Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes

Amy  
Lynnie

women's fiction

Sam is literally forced to wear Someone Else’s Shoes when she accidentally grabs the wrong bag from the gym locker room and has no time to return before her business meeting. The shoes in the bag she grabbed are Louboutins’, neither fitting her style nor her bank account. But she finds that she is treated differently while wearing them. And they make her feel more powerful. Meanwhile, the Louboutins’ owner, Nisha, discovers the mistake at the same time that her uber-wealthy husband abruptly throws her out of his life, leaving her with no way to purchase new clothing and no place to stay.

Amy's Review

Jojo Moyes is back! I hadn’t loved the last novel she wrote because it was lacking her trademark wit and charming characters/situations. This crazy story was just what I’d hoped it would be. I had such fun listening!  I was rooting for both Sam and Nisha. And all the other characters were perfect. But Moyes sure did put her poor protagonists through the ringer! I loved the threads of female friendship, support, and encouragement and was so pleased with the way things turned out.

The audiobook narrator, Daisy Ridley, was terrific. She had a huge repertoire of accents (including an amazing American accent, which was especially appreciated since I’d recently heard a couple non-American narrators with poor ones), was a fantastic voice actor, and brought the story to life. One thing that confused me was regarding the few song portions in the novel. Ridley failed to sing You Are My Sunshine but then later sang part of hymn. Further on, she did sing the first line of You Are My Sunshine when it again appeared in the novel. That was a disappointing inconsistency since singing narrators are a personal favorite of mine. But I still give her an A.

Lynnie's Review

I generally enjoy Moyes' writing (having read several of her other books, most notably, Me Before You and its sequels, One Plus One, and Paris for One) and Someone Else's Shoes was no exception. Distracted and in a hurry, Sam Kemp grabs Nisha Cantor's similar-looking gym bag by mistake and of course, shenanigans ensue.

Neither of them could have predicted that would be the day that Nisha's life would collapse around her and she would be stranded with nothing; not even the clothes she had on when the day began. Nor could anyone have predicted what a change in footwear would do to upend Sam's own perspective on the life she was quietly leading. As their stories progressed, I was eager to see how they would eventually come together- because it was clear that was where things were headed- and Moyes did not disappoint.

A book about female friendship, believing in your own worth, and the power of a good shoe. What more could a woman want? I listened to the audiobook during a road trip and Daisy Ridley did a wonderful job bringing all of the characters to life. I was very impressed with her variety of voices and accents- I would listen to her narrate any day. A+ from me.