I normally don't have troubles choosing what I'm going to rate a book, but this one was a tough one. The First Mistake had an interesting format in which the first third of the book was told from Alice's view, the second third from Beth's, and then the final third was told from both of their points of view, showing just how much their lives had weaved together.
Alice lost her husband but has since moved on. Her husband Nathan is everything she could hope for. He's a good father to the daughter she shares with her deceased husband Tom, and he's a good father to the daughter they share together. But even after 10 years, Alice can't seem to let go of Tom, his place in their marriage is always present, especially because he helped fun the design business she's so proud of.
Beth is Alice's best friend, and they've been friends for a few years now. She's never met Nathan, and while Alice doesn't think that's too odd, perhaps she should. Because Beth has been through the wringer and back, and she isn't happy about where life has placed her.
We follow each of their stories, twisted tales of deceit that they are. For me, until we got to the end of Alice's portion, it was slow reading. I really disliked how much Alice let her love for Tom get in the way of her marriage. Which in hindsight is irrelevant, but for me, was too much. Jones also misused the phrase "another think coming" by writing 'thing' instead of 'think' a few times, which isn't a huge deal, but it's a pretty well-known mistake. I was disappointed in the ending because of how quickly it ended with a very short and vague epilogue. So when I take out the few things I didn't like, the story is good in premise. It's very twisted and it has you constantly wondering what exactly is going on.
Alice lost her husband but has since moved on. Her husband Nathan is everything she could hope for. He's a good father to the daughter she shares with her deceased husband Tom, and he's a good father to the daughter they share together. But even after 10 years, Alice can't seem to let go of Tom, his place in their marriage is always present, especially because he helped fun the design business she's so proud of.
Beth is Alice's best friend, and they've been friends for a few years now. She's never met Nathan, and while Alice doesn't think that's too odd, perhaps she should. Because Beth has been through the wringer and back, and she isn't happy about where life has placed her.
We follow each of their stories, twisted tales of deceit that they are. For me, until we got to the end of Alice's portion, it was slow reading. I really disliked how much Alice let her love for Tom get in the way of her marriage. Which in hindsight is irrelevant, but for me, was too much. Jones also misused the phrase "another think coming" by writing 'thing' instead of 'think' a few times, which isn't a huge deal, but it's a pretty well-known mistake. I was disappointed in the ending because of how quickly it ended with a very short and vague epilogue. So when I take out the few things I didn't like, the story is good in premise. It's very twisted and it has you constantly wondering what exactly is going on.