A review by chrissymcbooknerd
The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen
5.0
But then again, didn't all marriages carry thousands of hurts?
THE REASON:
I chose to read The Best of Us, when it was sent to me for the purposes of providing a completely honest review, because I really tend to gravitate towards strong women's fiction. I love reading about the development of personal relationships from a female perspective, whether they be romantic or friendship, and the description of THE BEST OF US promised something that was heartfelt, beautiful, and highly engaging.
THE PLOT:
Dwight was a hopeless dork in college, unarguably thin and awkward but undeniably destined to greater things in the future. After Dwight strikes it insanely rich after the creation of a magnificent dot-com business, he and his wife decide to invite a few of his old college friends on a spectacular all-expense-paid vacation to Jamaica -- complete with finely catered meals, perfectly planned activities, and the promise of a wonderful, relaxing atmosphere of friendship and fun. Who could possibly say no to that trip?
Tina is especially excited, since she was always close to Dwight in college -- she and even had an unforgettable little make-out session with him once. Tina is now married to the perfect man, but she is overburdened with the chaos of juggling a house full of young children and is hence desperate for the time away from home...
Allie and her devoted husband can't wait to make the trip either, since they've both been abundantly blessed with good luck and great circumstances -- so why not celebrate it in this glorious vacation? But, Allie has recently learned a family secret that has her intensely worried about her own future, especially her health. While she's ready to have fun in the sun, will she really be able to steer her mind away from the panics of her current problems to enjoy herself?
Savannah, known for her beauty, wealth, and diva attitude, will never pass up another opportunity to enjoy the more lavish things in life, of course -- but she too has a secret that she's not quite ready to share with her college friends. Her own husband won't be coming to Jamaica, but Savannah isn't sure that she regrets his absent in the least. There won'to be any harm in flirting with her old college pal Dwight while she's here, right?
Dwight's wife, Pauline, feels particularly uneasy around these three women who have such an interesting history with her husband -- especially since she doesn't know them in the least and doesn't expect to have anything in common with any of them. While she plans every instant of the perfect Jamaican vacation for her husband's vacation, she must juggle the fear that one of these women may be having unexpected relations with her husband -- while all the while dealing with the terrible secret that she, herself, has been hiding from Dwight. Can she really keep her focus for this week in paradise?
And then, by the time the group learns that a hurricane has veered from its original path, heading straight towards their perfect party on the island, it's really too late to escape. And soon each of these couples is faced with tremendous decisions about their relationships and their futures -- if, that is, they can weather the horrific storm that looms ahead...
MY OPINION:
I was absolutely, positively in LOVE within this novel, from start to finish. I adored the author's skill in crafting an amazingly interesting story with characters that developed honestly and delicately throughout the course of the novel. And, although she alternated between several different couples, each with their own serious struggles and secrets, there was never a point where I felt uninterested in any segment of any particular character's story. I was emotionally invested in each of the story lines, which made for the kind of engaging reading experience that kept me flipping (virtual) pages until insane hours in the middle of the night, just to learn what would happen next.
I was pleased that the author didn't aim to sugarcoat over any of the weighty issues that the women dealt with in their own personal, often secret, struggles. And, although most of the predicaments worked out for the best by the end of the book, it certainly was not without a realistic degree of pain and suffering from each of the women involved in the story.
I was surprised by the fact that I found myself most interested in Pauline, despite my first impression that led me to believe she might end up being the weakest character in the novel. I could really identify with the way that she felt like an outsider in a group of close friends, working so hard to meticulously create a perfect vacation for her beloved husband, while ultimately questioning her position in the relationship as well as her husband's feelings towards her as a woman and a partner. Her reasons for hiding her secret from her husband were heartbreaking and realistic, and I felt that she probably came in the furthest in really evolving in her relationship as well as her own perception of herself.
But thousands of kindnesses existed in marriages too. The important thing was that the kindnesses triumphed over the hurts.
MY VERDICT:
Five glowing stars. Give this one a try when it hits shelves on April 9, 2013.
THE REASON:
I chose to read The Best of Us, when it was sent to me for the purposes of providing a completely honest review, because I really tend to gravitate towards strong women's fiction. I love reading about the development of personal relationships from a female perspective, whether they be romantic or friendship, and the description of THE BEST OF US promised something that was heartfelt, beautiful, and highly engaging.
THE PLOT:
Dwight was a hopeless dork in college, unarguably thin and awkward but undeniably destined to greater things in the future. After Dwight strikes it insanely rich after the creation of a magnificent dot-com business, he and his wife decide to invite a few of his old college friends on a spectacular all-expense-paid vacation to Jamaica -- complete with finely catered meals, perfectly planned activities, and the promise of a wonderful, relaxing atmosphere of friendship and fun. Who could possibly say no to that trip?
Tina is especially excited, since she was always close to Dwight in college -- she and even had an unforgettable little make-out session with him once. Tina is now married to the perfect man, but she is overburdened with the chaos of juggling a house full of young children and is hence desperate for the time away from home...
Allie and her devoted husband can't wait to make the trip either, since they've both been abundantly blessed with good luck and great circumstances -- so why not celebrate it in this glorious vacation? But, Allie has recently learned a family secret that has her intensely worried about her own future, especially her health. While she's ready to have fun in the sun, will she really be able to steer her mind away from the panics of her current problems to enjoy herself?
Savannah, known for her beauty, wealth, and diva attitude, will never pass up another opportunity to enjoy the more lavish things in life, of course -- but she too has a secret that she's not quite ready to share with her college friends. Her own husband won't be coming to Jamaica, but Savannah isn't sure that she regrets his absent in the least. There won'to be any harm in flirting with her old college pal Dwight while she's here, right?
Dwight's wife, Pauline, feels particularly uneasy around these three women who have such an interesting history with her husband -- especially since she doesn't know them in the least and doesn't expect to have anything in common with any of them. While she plans every instant of the perfect Jamaican vacation for her husband's vacation, she must juggle the fear that one of these women may be having unexpected relations with her husband -- while all the while dealing with the terrible secret that she, herself, has been hiding from Dwight. Can she really keep her focus for this week in paradise?
And then, by the time the group learns that a hurricane has veered from its original path, heading straight towards their perfect party on the island, it's really too late to escape. And soon each of these couples is faced with tremendous decisions about their relationships and their futures -- if, that is, they can weather the horrific storm that looms ahead...
MY OPINION:
I was absolutely, positively in LOVE within this novel, from start to finish. I adored the author's skill in crafting an amazingly interesting story with characters that developed honestly and delicately throughout the course of the novel. And, although she alternated between several different couples, each with their own serious struggles and secrets, there was never a point where I felt uninterested in any segment of any particular character's story. I was emotionally invested in each of the story lines, which made for the kind of engaging reading experience that kept me flipping (virtual) pages until insane hours in the middle of the night, just to learn what would happen next.
I was pleased that the author didn't aim to sugarcoat over any of the weighty issues that the women dealt with in their own personal, often secret, struggles. And, although most of the predicaments worked out for the best by the end of the book, it certainly was not without a realistic degree of pain and suffering from each of the women involved in the story.
I was surprised by the fact that I found myself most interested in Pauline, despite my first impression that led me to believe she might end up being the weakest character in the novel. I could really identify with the way that she felt like an outsider in a group of close friends, working so hard to meticulously create a perfect vacation for her beloved husband, while ultimately questioning her position in the relationship as well as her husband's feelings towards her as a woman and a partner. Her reasons for hiding her secret from her husband were heartbreaking and realistic, and I felt that she probably came in the furthest in really evolving in her relationship as well as her own perception of herself.
But thousands of kindnesses existed in marriages too. The important thing was that the kindnesses triumphed over the hurts.
MY VERDICT:
Five glowing stars. Give this one a try when it hits shelves on April 9, 2013.