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Release date: April 1, 2019

Publisher: Lake Union

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Blurb:

Honesty is the best policy…except maybe when it comes to marriage in this brilliant novel about the high price of perfection from bestselling author Camille Pagán.

Wife. Mother. Breadwinner. Penelope Ruiz-Kar is doing it all—and barely keeping it together. Meanwhile, her best friend, Jenny Sweet, appears to be sailing through life. As close as the two women are, Jenny’s passionate marriage, pristine house, and ultra-polite child stand in stark contrast to Penelope’s underemployed husband, Sanjay, their unruly brood, and the daily grind she calls a career.

Then a shocking tragedy reveals that Jenny’s life is far from perfect. Reeling, Penelope vows to stop keeping the peace and finally deal with the issues in her relationship. So she and Sanjay agree to a radical proposal: both will write a list of changes they want each other to make—then commit to complete and total honesty.

What seems like a smart idea quickly spirals out of control, revealing new rifts and even deeper secrets. As Penelope stares down the possible implosion of her marriage, she must ask herself: When it comes to love, is honesty really the best policy? 

Review:

I am SO the target audience for this book, I’m just an average mom and wife trying to keep my family running and stay sane while juggling more balls than I should be, and the main character, Penny is doing exactly the same thing, and she’s struggling in a major way. #relatable So if you’re a middle aged wife/mom grab this one because I have a feeling that you’ll see a piece of yourself in Penny as well. And if you’re not, grab it anyway because it was a great read.

Penny and her husband Sanjay decide to try and revitalize their marriage and the first step is total honestly, especially concerning their own personal wants and needs. At first glance this sounds like a solid plan, but is total honesty ever a truly good idea? That’s a hard no from me, I mean I like to think I’m an honest person but do you know how many times a day I bite my tongue in order to avoid sounding like a huge bitch? The answer to that question is a lot of times a day and I most certainly keep quiet when my husband says or does something to annoy me on the regular. All of that to say, the idea of true and sometimes harsh, honestly in a marriage is downright scary. It brought some really interesting questions to light and even made me examine my own life, which is always something I appreciate in a book, especially one that is super fun and light in so many ways. A mix of depth and fun is such a great balance and when it’s done well, it’s a little magical. It was done very well here! This would be a great choice for a book club, plenty of themes to discuss and enough humor and heart to stick with you after you’ve finished.

I’m Fine and Neither Are You in three words: Witty, Heartfelt and Realistic

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.