Review: The Other Mrs. Eden by Becky Alexander

                                                                  

Print Length: 282 pages

Publisher: Storm Publishing (September 11, 2024) 

From Goodreads.com:  I never imagined I'd be living in Jemima Eden's world. As her new assistant, I'm suddenly part of a life I've only ever dreamed of. After years of barely scraping by, juggling temp jobs and failed auditions, it feels like my chance to finally be someone.

But the closer I get to Jemima, the more I realise that her glossy life is just another performance. Behind the dazzling smile and happy marriage to her thoughtful husband George, there's a darkness I never expected.

Before long, I’m slipping into Jemima's life in ways I never anticipated. Wearing her clothes, speaking her lines, becoming the woman I've always admired from afar. It's intoxicating, but dangerous. Where does Jemima end and Kim begin?

When tragedy strikes, I'm faced with an impossible choice. How far am I willing to go to protect Jemima's secrets… and my own? In this world of smoke and mirrors, can I trust anyone, even myself?

One thing's certain… nothing in this house is what it seems, least of all me.

                                                         *******************

My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

I am honestly, not one-hundred percent sure what I just read. For one thing, the title of this book makes no sense. There is no "other" Mrs. Eden, so it's puzzling why the author would choose to name the book that. In fact, I spent the majority of this book waiting for something to happen that would toss Jemima out of the role and Kim into it. 

Then we have the synopsis that feels like it was written for a different book entirely. Yes, Kim starts wearing Jemima's clothes - the cast off ones that Jemima told her to sort through for things to make herself look "more presentable" before taking the rest to be donated to charity shops. Yes, she "speaks her lines" but that is only because Kim is Jemima's understudy for a play they are both in (which considering their supposed age difference doesn't make sense that Kim would be the understudy for both Jemima's character, the older sister, as well as that of the younger sister). 

Now these things, I could probably have overlooked had any of the main characters had any redeeming qualities between them. Instead we have George, the supposed faithful and loving husband to Jemima who has no qualms about saying and acting inappropriately towards Kim, the down on her luck personal assistant, who after getting kicked out of her apartment, ends up living in Jemima's basement without her knowledge. Although I will say, the fact that Kim dyes her hair the same color as Jemima's and starts copying some of her mannerisms (only whilst acting thank God, but still). And finally, we have Jemima herself who is such a narcissistic trainwreck that you almost find yourself rooting for her to fail. There are many times throughout this story where she lashes out at Kim for seemingly no reason at all, just to apologize moments later. And let's not talk about the lengths she goes to to try and sabotage Kim's acting future. 

There was a twist at the end, that I suppose was meant to be shocking, but by that point I didn't care about the characters or what happened to them, and I still don't understand why Jemima did what she did, or more to the point why Kim went along with it. It just didn't add up, and the author trying to paint Jemima in a better light came, in my opinion, way too late. On the plus side, this was a quick read so at least there is that. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.