Truly had to make myself finish this book. I didn't feel any connection with the characters and think that there we're too many different stories going on. ( )

Boring. No real plot or reason for writing the book. Predictable. Anticlimactic. ( )

I really give this 3 1/2 stars.

This was one of those books that was really tough to put down. It was a quick read that kept me interested and engaged throughout, and I can't really think of a place where it slowed down.

The author does a fantastic job of intertwining and juxtaposing two very different, yet also very similar stories. Adele Cassidy's story is echoed throughout the novel by Elizabeth's own relationship with her mother, and again by her relationship with her two daughters. Although Elizabeth and her mother did not react to the struggles of motherhood as severely as Adele, it is becomes easier for the reader to sympathize with Adele, and to see her as something other than a monster.

Although the ending was poignant, it left a few holes to be filled - most notably, how Elizabeth and Mark saved their marriage. Did they go to therapy? Does he know about her infidelity? Did she tell him about her rape, and if so, did it help him to understand her hatred of his bedroom behavior and/or was she able to get past that experience as a compromise? I know it's a somewhat trivial thing to wonder - they clearly worked out their problems for the time being at least, I just couldn't help but wonder how they worked through them successfully. And of course we do know what he did about his job, and that she was able to go back to some semblance of her career. But anyways, enough of my rambling about what I'd like to know about a fictional relationship :)

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a page-turner, and one with substance that really made me think. I found it easy to relate to the characters, even without having (yet) the experience of being a mother.

*Review of ARC ( )

This book was an intense, and in some places difficult, read, but it was well written and compelling. I read the entire thing over the course of about eight hours.

Really quite good. Unexpected outcome. ( )