Washington Square Press After I Do: A Novel

Came to me entirely squished!!!!

Did I leave the best of her backlist until last? I think I probably did - I loved this one.After I Do brings us Lauren and Ryan. When their marriage reaches breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes..The concept of this book was incredibly simple but profoundly important. It highlighted so many things around marriage. The importance of communication being a main one. When the communication between these two becomes stifled they become withdrawn and begin to despise each other for their own shortcomings.I adored both Laura and Ryan's eventual honesty with one another. While they were both ignorant to each other and many aspects of their marriage in the beginning, I admired the journey they embarked on and the people they became once the journey came to an end.Whether you are married or not you will find so many aspects of the story relatable. It's genuine and its real and it emphasises that there are no rules to life and there are certainly no rules or a guide book for marriage - it's hard, it requires open and honest communication and while there is no magic formula to follow for love to work, if you keep those lines of communication open you're half way there

This book is like a warm hot chocolate on a cold day. I absolutely loved it and spent days carrying it around engrossed. The characters drew you in and you genuinely care about each and every one of them as you discover and learn more about each of their little worlds. I cannot recommend this book or the author enough. The book itself has become a firm favourite and I still carry it in my bag just to keep that feeling of warmth with me! Ten out of ten. Buy the book! 📖

Similar to Colleen Hoover’s ‘All Your Perfects’, this book is incredible. I was sobbing from early in. Beautifully written and such a touching story! I highly, highly recommend!

Easy reading, good for when you want a bit of thought-provoking romance… but nothing groundbreaking

Finally, I picked up Taylor Jenkins Reid. She was my most anticipated author and I was not disappointed. While I won’t say that she is my favorite author, I am definitely going to read more of her books because her writing has me intrigued! Honestly, it is not the kind of writing I am used to. When I started reading, I felt disconnected or untethered from the story. But the writing style slowly grew on me.Lauren and Ryan met when she was 19 years old. They both fell in love and there was no turning back. They got married and settled down. But then came a point in their life wherein they could not stand each other. So rather than calling it quits, they decided to give their relationship a chance. To stay apart from each other for 1 year, explore other relationships, explore themselves - no rules and then meet after a year and see where they stand.This is a story of self-discovery, a journey really to know yourself, to know what you want and what you don’t. To know what is acceptable to you and what is not. To know what you do once you fall out of love with the only relationship you ever knew. To know it is ok not to be ok. It’s ok to take a step back and figure things out. To know that your feelings are important, you are important but honesty is equally or rather more important.“Maybe needing someone isn’t about not being able to do it without them. Maybe needing someone is about it being easier if they are by your side.”This story was an eye-opener in so many ways. Reid is ruthless in exploring the bitter truth of the marriage. But she does it in such a way that you won’t resent or feel uncomfortable. Rather you would feel it and relate to it. Also, I loved the fact that there is no good person or bad person in this book. Lauren is not perfect and neither is Ryan hence it was easy to grasp the essence of this story. I loved Lauren’s family - each one of them had something amazing to offer.A simple but powerful read. Absolutely recommend.