obsessedmuch's review against another edition
3.0
Generaly I liked book, writing is interesting and plot is unusual, but Sara pissed me off so bad, I couldn't stand her. Solid three stars
matdredalia's review against another edition
1.0
First, let me note something: Look at my reviews. I don't really review books I'm not passionate about or really enjoy, because I just don't feel it's necessary as most others have covered it and I don't always have the time to write a review that doesn't really matter to me. Although, to be honest, I don't find THAT many books I don't at least moderately enjoy.
So when I say that this is the single worst fiction book I have ever encountered in my entire existence, please know I am not saying this out of a need to be dramatic.
I HATE, LOATHE, AND DESPISE this book and I truly feel the Author has a LOT to answer for.
Please note: I read this book almost six years ago. It was THAT terrible that these many years later, I remember it as THE worst book I've ever read and have that much loathing for it that I felt the need to come here and warn my fellow bibliophiles to RUN! Run as fast as you possibly can AWAY from this awful book!
Before we get to the meat and potatoes: This author actually used internet chain letter anecdotes to pad out the actions of the children in the story. I kid you not. As I read the first one, I went "No way, she didn't..." and then I read at least two more that I can remember offhand. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? What EDITOR allowed this to happen!?
Now, onto the actual story:
I picked up this book thinking it would be a thoughtful work detailing complex characters with a wide range of emotions, thoughts, and reasons behind their actions.
**Spoiler Alert**
Nope, it's all pretty clear and two-dimensional. Which, I apologize for my language, is bull****.
Sure, people cheat. But if someone cheats on their spouse who they have three children with and have been with for many, many years, their reasons don't tend to be completely shallow and base unless they're a terrible person. And in that case, their wife isn't going to just let them waltz back into the marriage bed because they say they're sowwy. They get PISSED.
The husband is a one dimensional prick with NOTHING to redeem him. He is a complete fucking cad who is selfish to the core and basically cheats because he is bored and feeling like less of a stud.
The woman he cheats with is a callous, cold hearted, balls of steel bitch who boffs him because she wants to get ahead in the company and likes the power trip.
The wife is the over-the-top Mary Sue with no real depth, and really, no personality to call her own. She is devoted to her husband and her children. She gives and gives and....has no personality.
These are not characters. They are piss-poorly portrayed stereotypical archetypes.
The Heartless Bastard who dismisses his devoted wife in favor of base pleasures. The Brazen Whore who has an affair with a married man to further her career and for, again, base pleasures. The Holy Mother who sacrifices and is wronged in return. The Prince Charming of an ex who is mostly there to: be filler, somehow make Holy Mother seem like something more than a mother, and basically not matter, at all.
It's completely bullshit. Life is not a stereotype. It is not bad fanfiction. Literature should reflect life, at least when it's a topic like this, not a twelve year old's interpretation of her father's extra-marital affair.
To make matters worse, the plot is just...complete garbage, on top of it all.
Summary:
Bastard (or "Husband") meets Harlot (aka "Other Woman"). Husband pretends for two seconds he won't cheat on Holy mother (or "Wife" as she will henceforth be known). Husband cheats on Wife.
Wife is at home taking care of children. She misses the most obvious signs of his affair and is completely oblivious to the point that one wonders if she is on lithium. Husband lauds his good fortune at Wife being oblivious. Keeps cheating.
Wife finds out husband is cheating (FINALLYYY!!!). Husband moves in with the Other Woman (which makes no sense, because he was never considering leaving his wife for her, never thinks he's in love with her and/or truly wants to stay with her, and so on). Insert weird, disjointed scenes where the children are forced to spend time with The Other Woman, mostly to show how "evil" she is. (Note: Somehow, in all this, the Husband is not made out to be wrong or bad, he is somehow the victim. Somehow, we, the audience, are supposed to feel sorry for him because he misses his wife).
As the above takes place: the Wife meets up with Prince Charming (or The Extremely Wealthy, Famous Ex) who we never really hear about until she is taking care of the kids solo while the husband is off doing his thing, and suddenly, The Ex swoops in and shows her paradise. Whiiiich, somehow....convinces her all the more she wants to be with her cheating bastard of a husband. Whose basically sole purpose is to make the wife realize she wants her husband back, no matter what he's done (Seriously: What?).
Husband & Wife begin to reconcile. OH NOES! NEED MORE DRAMA (for page count, of course).......The Other Woman IS PREGNANT and is somehow, SUDDENLY convinced she is in love with The Husband. This is news to everyone reading because there was no love on her part up to this point. This is completely left field. But...okay?
Other Woman goes to CONFRONT the Wife about HER BABY DADDY!!!! Word fight! And then: LULZ! PREGNANCY WAS FAKE! HAHAHA! She just *thought* she was pregnant, or she did it because she "loves" the husband or.....this never actually makes any sense. It never makes sense whether or not she genuinely thought she was pregnant or just made it up.
Next: Wife has pined long enough! Why should SHE be punished because of his infidelity? She must have him......SEXUALLY! (Again: WHAT?!) Wife goes to the husband's office in nothing but a rain coat (referencing an earlier scene where she'd done this years before) and seduces her husband.
And it's all Happily Ever After.
Seriously: What?
Honestly, I'm being generous with my plot explanations. It's really much more dull than all that.
The Author relies on stereotypes, chain letters, and the premise that society inherently hates the other woman and wants a happy ending with the original couple (even if the husband is a completely emotionless, mindless, piece of shit prick with no personality to speak of) to carry this book.
And I hate it. I really, really hate it.
And for the record: I do NOT think that people who cheat are inherently bad. If somehow, my sarcasm did not come across, my point was the fact that cheating is not just something that happens when someone is evil. It has happened to the vast majority of adults who have ever been in a relationship. I am not saying I think it is right or any such thing, BUT.....I do not think the people involved are necessarily bad people, either. This is my problem with the book, ultimately. The writing is terrible, of course, but the author insisted on making the husband and the other woman just be completely terrible people which is so far from reality and takes what could have been a very, very thoughtful, introspective topic and completely destroys it.
So when I say that this is the single worst fiction book I have ever encountered in my entire existence, please know I am not saying this out of a need to be dramatic.
I HATE, LOATHE, AND DESPISE this book and I truly feel the Author has a LOT to answer for.
Please note: I read this book almost six years ago. It was THAT terrible that these many years later, I remember it as THE worst book I've ever read and have that much loathing for it that I felt the need to come here and warn my fellow bibliophiles to RUN! Run as fast as you possibly can AWAY from this awful book!
Before we get to the meat and potatoes: This author actually used internet chain letter anecdotes to pad out the actions of the children in the story. I kid you not. As I read the first one, I went "No way, she didn't..." and then I read at least two more that I can remember offhand. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? What EDITOR allowed this to happen!?
Now, onto the actual story:
I picked up this book thinking it would be a thoughtful work detailing complex characters with a wide range of emotions, thoughts, and reasons behind their actions.
**Spoiler Alert**
Nope, it's all pretty clear and two-dimensional. Which, I apologize for my language, is bull****.
Sure, people cheat. But if someone cheats on their spouse who they have three children with and have been with for many, many years, their reasons don't tend to be completely shallow and base unless they're a terrible person. And in that case, their wife isn't going to just let them waltz back into the marriage bed because they say they're sowwy. They get PISSED.
The husband is a one dimensional prick with NOTHING to redeem him. He is a complete fucking cad who is selfish to the core and basically cheats because he is bored and feeling like less of a stud.
The woman he cheats with is a callous, cold hearted, balls of steel bitch who boffs him because she wants to get ahead in the company and likes the power trip.
The wife is the over-the-top Mary Sue with no real depth, and really, no personality to call her own. She is devoted to her husband and her children. She gives and gives and....has no personality.
These are not characters. They are piss-poorly portrayed stereotypical archetypes.
The Heartless Bastard who dismisses his devoted wife in favor of base pleasures. The Brazen Whore who has an affair with a married man to further her career and for, again, base pleasures. The Holy Mother who sacrifices and is wronged in return. The Prince Charming of an ex who is mostly there to: be filler, somehow make Holy Mother seem like something more than a mother, and basically not matter, at all.
It's completely bullshit. Life is not a stereotype. It is not bad fanfiction. Literature should reflect life, at least when it's a topic like this, not a twelve year old's interpretation of her father's extra-marital affair.
To make matters worse, the plot is just...complete garbage, on top of it all.
Summary:
Bastard (or "Husband") meets Harlot (aka "Other Woman"). Husband pretends for two seconds he won't cheat on Holy mother (or "Wife" as she will henceforth be known). Husband cheats on Wife.
Wife is at home taking care of children. She misses the most obvious signs of his affair and is completely oblivious to the point that one wonders if she is on lithium. Husband lauds his good fortune at Wife being oblivious. Keeps cheating.
Wife finds out husband is cheating (FINALLYYY!!!). Husband moves in with the Other Woman (which makes no sense, because he was never considering leaving his wife for her, never thinks he's in love with her and/or truly wants to stay with her, and so on). Insert weird, disjointed scenes where the children are forced to spend time with The Other Woman, mostly to show how "evil" she is. (Note: Somehow, in all this, the Husband is not made out to be wrong or bad, he is somehow the victim. Somehow, we, the audience, are supposed to feel sorry for him because he misses his wife).
As the above takes place: the Wife meets up with Prince Charming (or The Extremely Wealthy, Famous Ex) who we never really hear about until she is taking care of the kids solo while the husband is off doing his thing, and suddenly, The Ex swoops in and shows her paradise. Whiiiich, somehow....convinces her all the more she wants to be with her cheating bastard of a husband. Whose basically sole purpose is to make the wife realize she wants her husband back, no matter what he's done (Seriously: What?).
Husband & Wife begin to reconcile. OH NOES! NEED MORE DRAMA (for page count, of course).......The Other Woman IS PREGNANT and is somehow, SUDDENLY convinced she is in love with The Husband. This is news to everyone reading because there was no love on her part up to this point. This is completely left field. But...okay?
Other Woman goes to CONFRONT the Wife about HER BABY DADDY!!!! Word fight! And then: LULZ! PREGNANCY WAS FAKE! HAHAHA! She just *thought* she was pregnant, or she did it because she "loves" the husband or.....this never actually makes any sense. It never makes sense whether or not she genuinely thought she was pregnant or just made it up.
Next: Wife has pined long enough! Why should SHE be punished because of his infidelity? She must have him......SEXUALLY! (Again: WHAT?!) Wife goes to the husband's office in nothing but a rain coat (referencing an earlier scene where she'd done this years before) and seduces her husband.
And it's all Happily Ever After.
Seriously: What?
Honestly, I'm being generous with my plot explanations. It's really much more dull than all that.
The Author relies on stereotypes, chain letters, and the premise that society inherently hates the other woman and wants a happy ending with the original couple (even if the husband is a completely emotionless, mindless, piece of shit prick with no personality to speak of) to carry this book.
And I hate it. I really, really hate it.
And for the record: I do NOT think that people who cheat are inherently bad. If somehow, my sarcasm did not come across, my point was the fact that cheating is not just something that happens when someone is evil. It has happened to the vast majority of adults who have ever been in a relationship. I am not saying I think it is right or any such thing, BUT.....I do not think the people involved are necessarily bad people, either. This is my problem with the book, ultimately. The writing is terrible, of course, but the author insisted on making the husband and the other woman just be completely terrible people which is so far from reality and takes what could have been a very, very thoughtful, introspective topic and completely destroys it.
reon7491's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
More...