Reviews

På egen hand by Marian Keyes

emerion's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I always include major spoilers (hidden), to help with my memory  issues. Read them at your peril! 

Long term happy marriage is threatened when the grieving husband, close to a breakdown, decides that he must take a break from it in order to get back his mental health. This break will include other women. The book movingly follows the effects of this decision on his wife, and daughters. It is as convincing anguished as you would expect this sort of scenario to be in real life. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that
  the marriage, whilst basically happy, was having problems. Amy had been carrying on a flirtation with a work colleague a year ago, and Hugh had thought she was having an affair, but said nothing. After  Hugh has been gone for a while,  Amy sees a photo of him with a girlfriend, this is the final straw, and she stops loving him from that point. She starts an affair with her crush from work. Hugh comes  back early, regretting his actions, to find that Amy doesn’t want him anymore.
As with any Marian Keyes story, the story has depth. The characters are like real people, but more so. The three daughters were really well drawn, so different from each other, and believable. I really liked the fact that neither of the couple were “bad” as is often the case in books with this sort of premise. Nothing terrible was wrong with the marriage, so that it was easy to relate to. There is plenty of humour as well, and much of the comic relief comes from Amy’s mum who  
becomes a social media star
 

michaelajay's review against another edition

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4.0

Perfect summer read! Plenty of laugh out loud moments and a really fun story!

sikonat's review against another edition

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4.0

What happens when you’re in a long term relationship and too busy in the every day of life that don’t stop to communicate with each other ? You have a mid-life crisis which manifests in ways to destabilise your relationship. In “The Break” it’s Amy’s husband of 17 years Hugh who tells her he is off for six months to backpack Asia to deal with the death of his father and friend. Oh and it’s a break so they can do whatever the want. Needless to say this book explores Amy’s devastation and the fallout of how this impacts on their three daughters.

Throigh time jumps we can see her own part to play in the growing chasm between the two. While Amy doesn’t deserve Hugh’s abandonment, it’s clear she’s no angel either, and also needs to take responsibility for her part. Which is amazing in a way that Hugh doesn’t call her out on her shit while she’s upset about him, calling him a cheater (to quote Ross from friends “we were on a break!”).

It’s a long book, the audiobook clocked in at 19 hours, and some parts can be slow going, but I’m glad this book is much more in-depth so it doesn’t gloss over their story. The other highlights are Amy’s family, especially her mother, who, towards the end, dispenses some of the best advice.

omgitswinnie's review against another edition

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3.0

There's every emotion going in this book!

The story follows Amy, who's family is extremely complex. She hasn't had it easy, but she's content with how things are. Her first marriage broke down when she came home to find her husband cheating and he walked out on her, leaving her a young single mum. It took her a long time to build up the strength to find it in herself to trust another man. Hugh, her second husband, was that man.

Suddenly, Amy's life gets flipped upside down when Hugh announces he is taking a break from the family for 6 months where he can do what he likes as he travels the globe. Anything goes. But he will be back, he promises.

Amy is left devastated. Is history repeating itself? Even if Hugh does come back, will their relationship be the same? Will everything be able to go back to how it was?

Join Amy in this one heck of a roller coaster ride to find out.

charl149's review against another edition

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challenging funny lighthearted sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

putri_the_awesome's review against another edition

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So boring! 

poppysbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

sonjaaaa8's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

stephbond's review against another edition

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4.0

I've always loved Marian Keyes and this book is in the same style, chick lit with depth and proper snorting into your book moments.

patti66's review against another edition

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4.0

Tome Topple