Young Wives' Tales [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

I've just finished reading this book, and I struggled to finish it. It took me a while, and I literally needed breaks in-between chapters because of how frustrated I would get with the characters.

I really did not like any of the characters. I hated John, I hated Lucy, I hated Peter, I hated Connie, and I had huge moments of dislike for Rose.

I would have to say though that the only plot that actually kept me interested long enough to finish the book was Rose and Craig's storyline. It just drove me insane how each of the characters were absolute jerks! Especially Lucy and John. Yeah yeah, I'll probably get the whole "but they redeemed themselves at the end". Well, it was a little too late for me. 50 chapters, and I had to wait till chapter 46 for me to feel the least bit of sympathy and understanding for either of them?

And I don't understand why Connie was made to seem like a central role at the back of the book, when John was the one given his own chapters. We don't even hear of John until his name pops up in Chapter 3. That's just me being picky I suppose, but I did wonder about it and so I'm mentioning it.

I gave this book 3 stars for two reasons. 1. As much as I did not enjoy this book, I have to give it to Adele Parks. She writes impeccably. She is an extremely skilled writer, and her characterisation, flow of dialogue and thoughts, structure, and all of that was absolutely flawless. Sure, I did not like neither the book nor the storyline, but I appreciated her writing skills.

And 2. It is not her fault I did not enjoy this story. She is a great writer, but I am simply the wrong target audience for this book. I am neither a wife, nor a mother, and this book seems to be targeted at both, and probably a wider bunch of females. I am not one of them, I did not relate to the situations, and I did not connect to the characters the way I'm sure others have. I am simply put, not the targeted audience for this book.

For that, I admit that it is completely on me for buying this book and reading it in the first place, because it was made clear on the back what the book would be about. I guess I was just curious because it received such great reviews.

I'm sure there are many who would love this book. I was just not one of them.

I have read numerous tales of women who have been left for other women, betrayed by their best friends, labor under single motherhood and they can all be lumped into three categories: 1) revenge tales: the woman somehow ends up on top and the husband and new woman are miserable 2) spirited tales in which a woman has to deal with this heartwrenching issue but does so with grace and 3)the realistic ones where the woman is strong and witty and gets angry, gets over it though it will probably always hurt.

I hated this book. I thought it would be a good combination of the three, a total package but it just made me cry a lot. I felt very sorry for Rose and I admired her grace but ended just losing a lot of respect for her, I hated Lucy, Connie and Peter. John isn't worth mentioning.

Lucy was just completely unlikeable, I could not understand the attraction between her and Pete though considering how nice hes supposed to be but how selfishly hes acted, maybe I can. There is nothing he did right in this book. Its one thing to fall in love, divorce and remarry. Its another thing to carry on an affair with a wife's friend, leave your wife to raise the kids virtually on her own then constantly inflict your new wife's presence on her.

Rose kinds deserves this treatment, she made it so easy for him. Its one thing to maintain the peace, its another to be a pathetic weakling. They just shitted on her throughout the story and it was okay because everyone liked her. And I was not convinced about the dissolution of her and Pete's marriage. They weren't really in love is not an excuse. They seemed like they had a good marriage but Pete met someone else that he loved more. That does not invalidate their love.

Lucy is just a selfish, manipulative, insecure, mercenary little bitch. Her obsession with Rose which should have made her complex and vulnerable just made her intensely unlikeable. Her deliberate railroading of Rose and Pete's marriage aside, her lack of real friend and her unhappiness with Pete all point to something seriously lacking in her character. She was the most disappointing of all because she should have been the most complex.

Connie, another unnecessary and smug character, nuff said.

B0ok just ruined my day.

I love this book! Adele Parks describes the characters very well. And the story is well written. A definite page turner and a great chick flic to read on any day!