Saturday, September 6, 2014

Book Review- After I Do

Yesterday, I finished After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid for a BookSparks Summer Reading Blog Tour.


About the book:

 When Lauren and Ryan’s marriage reaches the breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes.

 Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren’s ideas about monogamy and marriage. She starts to question: When you can have romance without loyalty and commitment without marriage, when love and lust are no longer tied together, what do you value? What are you willing to fight for?

 This is a love story about what happens when the love fades. It’s about staying in love, seizing love, forsaking love, and committing to love with everything you’ve got. And above all, After I Do is the story of a couple caught up in an old game—and searching for a new road to happily ever after.

Wow.  Right from the beginning I completely felt for Lauren.  The backflashes of their relationship when they were still in love and the scenes in current day where you could feel how they'd grown apart.  And I got it.  It hit home in some ways.  I  miss the days where you get butterflies hearing you significant other's voice.  The days where he/she tried to impress you and make you happy.  The days where you'd primp for him/her instead of wearing pajamas for most of the days on weekends.  Luckily, we've never had the "I can't stand each other feelings" and I can't imagine being as okay as Lauren was when they split.  I know marriage takes a lot of work and I hope ours never reaches that point.

I liked that Lauren grew so much during their one year apart.  There are some things that happen during the separation that I think would bug me if it were happening to me and I'm not sure I'd ever get over it.  You'll have to find out for yourself if Ryan and Lauren do.  I'd definitely recommend this book.  I think everyone can relate in some way.

I gave this book a rating of 4.5/5.

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge Book Tour.


Praise for the book:

 “Moving, gorgeous and, at times, heart-wrenching. Taylor Jenkins Reid writes with wit and true emotion that you can feel. Read it, savor it, share it.” – Sarah Jio, New York Times bestselling author of The Violets of March


Buy the book
~Amazon Paperback
~Amazon Kindle


About the author:

 Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author and essayist from Acton, Massachusetts. She graduated from Emerson College with a degree in Media Studies. Her first novel, Forever, Interrupted, was named one of the “11 Debuts We Love” by Kirkus Reviews. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alex, and her dog, Rabbit. Her forthcoming novel, After I Do , will be published July 1, 2014.


Connect with the author:

~Facebook
~Twitter
~Website
~ Goodreads

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