I rated The Others 3.58 stars.

The Other tells us the story of a group of friends, who dislike motherhood almost as much as they dislike each other.

The book starts when Dina reaches out to Sheila, trying to reconnect as they have not been in close contact for years. The meeting does not go well, and Dina’s body is found shortly after. Is Sheila a suspect or a witness? When another member of their posse dies in the same gruesome way, we start to wonder if the murders are related to a pact 4 friends made in university when they became “The Others” – a group of witches deadest on not becoming parents.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I had a hard time connecting with the writing style and I wonder if could be that some of the dark sense of humour did not translate well. I must give Blau props on making highly unlikeable characters, I have never seen a group of women so catty and nasty to each other and I was often wondering why they were friends to begging with. I do not need to like a character to appreciate them, and even though some characters blended with each other, Sheila and Dina are amazing on the pages.

This book read more like a contemporary and it has a strong focus on motherhood, societal pressures, and women’s choice. I went in expecting a psychological thriller and had to change gears 2/3 into the book. Once I did, I enjoyed the book more.

The Others had a solid, strong, and satisfying end. I recommend this book but feel that the reader will enjoy it more if they go in with the right expectation.

Thank you, Penguin Random House Canada, NetGalley and Sarah Blau for providing me with a copy of The Others in exchange for an honest review.

#TheOthers #NetGalley

Set in Tel-Aviv, this murder mystery is full of womanhood, complex friend dynamics, motherhood (and lack thereof), and Biblical references. Our MC Sheila finds herself at the centre of an investigation when her once best friend from college is murdered brutally. At the heart of this murder was her friend Dina’s outspoken opinion on not having children, a controversial topic in their communities. As we learn, Sheila’s college friend group had called themselves ‘The Others’ because of their desire to not have children in a society and religion that believes in motherhood.

Sheila is a morally grey MC, as are the rest of the characters. I enjoyed and disliked her all at the same time- she can be vain, self-centered, jealous, and cruel. Her inner thoughts are displayed to us throughout the book and I had a solid sense of who she was. I don’t know much about Judaism or Jewish culture, and I had to Google a few things to really get a handle on references Sheila made or certain objects that pop up in the book. I enjoyed learning some about the religion and culture, but I am sure I missed a few nuances or references in terms of applying them to the story and to the characters. However, this did not impede the story for me and I was still thoroughly engrossed.

Much of this is dedicated to discussing motherhood, birth, being a parent, etc. If you aren’t big on stories about motherhood or the societal pressure to have children, this might not be the one for you. Usually I myself avoid stories centred on motherhood but I found this one really well done. We see multiple characters grappling with the dilemma to have children or not, and the complex feelings towards it.

I also loved the writing style. It had a solid mysterious tone to it. You aren’t sure whether to trust Sheila. We see her dark inner thoughts and conflicted feelings towards her friends death, but we also know she’s hiding something. I will definitely be reading more from this author!