective point of view, and perhaps it wasn't the right time for me to read this book and enjoy it, or maybe it just isn't for me. Who knows.
I can however provide a reasonable explanation of exactly why I didn't like this book.
I didn't like the characters; they were snarky (this is a brilliant American word that says it all!) and unkind, and I just didn't want to spend time in their company.
An awful lot of time was spent on Facebook worrying about what other people on Facebook thought - people that the characters had never even met! I have many concerns about the hold that Facebook has over peoples' lives, and in particular those who are growing up without ever having lived in a world where Facebook and other social media didn't exist. I'm sure that Nicola Moriarty was using her book as a platform to make this point about Facebook, but again, I didn't want to spend time in the company of characters who spent all their time worrying about the people in a cyber world rather than the real one they actually inhabited.
I'm sure the fact that the book affected me as it did, means that the author has been successful in highlighting a very real problem with the modern world that has touched a nerve in me so that I couldn't enjoy what I was reading.
Readers! Read 'Those Other Women,' and make up your own minds!

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Good read, some interesting arguments come up as to the subject matter and was interesting at times to look at something from both perspective

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Well written and interesting enough to keep my attention. The book revolves around Poppy, whose husband left her for her best friend. A few months later Poppy is still miserable but develops a new friendship with the fun-loving Annalise. Together they create a new Facebook group specifically for the non-mothers in their town. What started off as a bit of fun and an outlet to chat with like-minded women quickly spirals into something rather more sinister when Poppy drunkenly issues a challenge. Great fun and also thought-provoking how social media can spin out of control and affect communities.

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I really struggled with this book. I thought it would be a really interesting debate about the choice to have children or not but I found the debate was lost. I didn't gel with the main character and found it confusing in parts. It wasn't for me I'm afraid.

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Entertaining but soap opera style book, light and frothy after more of a hard edged start. The basic theme is how harshly women judge themselves and other women. A worthy theme but not hard hitting enough to make you sit up and take notice. Characters very two dimensional. Great if you like this sort of thing, but a disappointment to me.

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I really enjoyed this book. The humour and the storyline are very good. I laughed a lot through it. The characters were good and believable and kept me reading. A good book to curl up on the sofa with .

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I fell in love with Nikola’s writing when I read her debut The Fifth Letter. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to read her next book, Those Other Women. Like her debut, Those Other Women is a wonderful, engrossing read right from the first to the last page.

The story begins at the end of Poppy’s marriage. Her husband has left her for her best friend. One thing that is very clear about Poppy is the fact that she doesn’t want kids. She seems to have found the perfect new friend, Annalise who also doesn’t want kids. The two ladies form a Facebook group with other like-minded women in their town. However, there is a rival group for mothers in the same town. The two groups soon clash providing readers with an entertaining, emotional and relatable story.

I wasn’t so sure that I’d enjoy this title as much. I didn’t expect to connect with Poppy. I don’t have kids but I do want to have them someday unlike Poppy. However, I totally found myself relating with her. There are some issues that non-mothers raised that had me nodding my head in agreement. Some of the concerns that they raised about the workplace were things that I have experienced. I won’t lie; I was totally on the side of the non-moms at this point. I wanted to get placards and picket. However, the author masterfully ensured that I was also able to see things from the moms’ perspective.

This is a story about womanhood, motherhood and friendships. I love how the author also covered social media illustrating the benefits and perils of online connections. Told through three main POVs, the story has well crafted, memorable characters that had me totally immersed in the narrative. The themes were very well developed and I like the fact that the book allowed me to think about womanhood from different perspectives. I also love the fact that I could identify with different characters in the book. They were so relatable that it felt like I was reading about women that I know and not fictional characters.

This was definitely an emotional read for me. The book had me smiling, laughing and crying.I was able to connect with the women and share in their joys and sadness. I enjoyed spending time with the characters and was sad when I got to the last page and had to say goodbye. I have no doubt that these characters and their stories will stay with me for a long time. If you are looking for an engrossing, well-written women’s fiction then you need to read Those Other Women by Nicola Moriarty. What a beautiful, moving story!

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I knew from the first chapter that this was going to be a great read and I wasn't wrong. This is another fab story from Nicola Moriarty that keeps you interested to the very end.
I was soon wrapped up in the characters lives, and didn't want the book to end. The characters were believable and the story was so well written and focused on real issues.
Those Other Women is a light hearted modern tale filled with dark humour which I really enjoyed and recommend.

Thank you.

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Fab story telling as usually. Captivated from the first page and drawn further in with each chapter

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I couldn't put this book down. . When Poppy's husband shatters her world, she and new BFF Annaliese take the childfree social media world by storm with their exciting new group. But rivalry with other online groups and Annaliese's lies create and exciting and compelling narrative and I just had to keep reading - thank goodness for the easter holiday!!

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Nice, light read - perfect for summer!
I preferred The Fifth Letter but this is still worth a read.
This centres around 3 women and predominantly Mums VS Non-Mums, I am a Mum of 3 so thought I'd side with them but actually the Non-Mums made some good points and I related to them a lot.

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I had read the author's previous book, The Fifth Letter and thought it was ok but nothing great so I almost passed this one by. When I read the blurb though, I was intrigued and decided to give it a go. Poppy comes home one evening to find her husband and best friend holding hands. They've been having an affair. Poppy is understandably devastated and while looking for new friends she comes across MOP, an online group for local mums. But she can't join as she's childless and intends to remain that way. Bitching about this to a colleague one day, they come up with the idea of forming a similar group for non-mums NOP. At first all is well, Poppy gets the support she needs from this group and becomes friends with her colleague Annalise. But then she finds out her ex BF and ex husband are going to have a baby. She gets very drunk and posts an online rant about mothers. With that, Pandora's box is opened and an all out war is declared between MOP and NOP. Unknown to Poppy, there is a mole in her group, one who publishes an article in the local newspaper. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Yes, Poppy is irritating at times, yes there are times when you really have to suspend disbelief but put this aside and you have a light read which touches on the serious issues of what happens when online groups get out of control. And there is one hilarious (if somewhat scatalogical) story which had me laughing out loud; a story with a genuine ring of truth about it. All in all, very enjoyable.

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I enjoyed this book although I found it a little slow at the start - once it got going it kept my interest through to the end. This is a story of friendship, betrayal, female rivalry, how we judge each other and the dangers of social media.

It is an interesting read, entertaining but with a serious side. The plot centres around 2 social media groups - one for mothers and another for non-mothers. I found the issues well described and intelligently written. Very relevant.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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I read this because I read so many good comments about this author and I was disappointed with it. A brilliant read along with great style and great charcters to boost.
Poor Poppy is only betrayed in the worst way by her husband and best friend so she sets up a social media account for those just like her who DON'T want to have children.
However, that's another group for the mothers and it's almost a fight between the two groups.
Then poppy warms to a story or two by the women by listening to what they have to say. These two different women are so alike.
This is a story about women who don't need to be told what we should do in society. Whether we are mothers or not...
It's a brilliant read if you need something light but touches on subjects women need to be discussed for us to feel ok in society. Excellent
Thank you to netgalley

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