Hello Lovelies,
It's the weekend, finally!! Woot.. Today I bring you a book review. You already know my love for reading. So in the summer I participated in the Summer Reading Challenge that BookSparksPR hosted, and I read a lot of amazing new releases. I jumped on it again when they announced their Fall Reading Challenge. So here is my first review of the challenge. Want to join, is not too late. Go sign up!!!
This post is sponsored by BookSparksPR in honor of their
Title : Mating For Life
Author: Marissa Stapley
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Release Date: July 1st, 2014
Summary from GoodReads:
With pitch-perfect honesty and heartwarming humor, this captivating debut explores marriage, motherhood, identity, and what it takes to love someone—family members, friends, or spouses—for life.
Former folk singer Helen Sear was a feminist wild child who proudly disdained monogamy, raising three daughters—each by a different father—largely on her own. Now in her sixties, Helen has fallen in love with a traditional man who desperately wants to marry her. And while she fears losing him, she’s equally afraid of abandoning everything she’s ever stood for if she goes through with it.
Meanwhile, Helen’s youngest daughter, Liane, is in the heady early days of a relationship with her soul mate. But he has an ex-wife and two kids, and her new role as a “step-something” doesn’t come with an instruction manual. Ilsa, an artist, has put her bohemian past behind her and is fervently hoping her second marriage will stick. Yet her world feels like it is slowly shrinking, and her painting is suffering as a result—and she realizes she may need to break free again, even if it means disrupting the lives of her two young children. And then there’s Fiona, the eldest sister, who has worked tirelessly to make her world pristine, yet who still doesn’t feel at peace. When she discovers her husband has been harboring a huge secret, Fiona loses her tenuous grip on happiness and is forced to face some truths about herself that she’d rather keep buried.
Interweaving the alternating perspectives of Helen, her daughters, and the women surrounding them, “each new chapter brings a wise and tender look at single life, dating rituals, and marital unease” (New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Close). In this “absolute feat of storytelling” (bestselling author Grace O'Connell), Marissa Stapley celebrates the many roles modern women play, and shows that even though happy endings aren’t one-size-fits-all, some loves really can last for life
With pitch-perfect honesty and heartwarming humor, this captivating debut explores marriage, motherhood, identity, and what it takes to love someone—family members, friends, or spouses—for life.
Former folk singer Helen Sear was a feminist wild child who proudly disdained monogamy, raising three daughters—each by a different father—largely on her own. Now in her sixties, Helen has fallen in love with a traditional man who desperately wants to marry her. And while she fears losing him, she’s equally afraid of abandoning everything she’s ever stood for if she goes through with it.
Meanwhile, Helen’s youngest daughter, Liane, is in the heady early days of a relationship with her soul mate. But he has an ex-wife and two kids, and her new role as a “step-something” doesn’t come with an instruction manual. Ilsa, an artist, has put her bohemian past behind her and is fervently hoping her second marriage will stick. Yet her world feels like it is slowly shrinking, and her painting is suffering as a result—and she realizes she may need to break free again, even if it means disrupting the lives of her two young children. And then there’s Fiona, the eldest sister, who has worked tirelessly to make her world pristine, yet who still doesn’t feel at peace. When she discovers her husband has been harboring a huge secret, Fiona loses her tenuous grip on happiness and is forced to face some truths about herself that she’d rather keep buried.
Interweaving the alternating perspectives of Helen, her daughters, and the women surrounding them, “each new chapter brings a wise and tender look at single life, dating rituals, and marital unease” (New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Close). In this “absolute feat of storytelling” (bestselling author Grace O'Connell), Marissa Stapley celebrates the many roles modern women play, and shows that even though happy endings aren’t one-size-fits-all, some loves really can last for life
Quotes:
"Envious gazes... are driven by envious thoughts and have the potential to do actual physical damage. The evil eye is not a black-magic-related curse...but rather the embodiment of an envious glare - an instant curse that anyone is capable of, even without intent" - pg. 11
"She stayed because she never gave up home. She tried to convince herself it didn't matter to her that he was never going to be able to love her back because he was the kind of man who was a little frozen on the inside."
"We can't choose who we love... I still would have wanted to love him, even if I had known there was no curing him" - pg. 93
My Take:
This book takes us through the lives of three sisters, and their mother, and the women that surround them. Their stories show how they are struggling to find the happiness in their lives. Each story is separate but somehow they are all intertwined with each other; with finding love and happiness being the theme of each of these women's lives.
I loved how the author wrote the chapters in this novel. Each chapter was written in the perspective of a different character, it was like seeing the same moment pass, but looking at it through a different perspective. The book started with Liane's solitary trip to the cottage, struggling with writing her college thesis and thinking about her now fiancee. Then we meet with her sisters, Fiona and Ilsa who at a summer party hosted by Fiona, they get into an argument which tampers with their annual cottage trip. Then during the trip to the cottage we meet Helen, the mother of Liane, Fiona and Ilsa, who as a love-child, feminist woman, is struggling to settle with the man is in love with. We also meet other women who are struggling with their own relationships and happiness, and that somehow their lives get intertwine with each other.
I also love the theme of "mating" that goes along with the title. The author introduces each chapter by writing a short story of the mating life of a different animal, and she weaves in the animal into the women's story. It is awesome.
I really enjoyed the book. I couldn't put it down. It got me hooked. I recommend it.
This book takes us through the lives of three sisters, and their mother, and the women that surround them. Their stories show how they are struggling to find the happiness in their lives. Each story is separate but somehow they are all intertwined with each other; with finding love and happiness being the theme of each of these women's lives.
I loved how the author wrote the chapters in this novel. Each chapter was written in the perspective of a different character, it was like seeing the same moment pass, but looking at it through a different perspective. The book started with Liane's solitary trip to the cottage, struggling with writing her college thesis and thinking about her now fiancee. Then we meet with her sisters, Fiona and Ilsa who at a summer party hosted by Fiona, they get into an argument which tampers with their annual cottage trip. Then during the trip to the cottage we meet Helen, the mother of Liane, Fiona and Ilsa, who as a love-child, feminist woman, is struggling to settle with the man is in love with. We also meet other women who are struggling with their own relationships and happiness, and that somehow their lives get intertwine with each other.
I also love the theme of "mating" that goes along with the title. The author introduces each chapter by writing a short story of the mating life of a different animal, and she weaves in the animal into the women's story. It is awesome.
I really enjoyed the book. I couldn't put it down. It got me hooked. I recommend it.
Find my other reviews here: Book Thoughts
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