About the Book: Eve is eight months pregnant and in the middle of a Thanksgiving celebration when she discovers that her husband Jonathan has developed an intimate relationship with a woman over the past year. Jonathon asserts his innocence (an affair involves physical intimacy, and he didn't have any), while Eve feels deeply betrayed by the emotional connection he shared with someone else. What Jon has done seems so terrifyingly out of character that Eve finds herself questioning her entire reality. Did she ever really know Jon at all? Was their happiness together a lie? Is emotional intimacy more forgivable than sexual intimacy? And can their marriage survive?
My Review: I think it's interesting that an author chose to tackle the subject of an emotional affair and how it can be equally as devastating, if not more devastating to a marriage than a physical one. In many ways, I feel that Holly Shumas captured Eve's pain well, her doubt about her life and marriage and her struggle to forgive her husband. There was only slight problem in the whole thing--Eve drove me absolutely crazy. First of all, she started reading her husband's email. To tell you the truth, this is understandable to me. I understand the temptation this would present, but at the same time, it's such a destructive and unhealthy action to take within a relationship and it really prevented them from making any progress, because she had information that wasn't hers to have. (I remember Beth Moore saying once that there is knowledge that is not for you! This made me think of that) She didn't seem to see things that way though. Jon, her husband, really wanted to reconcile, but she continued to shut him out. She made selfish choice after selfish choice and I couldn't help but feel that the part about her own self-discovery was rushed and not as developed as it could be.
Having said that, the book is a page turner. I looked forward to getting back to it, even though there was all that agony in the pages! It's not light and fluffy chick-lit..more serious, no laugh out loud parts but very readable. Buy the book here.
Rating: 3.5/5
Elements: L/S
Read about my rating system here.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Review: Love and Other Natural Disasters by Holly Shumas
Posted by Amy at 12:00 AM
Labels: Book Reviews
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10 comments:
I agree that Eve was selfish, but I think a lot of people are, so it made the book more realistic for me. Great review.
Nice review. I liked this book as well.
I had issues with Eve's actions also. I definatley thougth that her turn around at the end was rushed and didn't really mean a lasting change.
I agree with Eve's actions being selfish. I also wanted to know how they dealt with the issue of the professor, because I think that would cause problems with their reconciliation, and it wasn't really talked about.
Hi Amy. I agree. Not light Chick Flick. But a lot of food for thought. Great review. I agree that Eve acted selfishly time after time. And like Alyce mentioned, how did they more past the Prof. issue. Happy Blog Tour day. I am really enjoying stopping by to see everyone's thoughts.
I'm glad that most of the reviews for this book are good. I couldn't even finish it.
Great review Amy. I thought the fact that Eve was so slow in her self realization was pretty realistic (or would be for most people) and you are right about her reading the emails, it was almost as big a betrayal on her part as Jon's was. For me it was a fast read, and thought provoking, too.
Carey
Carey
It sounds like I need to read this book. But I think I may be more sympathetic. I knew two people close to me who dealt with affairs one physical and the other emotional. It was tragic on so many levels.
I haven't read this yet, but if its a page turner that might make up for the main character's selfishness.
I enjoyed your review, Amy. This has been a fun blog tour because reviewers are having quite varied reactions to this book (which doesn't happen all that often). I just reviewed it here (and linked to your review).
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