Author: Jeneva Rose
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Page Count: 328
Rating: ❤❤
Backstory
Hi friends. I'm back with another hot take on the latest books I've read. I heard a lot of buzz about this one. They talked about it in my favorite book reading group on Facebook and Amazon has been bugging me to read it for the longest. So I did. This is the 8th book I've read this month, so I'm getting that much closer to accomplishing 10 books in one month. I have 8 days to read two more books. Let's see if I can do it.
Anyway, got this book. I had high hopes for it. Everyone talked about how amazing the plot twists were and how they couldn't put it down until the finished it. So I figured things would be the same for me.
They were not.
It's gonna be a no for me. Don't hate me, but I really didn't enjoy this one, guys. As a matter of fact, I only finished it so I could add it to my book count for the month. But in all honesty, I think I was hate-reading about midway through. I didn't even realize hate-reading was a thing until this book. I knew hate-watching was a thing, because I have done it a few times. This was a new experience. To me this is the Bojangles of books. That makes no sense does it? Allow me to explain. In every town or city, there is a restaurant that everyone swears by. They line up car after car, driveway stacked deep every morning noon and night. Everyone loves it. They tell all the newcomers to try it. They look at you like you've grown three heads and tail during the conversation if you tell them you don't actually like it.
Bojangles is that restaurant for me. Everyone gushes about Bojangles and their sweet tea. And then there's me, not even remotely a fan of the food OR the tea. I'll just go home and cook if this is my only option to eat. Or I'll chew on the gravel in the parking lot. I will die alone on this hill if I have to. That's okay. That's fine. I've come to accept it.
This book is clearly my Bojangles. Everyone loved it. Literally everyone that talked about it was gushing about how great it was. Then there was me. Feeling like I got bamboozled into reading a whole dumpster fire of a book. What was it about, you ask? Okay. So, let's get after it.
Synopsis
Excerpt from Amazon
Sarah Morgan is a successful and powerful defense attorney in Washington D.C. As a named partner at her firm, life is going exactly how she planned. The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He’s a struggling writer who has had little success in his career and he tires of his and Sarah’s relationship as she is constantly working.
Out in the secluded woods, at the couple’s lake house, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers. But one morning everything changes. Kelly is found brutally stabbed to death and now, Sarah must take on her hardest case yet, defending her own husband, a man accused of murdering his mistress.
My Thoughts
So the premise sounds promising right? Whew, say that five times fast. Anyway, like I said, I had high hopes, but then I started reading and those hopes were dashed almost immediately. Now don't get me wrong, major kudos to Jeneva Rose because writing a book is no easy task. Especially when juggling a full time job and only being able to write on nights and weekends. That's not an easy thing to do. So congrats to her on getting her book out there and published. Also, major congrats on the fact that it has done so well! I'm sure she couldn't have imagined the type of success it would receive as she was writing it. I'm sure it feels amazing to have people read and love your work. I can only hope to experience that same thing one day.
But yeah. Now that I have the niceties and pleasantries out of the way, let's talk about why I label this book as a dumpster fire. I wanted so badly to love it, and the two stars that I gave it felt very generous in my opinion. Before I get started, let me remind people that this is in fact, just my opinion. You are well within your rights to love this book and yell from the rooftops about how everyone should read it. I won't fault you for that. We like what we like and we don't like what we don't like. Such is life.
What I Liked About The Perfect Marriage
Okay so I didn't hate absolutely everything about this book. I did enjoy the plot. It was a good idea. I see where she was going with it and I didn't mind it. The twists at the end threw me for a loop. Part of me did want to keep reading to find out how the story would play out in the end. It went a completely different direction than I had been anticipating. So that part wasn't bad. I enjoyed that.
What I Didn't Like About The Perfect Marriage
*Deep Breath* Okay, so I hated this writing style. I am finding out that I am NOT a fan of the closed caption type style of writing. The kind with way too much detail. For example (not a direct quote):
"I ran my hand through my ash-brown hair that was graying down the middle. I pushed my black rimmed glasses up on my pointed nose and rubbed my slender arm covered in milky-white skin."
This type of writing style absolutely burns my biscuit. Don't get me wrong, I understand that detail is needed. We need to detail to paint the picture, but when you add THAT much detail constantly, it becomes paragraph after paragraph of useless information. I do not need to know what type of outfit and hairstyle you have every time the scene changes. Just get to the point!
I also didn't really enjoy the way the characters were written. They seemed very stale and rigid. The conversations didn't flow like normal conversations and it seemed like they were just dropping F-bombs every two seconds as a way to accentuate the point. The emotions didn't feel real or relatable.
For example:
Sarah was always bellowing (in her head, mind you)
I AM WOMAN
I AM ANGRY
I AM LAWYER
HEAR ME ROAR
I found myself rolling my eyes every time she went on one of these rants, and it happened often. I rolled my eyes so much I'm surprised I was even able to read the book. The transitions in relationships seemed forced and unnatural. Some even gave me whiplash.
For example:
Adam and a character started working together on his case. There was no sexual tension or anything between them at all prior, and then the next thing you know, he's randomly trying to hug and kiss on this character.
I had to re-read that part a few times because it came completely out of left field.
Recommend Or Nah?
Honestly? Truly? Nah. I don't really recommend this one. In my opinion, it was a swing and a miss. It became hard to read after a while and I will never forgive Jeneva Rose for using the term "cloying stickiness" to describe a woman being sexually aroused. Jeneva, if you're reading this, I will never forgive you for that. I will go to my grave being angry about it. I will riot in the streets with pitchforks and torches ablaze.
So yeah, I am not a fan of this book. Everyone else is though. So if you don't want to take my word for it, and you want to form your own opinion go for it!
Don't let me keep you from reading a book. It could end up being your favorite and then you end up mad at me because I told you not to. Nope. Read it if you want. Make your own judgements. If you hate it, well hey, don't say I didn't warn you. If you want to check it out, you can grab it by clicking the button here:
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So there you have it, guys. The Perfect Marriage. Amazon #1 best seller in Domestic Thriller. Grab it if you want, or don't. You grown. If you DO decide to grab it, please come back and let me know what you think. Did the writing style bother you? Did you like the characters? I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it. You can join the conversation over on instagram or facebook and let me know what your thoughts were. Until then,
Happy Reading Babes! ❤