Other People’s Houses Review

Synopsis from Penguin Random House:

Named A Highly Anticipated Book for 2018 by InStyle online, Elite Daily, and Hello Giggles!

One of Popsugar’s “10 Books Your Favorite Celebrities Are Reading This Spring”

The author of The Garden of Small Beginnings returns with a hilarious and poignant new novel about four families, their neighborhood carpool, and the affair that changes everything.

At any given moment in other people’s houses, you can find…repressed hopes and dreams…moments of unexpected joy…someone making love on the floor to a man who is most definitely not her husband…

*record scratch*

As the longtime local carpool mom, Frances Bloom is sometimes an unwilling witness to her neighbors’ private lives. She knows her cousin is hiding her desire for another baby from her spouse, Bill Horton’s wife is mysteriously missing, and now this…

After the shock of seeing Anne Porter in all her extramarital glory, Frances vows to stay in her own lane. But that’s a notion easier said than done when Anne’s husband throws her out a couple of days later. The repercussions of the affair reverberate through the four carpool families–and Frances finds herself navigating a moral minefield that could make or break a marriage.

About: Other People’s Houses is a chick lit written by Abbi Waxman. It was published on 4/3/2018 by Berkley Publishing, an imprint of Penguin Random House, paperback, 352 pages. The genres are contemporary, fiction, chick lit, and humor. According to Berkley’s website, “Our expertise in women’s fiction, romance, science fiction/fantasy, and mystery/suspense makes us uniquely suited to introduce a new generation of popular novelists and to reinvigorate the publishing programs for established bestselling authors.” Please see below for more information about the author and publisher.

My Experience: I started reading Other People’s Houses on 10/23/2018 and finished it on 11/4/2018 at 1:05am. This book is an excellent read! I love it right from the first chapter. The characters’ day to day life are realistic and can be relatable to many readers. I like following Frances’ view. I like her “trust but verify” rule when comes to her kids. I like her blunt humorous thoughts on the weight she gains, what she eats, and the battle she goes through when she wants to have a chat with her teen daughter. I like following Iris’ views because she gives a clear honest opinion about lesbian marriage. That bit of mystery with Bill’s wife keeps the suspense and mystery going. Anne’s story is interesting to read as well.

This book is told in the third person point of view following Frances Bloom, stay at home mom, as she drives 7 children to school in her minivan. She has 3 children of her own and the rest are her neighbors’ children. The second view is Anne. Frances stops by Anne’s house to pick up the toilet tubes that Anne’s daughter Kate forgets and caught Anne unexpectedly having fun on her living room floor. The third & fourth views are of Iris and Sara, where Iris is Frances’ cousin. The fifth view is Bill Horton, neighbor across the street from Frances. The sixth view is Michael, Frances’ husband. The seventh view is Charlie, Anne’s husband who is very patience with Kate. These four families all live in the same neighborhood. They are all connected to each other through their children.

Other People’s Houses is very well written and a fun read! I like that I don’t have to wonder what the characters, both main and supporting, are thinking because there are snippets of their inner thoughts when the conversations occur. There’s more swearing than I’m comfortable with but luckily the 14 year old is the youngest to use bad words. This book gives a clear view of what a stay-at-home mom do. It is definitely a good read for those who are married with kids. I like the kids, especially Milo and Theo. Theo is such a sweet older brother to Kate. That twist at the end was unexpected. I highly recommend everyone to read this book!

Pro: fast paced, page turner, humor, realistic, family, marriage,

Con: none

I rate it 5 stars!

Buy it here for free shipping: Book Depository or Penguin’s website

About the Author:

Abbi Waxman is a chocolate-loving, dog-loving woman who lives in Los Angeles and lies down as much as possible. She worked in advertising for many years, which is how she learned to write fiction. She has three daughters, three dogs, three cats, and one very patient husband. (Photo and info obtained from Penguin’s website).

More information about Berkley:

Website: http://www.penguin.com/publishers/berkley | Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerkleyPub | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BerkleyPub | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/BerkleyPub

***Disclaimer: I won a copy of Other People’s Houses from a Goodreads giveaway hosted by the publisher. Many thanks to Berkley Publishing for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine