This book was very disappointing. It’s the first book I’ve read for Marian Keyes and I picked it up because of the excellent reviews it got.

I honestly don’t get it! It was supposed to be a story of three ladies whose lives are connected through the publishing world; a publishing agent and two authors who happen to be two ex-best friends (obviously because of a Guy… DAAHHHH). The idea is that we would normally judge these women based on the less than honorable decisions they have made but that there is always “another side of the story”. Unfortunately, the author failed at coming up with another side to the story that would make me sympathize or relate to the characters. There wasn’t even a solid link between the three characters and they didn’t even meet once. I felt that the book was very piecy, shallow and honesty.. very boring. At least with the two ex-best friends there were two different versions of the same story regardless of how unconvincing it was. Hence the title.. “The other side of the story”. But why add a twist to the publishing agent’s story that would just make me judge her without clearly giving it the proper justification so I could at least attempt to sympathize or understand the character? The story of the agent is part of the “two sides to every story” theme as you might assume but sadly, we were only given the 1 dimensional version of that story. Overall, very disappointing

Jojo Harvey is a dead ringer for Jessica Rabbit and the most ferocious literary agent in town!

As with all Marian Keyes books I enjoyed this a lot.

Five stars.

Echt een makkelijk leesboekje, beetje eenvoudig met verhaaltjes vanuit verschillend perspectief.

Ultimately very disappointing. 2 of the 3 main characters were very frustrating and irritating, and the 3rd certainly had her moments. 2 of the 3 outcomes were not what I expected or wished for. In one case, justice did not prevail with a side character. That is a big no-no for me. All 3 women had happy endings, I guess though. But not romantically for all of them.
3 stars, but really 2.75. Bad for a Marian Keyes.

Marian Keyes is such a doll. I've met her twice. Once when she did an event at the store I managed and another time when she was back through town and I was lucky enough to have lunch with her. She is one of the loveliest women I have ever met. And I loved this book too! I had a lot of fun with it because it was about an author, a literary agent and an event planner (I've worked in the book biz for years and have also worked as an event planner). The book is told from the points of view of all three women who know each other and who's lives intersect but not so much that you are hearing the same story three times. Bad review, fun book.A perfect beach read!

I've owned this book for ages and trying to get through the books I have and never read. Whilst this is a standard chic lit I'd be happy to pass on and never read again, it's actually really good! With three female characters whose lives intertwine with each other, there's enough space to love, hate and disagree with who you lie. I also love the fact that although all the characters find their own peace by the end of the book - in true chic lit style - they don't all follow the standard fairy tale format. Sometimes who you love isn't right and I'm glad to see that Keyes promotes the fact that it's okay to walk away from them. I'm not happy about how some bits went - would you take a cheating spouse back? But I am willing to say that love changes, and sometimes you have to accept that and work together if you want to move on.

Loved it so very much! Hilarious!!!! Loved every single character! Read rather than audio! Reading was much better... "that which doesn't kill you makes you funnier"

Langdradig en voorspelbaar boek over drie vrouwen: Gemma, Lilly en Jojo. Buiten dat de namen belachelijk zijn (wie heet er Jojo?!) zijn de problemen waar ze mee te maken krijgen ook wel erg overdreven.
Gemma's moeder heeft een zenuwinzinking doordat Gemma's vader er vandoor gaat met de secretaresse.
Lilly gaat er vandoor met de vriend van Gemma en later schrijft ze een bestsellend boek.
Jojo is literair agent en ze heeft een affaire met haar baas. Zij brengt het boek van Lilly aan de man en later zal ze ook een boek van Gemma verkopen.
Intriges alom! Het verhaal is verschrikkelijk over de top en het einde past daar helaas erg goed bij. Het begin is langdradig en eigenlijk wordt het nergens super boeiend. Het wisselende perspectief maakt het nog een beetje leuk en flitsend. Het verhaal is niet bepaald geloofwaardig en vrouwen werden voor mijn gevoel niet bepaald positief neergezet. Alle mannen waren of homo, of eng mager en kwaadaardig of super sexy en mannelijk. Het verhaal zit vol met stereotypes en dat maakt het verhaal er niet beter op.
Geen aanrader dit, maar het is ook niet het slechtste verhaal dat ik gelezen heb.

Eu queria conhecer a escrita de Marian Keyes e o escolhido foi esse por falar de livros e tudo mais.
No geral, achei o livro bom, mas ele é desnecessariamente longo e fiquei incomodada com a quantidade de comentários problemáticos. A escrita é legal e, por isso, talvez eu dê outra chance e leia algo mais recente da MK.
Se eu tivesse lido as resenhas antes, provavelmente não teria lido esse livro, mas foi válido. Risquei a autora da listas dos que eu nunca li e durante toda a leitura do livro me peguei com vontade de escrever, o que é sempre bom.

A bit of fluff, reality stretched a few times, but rather soothing for the soul and brain. Perfect holiday read.

An odd book where it seems like a lot is happening and then when it’s over you realize actually nothing really happened and what did I just spend 15 hours listening to

Marian Keyes “The other side of the story”

At first sight, it is a typical women’s novel, but there is something that makes you read to the end...
The book opens the story of three different women who live their own lives and face their personal pains, and of course, believing that the neighbor's grass is greener. But one cannot judge a book by its cover...
The main characters are Gemma, Jojo, and Lily — three women —three destinies that meet on the crossroads...
Each of the ladies faces dark times in personal life: the first one is dumped by her boyfriend and her father runs to young college, the second-tries to get promoting on the work but her lover votes against her candidature and the third one is the best friend of first and is head over heels Gemma’s boyfriend, moreover they marry and give a birth to a daughter... Quite confusing, huh?
Well, their lives become a horror story, but all of them manage to cope with difficulties: each in her own way...
During the reading, I constantly changed my mind about their way of solving problems, but this novel teaches to respect the personal lives of other people and keep your thoughts to yourself...
Well, I won't write anymore, just say that this story is worth reading...
Under plain cover and title hide deep psychological dilemmas...
I'll keep the book to myself, it's worth rereading...