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A review by readwithmesashamarie
Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon
5.0
You can find this review along with many others on my blog by clicking here
Initial Thoughts:
I’ve always been a pretty strict young adult genre reader, so I was excited and nervous when I got the chance to venture outside of my teenage triangle of love comfort zone. Much to my surprise, I instantly fell in love with this book, the character’s, and Gideon’s style of writing. I was laughing out loud uncontrollable at parts, and deeply touched or saddened by others. I think this was the perfect book to use to branch out my little olive tree of book knowledge. After reading Wife 22 I’m definitely going to seek out more books of this genre and plot line. I’ve noticed over the past year or so that I’ve turned into a sort of hopeless romantic, and this book was perfect for me.
Spoilers!
Oh gosh, the anonymity, the sense of doing something bad (in a good way), the feeling of having secrets, the rush of a new relationship, all these things and more are rushing through Alice as she begins her marriage survey as Wife 22 with Researcher 101. I simply adored the way this book was written with so many different styles, switching between bullets and numbers, to time stamps of her evening, to emails and chats passed online among friends, I ate it all up! I especially loved the way Alice writes about her courtship with her husband, William, while answering the survey questions. Her responses made me fall in love with William and I was rooting for their marriage to work right from the beginning. And her kids! Peter seems absolutely darling, and the way Alice and William handled the ‘Hoho’ situation with Zoe had me laughing out loud along with them.
It was somewhere between page 283 and 297 when I realized who Researcher 101 is. I felt a few of the same emotions Alice feels when she finds out herself as the novel progresses. But overall, I have to agree with her friends Bunny and Nerda and say that it is the most romantic thing I think any man could ever do for his wife. It almost feels like it’s so perfect, it could only ever happen in a book, but thinking like that makes me depressed. I have to assume, for my sake and the sake of all the romantics, that there are still men out there today who have enough ingenuity, sensibility, passion, and who care enough to go through what William did to bring his wife back to him.
Conclusion:
I may be wrong, but I personally think everyone should read this book. Okay maybe not everyone, but if you’re a romantic, or looking for ideas to save your marriage or relationship, this is definitely the book to do it. Or maybe you’ll read it and realize you’re relationship isn’t like Alice and William and it can’t be saved, and I think that’s okay too.
This book was exactly what I needed at the right time. It was a nice reprieve from my endless drone of young adult literature, don’t get me wrong I seriously love me some young adult books, but they can get a little repetitive.
After reading Wife 22 I somehow feel lighter, more satisfied with my life. It was almost as if, without realizing it, I had lost hope of love and romance, much in the same way Alice did. Melanie Gideon and Wife 22 was akin to some much needed therapy: mental and emotional…or are those the same thing?
This may be a bold statement, but Wife 22 is now my favorite book of 2012 (so far).
Initial Thoughts:
I’ve always been a pretty strict young adult genre reader, so I was excited and nervous when I got the chance to venture outside of my teenage triangle of love comfort zone. Much to my surprise, I instantly fell in love with this book, the character’s, and Gideon’s style of writing. I was laughing out loud uncontrollable at parts, and deeply touched or saddened by others. I think this was the perfect book to use to branch out my little olive tree of book knowledge. After reading Wife 22 I’m definitely going to seek out more books of this genre and plot line. I’ve noticed over the past year or so that I’ve turned into a sort of hopeless romantic, and this book was perfect for me.
Spoilers!
Oh gosh, the anonymity, the sense of doing something bad (in a good way), the feeling of having secrets, the rush of a new relationship, all these things and more are rushing through Alice as she begins her marriage survey as Wife 22 with Researcher 101. I simply adored the way this book was written with so many different styles, switching between bullets and numbers, to time stamps of her evening, to emails and chats passed online among friends, I ate it all up! I especially loved the way Alice writes about her courtship with her husband, William, while answering the survey questions. Her responses made me fall in love with William and I was rooting for their marriage to work right from the beginning. And her kids! Peter seems absolutely darling, and the way Alice and William handled the ‘Hoho’ situation with Zoe had me laughing out loud along with them.
It was somewhere between page 283 and 297 when I realized who Researcher 101 is. I felt a few of the same emotions Alice feels when she finds out herself as the novel progresses. But overall, I have to agree with her friends Bunny and Nerda and say that it is the most romantic thing I think any man could ever do for his wife. It almost feels like it’s so perfect, it could only ever happen in a book, but thinking like that makes me depressed. I have to assume, for my sake and the sake of all the romantics, that there are still men out there today who have enough ingenuity, sensibility, passion, and who care enough to go through what William did to bring his wife back to him.
Conclusion:
I may be wrong, but I personally think everyone should read this book. Okay maybe not everyone, but if you’re a romantic, or looking for ideas to save your marriage or relationship, this is definitely the book to do it. Or maybe you’ll read it and realize you’re relationship isn’t like Alice and William and it can’t be saved, and I think that’s okay too.
This book was exactly what I needed at the right time. It was a nice reprieve from my endless drone of young adult literature, don’t get me wrong I seriously love me some young adult books, but they can get a little repetitive.
After reading Wife 22 I somehow feel lighter, more satisfied with my life. It was almost as if, without realizing it, I had lost hope of love and romance, much in the same way Alice did. Melanie Gideon and Wife 22 was akin to some much needed therapy: mental and emotional…or are those the same thing?
This may be a bold statement, but Wife 22 is now my favorite book of 2012 (so far).