I honestly think the cover and description of Elizabeth Ames' The Other's Gold is really misleading. Or, if not misleading, overly generous. In what should have been a decent, grown-up version of Pretty Little Liars, this book floundered in every element that should, on paper at least, have made it excellent. Namely, its character development, its crafting of relationships and, perhaps most importantly, the choice of mistakes it chose for the very crux of its narrative.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me this eBook in return for an honest review. This title appealed to me for a multitude of reasons - the cast of strong female protagonists, the expansive temporal arc, and the audacity of the author to confront issues seldom seen in popular literature.

There were moments in this book that shocked me - moments that made me question the authenticity of the content, but ultimately, I found it to be heartfelt and jarringly realistic. <em>The Other's Gold</em> follows the lives of four women (Lainey, Ji-Sun, Alice and Margaret) from the inception of their friendship in a shared college dormitory, to the pivotal moments of their shared lives post-education.

The novel is structured in four parts - one for each of the mistakes that these friends make across the span of the narrative: the Accident, the Accusation, the Kiss, and the Bite. While I have no intention of ruining the plot of the novel - <em>The Other's Gold </em>is, in every sense of the phrase, the sum of its parts. Occasionally predictable and overwhelmingly discordant in equal measure, this book is suspenseful and compulsively readable.

One thing that I found to be particularly compelling was the cultural integrity that Ames managed to maintain throughout the narrative. Whilst their were commonalities between each of the protagonists, they each came from very different backgrounds. Ames was able to effectively communicate their very distinct personalities and values that were noticeably and purposefully informed by those backgrounds. Not once did I get confused between the identities of the foursome, which is a triumph in a debut novel so reliant on characterisation as a plot device.

This may have been a five-star read for me if I had been able to reconcile my own moral code with the events that preceded the conclusion of the narrative. Alas, I found the final part of Ames' debut to be problematic, to say the least. I would recommend this to readers who are not afraid of confronting the ugly, albeit very real side of contemporary literature.

When my friend Jamie told me this book was like A Little Life but with women I had to have it immediately and I have devoured it.

The Other's Gold follows best friends Margaret, Lainey, Ji Sun, and Alice from the day they first meet at Quincy-Hawthorn College, into their adult lives beyond their dorm room walls.

Told in four parts; The Accident, The Accusation, The Kiss and The Bite, each covers one of the women's biggest mistakes across four phases of their lives.

There is so much about this book I loved, the exploration of friendships and how they impact wider relationships, motherhood, work, and well-being, but also the depth of each woman as they grew from naive students with different pasts into complex, raw adults with dreams and flaws and fears and secrets.

It's a cracking debut from Elizabeth Ames, I wanted it to go on forever. And I'm so grateful it's encouraged me to read more, in whichever moments I can snatch from the day.

Absolutely loved it! It's such a realistic portrayal of female friendship. Very interesting and gripping.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

Hmmm. I like what this novel tried to do, and probably would have liked it more had I not already read Anna Hope's lovely and similar novel Expectation.

For a story about friendship I actually felt like maybe these characters didn't really like each other that much after all.

There were some lovely scenes but in general it was a bit too long and a bit lacking in nuance - but it definitely tried for nuance, and I am sure lots of readers will enjoy this.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book. The characters were so well developed and the complexity of female friendships was captured just perfectly. If I had any criticism it would be that I felt the character of Ji Sun could have been developed a bit more – I didn’t feel like we got as much of her story as we did the other 3 characters. Will definitely be recommending and writing a full review in the morning for Waterstones!

I absolutely devoured this beautiful novel. A gorgeous portrait of friendship through all the messiness & tragedy of life. The writing is beautiful & the characters so perceptively drawn. Can't wait to see what Elizabeth Ames writes next!

The Other's Gold is a novel about four female friends and how their bond spans college in their shared suite and then into their lives as they get married and become parents. Chance puts Lainey, Alice, Ji Sun, and Margaret in the same suite when they start Quincy-Hawthorne College, and soon they are close-knit friends. As they move through their college years and beyond, mistakes and secrets form defining moments in their friendships, showing how their bonds change over time.

The novel is split into four sections and each focuses on a central 'mistake' (which are a bit more than mistakes, mostly) by one of the four characters, how it happens (or is revealed) and how they react to it. Though the book is mostly a look at four characters and how they grow and stay friends, this premise gives it a structure that at least drives it forward in the absence of more of a narrative. The so-called mistakes vary in what they are and how much they impact other people, and the book actually covers some heavy topics such as sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, and postpartum depression, sometimes in quite uncomfortable ways. The characters are complex and sometimes unlikeable, which is good, but it also felt that ultimately they all ended up with similar, privileged lives and there was more that could've been explored.

This is a decently written novel with an interesting premise, but the 'mistakes' and the characters just weren't handled in a way that made the book feel particularly insightful or engrossing.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Pushkin Press in exchange for an honest review.

I read an extract of this book aaaages ago and was instantly intrigued, despite it not being my usual genre at all. As a rule, I dislike more literary books and I try to stay away from them. But something about The Other's Gold just drew me in and I was very happy when I finally got the chance to finish the story.

This is the tale of four women spanning several decades, who meet in college and form very tight friendships. Each of the four women will make a 'mistake' throughout the course of the story and the plot structure is built around that. This is literary fiction as I stated so you are kept almost at a distance from the four characters throughout the book. You get a strong sense of who they are but I never quite felt close to them and I think that's because of the writing style. Having said that though, I found them a varied and interesting group to read about.

One thing I wasn't expecting about this book is that it is remarkably refreshing. I had a rough idea of what the mistakes might entail before I started reading it and I was surprised by the nature of almost all of them. Two of them are very weird in an almost off the wall way and these were my favourite to read about (although that's an odd phrase given they're not pleasant haha). The first mistake is pretty pedestrian and I actively disliked the nature of the second one.

The main problem of this book is that there are several things which don't feel fully explored, despite the length and the entire plot basically being a character study. Each mistake is focused on in turn but then the feelings that caused those mistakes aren't really resolved for anyone. This isn't as big a detriment as it sounds but it particularly stood out at certain moments and was a bit of a shame.

Overall, The Other's Gold is a compelling and expertly-told tale of four women and the lives they build together. Is it perfect? No. But I found it both enjoyable and extremely hard to put down. The story and characters sucked me in and I know this is a book I will remember for a long time.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars

An interesting title for a book divided into four sections.These sections are in turn entitled the Accident, the Accusation, the Kiss, and the Bite. All mistakes which four women, who we meet in the book, made. But who made which mistake and why?

All four women meet in freshman year at a fictional college. They start on their journey together and go through events and college together. Their stories mesh and their friendships grow. What do these friends do though? What do they do and how it does that affect their friendship?

There are things that you will remember from your own college days with this read. set in a fictional college,t here's a lot that feels real. I just hope these mistakes are not what anyone recognizes. They're pretty serious and that's an understatement. Calling them mistakes? Nope. Far too serious for that. I can't say I cared for any of the girls and felt like they were in a clique leaving me out of things. Quite apt for the novel really.

I liked this novel for the setting, premise and writing but can't say I could get on board with the so-called mistakes. IT felt flippant calling them as such. They say your school or collage days where the happiest of your life, and in some respects that's right. Not here! This lot would give you nightmares!

I would read more by this author though.