This book. I’m still not sure how I feel about this book. It took me a long time to read this book, for two reasons. The first reason it took so long is the subject matter. I don’t often give spoilers in my reviews, but this one, I think should be placed in a warning. This book deals largely with domestic abuse, both emotional and physical. Having been in an abusive relationship (that progressed from emotional to physical), this was VERY difficult for me to get past. On top of that, the husband has an affair. It just so happens, I started reading this book on the 2 year anniversary of my own husband’s affair. These two topics can be extremely jarring for people if they start reading about them with no warning. It was just a bit much for me, and so I set this book aside until I was in a better place mentally to get to it. (THAT’S ALL THE SPOILERS YOU’RE GOING TO GET)
The second reason I took so long to read this book is that it is really slow in the beginning. Almost painfully slow. The blurb warns you that what you assume may not necessarily be correct, but it’s really hard to get past the hum-drum crazy ex wife/new fiancee set-up.
There were a few things I didn’t care for in this book. One was the handling of the recovery from the abuse. There is little to no mention of it, and the abused party simply “seems to be healing and moving on.” Isn’t that lovely? I feel like this whole situation was glossed over and made to seem like something that can be accomplished by just wishing it so. This is so far from the truth, it might actually be harmful to women who seek assistance after domestic abuse.
While there were certain things that definitely took me by surprise and kept me interested, there were also parts of the plot that were terribly predictable. Luckily, most the promised “guessing” was had, and I was able to formulate theories that were proven and disproven throughout the book.
The book does mind-f*ck really well. Like I said above: there were times where I really was taken completely by surprise. And if you can stick it out through part one, everything really picks up and becomes more intense. I found the pages flying by once I finished Part 1, but the books seemed almost endless through that first part.
Overall, getting past my personal issues, the book is well-written and the characters are extremely complex. The situation they are in is even more-so. The whole book made me FEEL (good and bad things), so I definitely would recommend it to people who love a good, character-driven plot.
The second reason I took so long to read this book is that it is really slow in the beginning. Almost painfully slow. The blurb warns you that what you assume may not necessarily be correct, but it’s really hard to get past the hum-drum crazy ex wife/new fiancee set-up.
There were a few things I didn’t care for in this book. One was the handling of the recovery from the abuse. There is little to no mention of it, and the abused party simply “seems to be healing and moving on.” Isn’t that lovely? I feel like this whole situation was glossed over and made to seem like something that can be accomplished by just wishing it so. This is so far from the truth, it might actually be harmful to women who seek assistance after domestic abuse.
While there were certain things that definitely took me by surprise and kept me interested, there were also parts of the plot that were terribly predictable. Luckily, most the promised “guessing” was had, and I was able to formulate theories that were proven and disproven throughout the book.
The book does mind-f*ck really well. Like I said above: there were times where I really was taken completely by surprise. And if you can stick it out through part one, everything really picks up and becomes more intense. I found the pages flying by once I finished Part 1, but the books seemed almost endless through that first part.
Overall, getting past my personal issues, the book is well-written and the characters are extremely complex. The situation they are in is even more-so. The whole book made me FEEL (good and bad things), so I definitely would recommend it to people who love a good, character-driven plot.