Read And Revel

Elise and Graham have been married for 7 years, settled nicely into their relationship, careers they can be proud of, and a beautiful house with plenty of room for their family to grow. Elise’s family is planning to come visit after 2 years apart, but just before their arrival she finds out Graham’s family will be coming that same week. Including his mother, Traci, who hasn’t exactly been the friendliest to Elise. In fact, everything she says to Elise is a criticism or a judgement, sometimes in a passive-aggressive way, others just outright nasty. Elise handles her General Anxiety Disorder well, but this is enough to nearly throw her straight into a panic attack. 

When both families arrive, the contrast is immediate. Where Elise’s family is full of warmth, kindness, and laughter Graham’s family has a distance, coldness, and disregard to anything asked of them.  It starts small, minor comments about her cooking, or reorganizing the spices, but as Graham continues to say nothing to his mother, it only gets worse. Uncovering the big and little problems in their marriage, it could be the beginning of the end of them. 

I enjoyed this book immensely, there are multiple aspects that parallel my own life, and many I think most people can relate to. If you’ve had an in-law that was standoffish but you always hope they’ll come around, guests that don’t respect you in your home, any relationship that makes you feel like you can never measure up, you’ll feel validated and seen reading this book. It’s easy to stay in the monotony of life, and begin to miss things about your partner. To not be fully present, not speak up when you’re overwhelmed, to put things away as silly or unimportant instead of talking them through. This book reminds us not only of the power of family, but the importance of being open to those you love, to never stop communicating, to show up for them every single day. 

I really appreciate the sensitivity and honesty that Woods has for difficult topics in this book. Covering anxiety disorders, dysfunctional family, and miscarriage with tact is not easy to do, but the journey we see the characters go through feels genuine. It would have been easy to assign blame to only one person, or use her anxiety as an excuse to take away blame, but in this book we see accountability on both sides. This is a wonderful depiction of open communication, growth, accountability, and what a real marriage looks like. It’s imperfect and full of mistakes, but when you choose each other there’s room for love to continue and grow. 

Number of Times I Wanted to Throw the Book Across the Room: So, so many times.

Did the Book Pass the “One More Chapter” Test? Absolutely. 

Number of Emotional Roller Coasters: This whole book is an emotional roller coaster. 

Perfect snack pairing: Chocolate tart and a good cup of coffee.

Character I Would Most Like to Have a Drink With: Tasha, her kindness is palpable.

Quote that perfectly sums up the main characters relationship: “I choose you. I will always choose you.”

Level of spice: 3/5, several open door scenes.

If you’d like to see more from the author you can find them at @ZahraWoodsAuthor

Thank you to NetGalley and the author Zahra Woods for the opportunity to review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.