My Ex-Life

"4 Stars!"

"A ton of fun!"

"Utterly refreshing!"

Those aren't my reviews, but other reviews left on Good Reads of this book that I first found out about through the NPR Book Concierge.

My review:

"Meh."

And it wasn't just "meh" - it was 336 pages of meh. And, it started really strong, so my hopes were high. In the end, it just felt like too many interesting story lines and a plot that had promise, but the whole thing just really fell flat.

My Ex-Life is about a formerly married couple who split for pretty obvious reasons. For one, they lost a baby before it was born. Also, he's gay. But, circumstances in their lives decades later had them reaching out to each other. You kind of know where it's going all along, yet that isn't really what bothered me. What bothered me is that the very interesting subplots (his work as a college admissions specialist, working with his ex-wife's daughter; the daughter getting caught up in teenage drama, etc.) were never given the chance to develop into something worthwhile.

I felt myself SLOGGING through this thing. The writing was snappy and interesting, but the book could have been more interesting if it was about 150 pages shorter. And just when you think it was coming to its natural end, the author throws in an insane twist with the daughter that's more annoying and improperly handled than the rest of the book.

You can trust me on this (I gave it 2 stars) or the others who have reviewed it who gave it a strong 4 stars... For me, I just don't see this being an enjoyable journey for any reader.