booksandlists 's review for:

The Ever After by Sarah Pekkanen
3.0

I found myself really conflicted during this book.  It's an entertaining domestic drama/contemporary novel, don't get me wrong, but the circumstances just made me shake my head at times.  

Josie and Frank are a typical married couple with a couple of kids who have neglected their marriage in favor of jobs, kids, and life.  It happens.  Then one day Josie finds some emails on Franks phone that indicate he's had an affair.  Now here's where the conflict comes in:

It turns out, Frank DID spend time with another woman - but there wasn't actually significant physical intimacy.  I had a hard time getting myself terribly worked up over some flirtation and making out.  And Josie got TERRIBLY worked up about it.  Putting myself into the situation, YES I would be absolutely furious, hurt, and upset if I found out my husband had done that.  But I can't see myself being "move out, get divorced, scum of the earth, I can never even ride in your car again, have tons of therapy" upset over it.  I honestly wouldn't even call what Frank had an "affair" - which Josie makes a really big deal that it was.

The time flashbacks that may or may not have been other instances of Frank's inattention to their relationship were kind of misleading.  Were they there to make the reader dislike Frank and want Josie to kick him to the curb?  Again, if so, they weren't THAT bad.  Or were they there to make the reader like him more?  Because they also weren't that GOOD.

Overall I enjoyed this book, but I feel like it really lacked a clear direction.  Should we hate the cheater or find him redeemable?  Should we root for divorce, or want them to get back together?  I never found myself feeling strongly one way or the other, and often felt conflicted and confused about how I was intended to feel.