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greenvillemelissa's review against another edition
5.0
Book #59 Read in 2014
Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers
I enjoyed the author's book The Comfort of Lies and the book was just as good. In this novel, Maddy and Ben have a marriage that is struggling due to Ben's anger issues. Those reach a high point when his angry driving plays a role in causing a car accident, which leaves Maddy in a coma with a traumatic brain injury. Maddy eventually comes out of the coma but her road to recovery--of her words and emotions, of her marriage, of her life--is one that is not easy.
I enjoyed Meyer's writing. She told this story in alternating viewpoints of Maddy, Ben and their oldest daughter Emma. This fleshed out these three important characters more to readers and made them even more engaging. Meyer is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
I received a copy of this book from BookBrowse, in exchange for a honest review.
http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers
I enjoyed the author's book The Comfort of Lies and the book was just as good. In this novel, Maddy and Ben have a marriage that is struggling due to Ben's anger issues. Those reach a high point when his angry driving plays a role in causing a car accident, which leaves Maddy in a coma with a traumatic brain injury. Maddy eventually comes out of the coma but her road to recovery--of her words and emotions, of her marriage, of her life--is one that is not easy.
I enjoyed Meyer's writing. She told this story in alternating viewpoints of Maddy, Ben and their oldest daughter Emma. This fleshed out these three important characters more to readers and made them even more engaging. Meyer is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
I received a copy of this book from BookBrowse, in exchange for a honest review.
http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
minseigle's review against another edition
3.0
Gave some insight into traumatic brain injuries; but other than that, not much happened in this book. I didn’t really connect with the characters and there was no big conclusion. Just ok for me.
kathyv's review against another edition
I could not finish this book because I did not like the characters, they were very irritating and whiny. I made it to chapter 16. Also, the abuse did not ring true with me, having been married to an abusive person.
dr_manuela_reads's review against another edition
2.0
I am not exactly sure why I did not stop reading. I started out liking it. I found Maddy ingesting, but soon found her boring and very self-absorbed, childish! I was happy for her decision, but found her childish in making it. Ben was boring, dull. The parents were more interesting as were the friends but perhaps that is because we heard very little from them. All, in all, I struggled to finish and could not wait for it to end.
penandpage's review against another edition
4.0
Full Review - http://www.dishwaterdreams.com/book-reviews/book-review-accidents-of-marriage-by-randy-susan-meyers
300x300_8c65698f1fd834c611cef7479d6a42d0
Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers was not quite the book I thought it would be after reading the description. I thought this was going to be a look inside a verbally abusive marriage. And it was at first.
I was actually hesitant to read the book because of that. There was one line that really stuck out to me from the first part of the novel.
getting-out-of-the-way-Maddy
Maddy is a social worker married to Ben, a lawyer. They have three children. Ben has quite a temper and Maddy is caught between keeping the peace and fighting for the life she wants. She usually choose peace.
But this isn’t a novel about their marriage as it was. This is a novel about what their family becomes after Maddy is severely injured in a car accident. It is a novel about love and tragedy. It is a novel about how a family is torn apart and how they try to put the pieces back together after tragedy.
I did end up liking the novel despite my reservations because it might have hit too close to home. It isn’t a happy read. It isn’t an easy read, but it is a worthwhile read.
300x300_8c65698f1fd834c611cef7479d6a42d0
Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers was not quite the book I thought it would be after reading the description. I thought this was going to be a look inside a verbally abusive marriage. And it was at first.
I was actually hesitant to read the book because of that. There was one line that really stuck out to me from the first part of the novel.
getting-out-of-the-way-Maddy
Maddy is a social worker married to Ben, a lawyer. They have three children. Ben has quite a temper and Maddy is caught between keeping the peace and fighting for the life she wants. She usually choose peace.
But this isn’t a novel about their marriage as it was. This is a novel about what their family becomes after Maddy is severely injured in a car accident. It is a novel about love and tragedy. It is a novel about how a family is torn apart and how they try to put the pieces back together after tragedy.
I did end up liking the novel despite my reservations because it might have hit too close to home. It isn’t a happy read. It isn’t an easy read, but it is a worthwhile read.
kbranfield's review against another edition
4.0
Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers is a heart wrenching and insightful novel about the devastating effects of living with someone who is verbally abusive and prone to violent outbursts resulting from poor anger management. The consequences are oftentimes tragic and this eye-opening, poignant story is a timely reminder that anyone can become a victim of domestic violence.
Maddy and Ben are juggling the demands of parenthood with demanding, high stress careers. Maddy, a social worker, is the main caregiver of the couple's three children, fourteen year old Emma, nine year old Gracie and seven year old Caleb. She is wrung out and exhausted by trying to keep up with household duties, the kid's frenetic schedules and her emotionally draining job. Maddy is always on edge, waiting to find out which version of Ben is going to return home each night: will it be the loving and devoted husband? Or will it be the derisive, condescending husband whose verbal abuse often ends in physical, violent explosions of anger? After a couple of days that are more stressful than normal, Ben's anger boils over into road rage that results in a horrible car accident that leaves Maddy in a coma. The doctors are cautiously optimistic about her eventual recovery, but in the meantime, the family slowly disintegrates under the stresses of everyday life and the terrible uncertainty of Maddy's future.
As a social worker, no one knows the warming signs of abusive relationships better than Maddy, but it is amazing how blinded she is to Ben's destructive behavior. She makes excuses, blames herself and carefully censors herself in an effort to keep from provoking his temper. She goes so far as to point out that he has an anger management problem and provides him with information to try to help his anger under control. Maddy has moments of introspection where she admits that he has problems but instead of taking the advice she gives her clients, she never seriously considers leaving him.
Ben is a self-centered narcissist who bullies and belittles Maddy into compliance. Although they both have fulltime careers, Ben deems his the most important and he refuses to help Maddy manage the children's hectic schedules or take on any household responsibilities. Ben works long hours and despite his frequent absences, he is hypercritical of Maddy's parenting decisions. He is incapable of accepting responsibility for his actions and in the aftermath of the car accident, Ben repeatedly downplays his role in the accident.
Ben and Maddy's children are the unintended victims of their parents' dysfunctional relationship but the extent of the damage is not seen until after the accident. As the oldest, Emma is forced into taking care of her younger siblings and household duties while Maddy is in the hospital. She loves Gracie and Caleb, but as the days stretch into weeks, she is resentful of the responsibility she shoulders and she begins looking for relief from the unending stress in all the wrong places. Poor Gracie and Caleb are lonely, confused and scared as they try to understand the drama unfolding around them.
Accidents of Marriage is an emotionally compelling family drama that is raw, gritty and breathtakingly realistic. The characters are well-drawn with all too human flaws and imperfections. The storyline is absolutely heartbreaking but Randy Susan Meyers deftly handles difficult topics with an amazing amount of sensitivity. A riveting and highly complex novel that I highly recommend.
Maddy and Ben are juggling the demands of parenthood with demanding, high stress careers. Maddy, a social worker, is the main caregiver of the couple's three children, fourteen year old Emma, nine year old Gracie and seven year old Caleb. She is wrung out and exhausted by trying to keep up with household duties, the kid's frenetic schedules and her emotionally draining job. Maddy is always on edge, waiting to find out which version of Ben is going to return home each night: will it be the loving and devoted husband? Or will it be the derisive, condescending husband whose verbal abuse often ends in physical, violent explosions of anger? After a couple of days that are more stressful than normal, Ben's anger boils over into road rage that results in a horrible car accident that leaves Maddy in a coma. The doctors are cautiously optimistic about her eventual recovery, but in the meantime, the family slowly disintegrates under the stresses of everyday life and the terrible uncertainty of Maddy's future.
As a social worker, no one knows the warming signs of abusive relationships better than Maddy, but it is amazing how blinded she is to Ben's destructive behavior. She makes excuses, blames herself and carefully censors herself in an effort to keep from provoking his temper. She goes so far as to point out that he has an anger management problem and provides him with information to try to help his anger under control. Maddy has moments of introspection where she admits that he has problems but instead of taking the advice she gives her clients, she never seriously considers leaving him.
Ben is a self-centered narcissist who bullies and belittles Maddy into compliance. Although they both have fulltime careers, Ben deems his the most important and he refuses to help Maddy manage the children's hectic schedules or take on any household responsibilities. Ben works long hours and despite his frequent absences, he is hypercritical of Maddy's parenting decisions. He is incapable of accepting responsibility for his actions and in the aftermath of the car accident, Ben repeatedly downplays his role in the accident.
Ben and Maddy's children are the unintended victims of their parents' dysfunctional relationship but the extent of the damage is not seen until after the accident. As the oldest, Emma is forced into taking care of her younger siblings and household duties while Maddy is in the hospital. She loves Gracie and Caleb, but as the days stretch into weeks, she is resentful of the responsibility she shoulders and she begins looking for relief from the unending stress in all the wrong places. Poor Gracie and Caleb are lonely, confused and scared as they try to understand the drama unfolding around them.
Accidents of Marriage is an emotionally compelling family drama that is raw, gritty and breathtakingly realistic. The characters are well-drawn with all too human flaws and imperfections. The storyline is absolutely heartbreaking but Randy Susan Meyers deftly handles difficult topics with an amazing amount of sensitivity. A riveting and highly complex novel that I highly recommend.
bookishnicole's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. Ben was such an asshole this whole book, and while the author tried to redeem him a little bit, it just didn't happen, I also felt like the book was going nowhere and I absolutely couldn't see how it was going to end, which could be nice sometimes, but in this case made me feel like I was chasing my tail.
theycallmerash's review against another edition
5.0
Very well written book about a family and a marriage that goes through many hardships. Normally I don't like books written from multiple character's prospectives but this was actually very good. The character development is amazing and the ending left me wanting more.
melissapalmer404's review against another edition
5.0
Book #59 Read in 2014
Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers
I enjoyed the author's book The Comfort of Lies and the book was just as good. In this novel, Maddy and Ben have a marriage that is struggling due to Ben's anger issues. Those reach a high point when his angry driving plays a role in causing a car accident, which leaves Maddy in a coma with a traumatic brain injury. Maddy eventually comes out of the coma but her road to recovery--of her words and emotions, of her marriage, of her life--is one that is not easy.
I enjoyed Meyer's writing. She told this story in alternating viewpoints of Maddy, Ben and their oldest daughter Emma. This fleshed out these three important characters more to readers and made them even more engaging. Meyer is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
I received a copy of this book from BookBrowse, in exchange for a honest review.
http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers
I enjoyed the author's book The Comfort of Lies and the book was just as good. In this novel, Maddy and Ben have a marriage that is struggling due to Ben's anger issues. Those reach a high point when his angry driving plays a role in causing a car accident, which leaves Maddy in a coma with a traumatic brain injury. Maddy eventually comes out of the coma but her road to recovery--of her words and emotions, of her marriage, of her life--is one that is not easy.
I enjoyed Meyer's writing. She told this story in alternating viewpoints of Maddy, Ben and their oldest daughter Emma. This fleshed out these three important characters more to readers and made them even more engaging. Meyer is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
I received a copy of this book from BookBrowse, in exchange for a honest review.
http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
jessicawoofter's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5