The Other Woman by Tania Tay - Review

I had picked this book up at the library a couple of weeks before I went on holiday, and then thought that I should take it with me and get it read. It was the fourth book I read on holiday and I ended up finishing it on the plane home. I didn't like it much which I found a shame because I often like this kind of psychological drama. I felt like it didn't quite reach the levels I would have liked it to. The characters weren't all that brilliantly drawn, and they were cliched in parts. It annoyed me. I am glad I had a long plane ride where I could just sit and read because otherwise I think this would have festered and dragged. 

Anyway, the book is about Jade. She is thirty something, married, with three children. On the surface her life looks perfect; her children are well behaved, her husband Sam is handsome and works hard, they are rich, blah blah blah. Jade's relationship with her mum is strained because Jade is Chinese and she has never really lived up to her parents' expectations. Plus. Sam's work is keeping him busy and he seems to be pulling away from her. She is worried about a young woman who works in his office. The children are also pulling away from her as they need her less. 

So, when Christina gets in touch with Jade on Instagram, Jade is thrilled. She and Christina went to university together years and years ago, but then Christina left without any word, and Jade wasn't sure what had happened. Christina qualified as a doctor and has just moved from Scotland back to London. The two women meet and eventually Christina meets the children and Sam, who all love her, of course. Then it turns out she isn't getting on with her mother so she ends up staying with Jade and co. Jade feels pushed out of her own life.... 

This had so much promise but it just didn't live up to it. Nothing happened for the first third of the book, and a lot of stuff felt crammed into the third third. There was a hint of suspense that I liked towards the end but it just wasn't worth the pay off in the end. I'm giving it three out of five, really a two and a half out of five.