BLOG TOUR: The Other Gloria by L.A. Villafane @othergloria @suzyAPbooktours #bookreview #theothergloria

This book started with a shocking scene and it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through! This is the sort of book that leaves you unsure what to say about it… Whoa! What? Those are some of the reactions I had. Tense and tautly wound, don’t skip this book!

About the Book

The truth lies in what she can’t remember. There is another who harbors her unspeakable secrets. Meeting her is where the danger lies.

On a dark January night in 2019, Gloria finds herself behind the wheel of a car, beaten and covered in blood. She has no idea where she’s coming from, or where she might be headed. After pulling to the side of the road, she begins to fade out of consciousness.

The next thing she experiences is waking in bed next to a man who should be her beloved fiancé, Rick. However, she soon discovers it is her dangerous ex-husband, Charles, whom she thought she had escaped two years earlier, in 2017. She eventually finds that the year she was woken to is 2003, and she is living her life with this abusive man all over again.

Due to the abuse she endured, Gloria suffers from dissociative disorder, which has stolen the memories of her two young daughters growing up. There is another who holds these memories; the Other Gloria. She thinks maybe God has given her a do-over, and she might be able to do better, stay present, and recover the lost memories of their childhood. She knows, to do this, she must escape Charles once again.

Gloria’s plan for escaping this time around includes finding Rick, who doesn’t know she exists in 2003, but she soon comes to the realization that meeting Rick will not be enough. She knows she must do the one thing she never wanted to do – meet the Other Gloria and finally discover the unspeakable secrets she holds.

For those who enjoyed The Girl on the Train, Behind Closed Doors, or The Wife Between Us.

Reflection

Opening with Gloria in the driver’s seat of a car, staring at her own bloody hands, this book has a wonderfully disorienting quality that pulled me right in. The timeline is almost reversed here, because of the narrative structure of the book. In 2019 Gloria finds herself speeding down the highway covered in blood. She doesn’t remember why she is covered in blood (is it hers??) or how she got in the car (did she hurt someone??).

When she blacks out and comes to, the year is 2003 and she is beside her abusive ex-husband Charles. The narrative alternates between 2003 and 2017, when she meets Rick Gaines, the man who will be her fiancé in 2019. This was quite a trippy timeline to be caught in! Gloria finds herself wanting to take the opportunity to leave Charles sooner in 2003. But then if she leaves him in 2003, she won’t meet Rick in 2017 and end up engaged in 2019.

What a web of fate and torture this is! As it all happens, a psychologist is helping Gloria work through these “dreams”, which she suspects may actually be memories that Gloria has compartmentalized through a dissociative state. Complicated and gripping doesn’t even begin to cover this book!

I thought it was interesting to learn that the author actually has experience managing dissociative disorder, which learning that made me understand the book on a different level. I think that is why this felt like one of the more authentic thrillers that uses dissociative states to great effect, given how much personal experience the author brought to her writing.

Charles is a total monster. The dark psychological thriller was balanced around a plot of deep and hidden domestic abuse. Charles felt at times inhuman, lacking any sort of sympathy for what he was doing to Gloria. Gloria herself handles this nightmare with surprising steadiness that can only come from a person who has learned to suffer at the hands of an abuser like Charles for many years. She slips into her wifely role, all while dreaming of ways to escape.

Another layer of complexity were Gloria and Charles’ teenage daughters. Gloria has to be careful about how she manages her husband, knowing that she needs to protect their girls. The maternal side to Gloria and her relationship with her daughters was a beacon in this book for me, as was her future relationship with the supportive and kind Rick.

I don’t want to say much more and spoil the book and the ending, but I want to give some insight that may help your confusion (if you are anything like me) when you start this. The chapters titled “before” refer to 2017 and are written in past-tense. The “after” storyline is the one in 2003 and are written in present tense. Once you figure that part out, the story clicks right into place.

This one kept me guessing the whole way through! A truly twist-y psychological thriller that blends the complexity of abuse within the broader suspense novel. A stunner of a book!

Thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for my spot on the tour. Opinions are my own.

About the Author

Lori Villafane lives in Granbury, Texas, with her husband Larry, her standard poodle, Doodle, and a sassy tabby rescue named Diva. When She’s not writing, she enjoys helping Larry build and refurbish houses. She loves anything DIY, which includes writing. Although her debut novel, The Other Gloria, is a work of fiction, she has drawn from her own experience living with dissociative disorder to create Gloria.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/lavillafanewriter
Twitter: @othergloria