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Games to Play After Dark
When Kate and Colin meet at a party in Manhattan their connection is electric. They marry quickly, moving to the suburbs, and in the light of day they seem like any young couple, but the games they play after dark are far from routine.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
July 7, 2011
I hate this book, HATE IT. Girl with daddy issues meets boy falls in love, has two daughters. Spends the rest of the book thinking her husband will have the same reaction to their daughters maturing that her dad did with her. After 10 years she no longer desires her husband and cannot stand the thought of having sex with him. She does so, but only every ten days. She ends up having an affair with one of her dead father's friends. She falls despritely in love the best she has ever felt. He leaves her. (shocker) She is married after all, where did she think this was going? Husband finally mentions to her that he knows she does not enjoy sex with him, that they only have sex every ten days. She ends up picking up the kids from their last day of school before winter vacation, and driving off into the sunset.
This book focuses on the mundane tasks of the everyday, which was fun the first 75 pages then I found myself skipping the descriptions for the everyday mundane, bla bla bla get to the story. I kept thinking the story would get back to the two fun characters the book started with. Nope!
Hate It! I told you the whole story, so now you don't have to read it.
This book focuses on the mundane tasks of the everyday, which was fun the first 75 pages then I found myself skipping the descriptions for the everyday mundane, bla bla bla get to the story. I kept thinking the story would get back to the two fun characters the book started with. Nope!
Hate It! I told you the whole story, so now you don't have to read it.
December 17, 2025
I received this book from goodreads first read giveaway. I enjoyed the book at the start. The narration really interested me; the sentences were brief and to the the point which made the book feel more like the story was being related to you by some distant third-party who had no connection to it. It also helped with the pace of the book, covering the meeting, dating, and marriage of Colin and Kate in the first three chapters. I also really liked Colin and Kate in the beginning.
However, the pace slows once the couple is married and I felt the book became more difficult to read. I began to dislike Colin and especially Kate. They both came off as selfish and narcissistic, wanting the other to make them happy instead of working to make their partner happy. When the children are introduced I really felt the selfish resentment that both Colin and Kate felt toward each other. As the book progressed, it made me angrier and angrier as I was reading. I was angry with characters, then I was angry at the characters for their choices that lead to them being angry, then I was angry at the book for making me feel angry. There were several times I had to walk away because I was so mad at either Kate or Colin or even Robin, their youngest child. I guess Borden succeeds as a writer in being able to provoke such strong feelings from me as the reader.
I think the book can be summed up well by a passage found in chapter 25 on page 298:
"Volatile father, jackass husband, gets married, has kids. Meets brilliant older man. Experiences sexual renaissance... That story does not end happily. Those kinds of stories never do."
However, the pace slows once the couple is married and I felt the book became more difficult to read. I began to dislike Colin and especially Kate. They both came off as selfish and narcissistic, wanting the other to make them happy instead of working to make their partner happy. When the children are introduced I really felt the selfish resentment that both Colin and Kate felt toward each other. As the book progressed, it made me angrier and angrier as I was reading. I was angry with characters, then I was angry at the characters for their choices that lead to them being angry, then I was angry at the book for making me feel angry. There were several times I had to walk away because I was so mad at either Kate or Colin or even Robin, their youngest child. I guess Borden succeeds as a writer in being able to provoke such strong feelings from me as the reader.
I think the book can be summed up well by a passage found in chapter 25 on page 298:
"Volatile father, jackass husband, gets married, has kids. Meets brilliant older man. Experiences sexual renaissance... That story does not end happily. Those kinds of stories never do."
February 23, 2012
I hate this book! I hated reading this book! Did I mention that I hate this book? Amazon’s reviewers are gaga over this novel, and say this should become a Classic. Why? I have no clue, unless they enjoy the degradation of women, salacious sex scenes, and domestic violence. Only then could I begin to understand the need to make GAMES TO PLAY AFTER DARK a contemporary classic.
Again I took the book blurb and began reading. When Kate and Colin meet at a party in Manhattan their connection is electric. They marry quickly, moving to the suburbs, and in the light of day they seem like any young couple, but the games they play after dark are far from routine. Yes, my fault lies with not reading the thoughtful reviews from Goodreads readers whom really enjoyed and really disliked the book.
Kate and Colin were fun in the beginning and became to warped as I read chapter after chapter. Sarah Gardner Borden writes well enough, I just didn’t expect a literaryBlack and Blue.
Again I took the book blurb and began reading. When Kate and Colin meet at a party in Manhattan their connection is electric. They marry quickly, moving to the suburbs, and in the light of day they seem like any young couple, but the games they play after dark are far from routine. Yes, my fault lies with not reading the thoughtful reviews from Goodreads readers whom really enjoyed and really disliked the book.
Kate and Colin were fun in the beginning and became to warped as I read chapter after chapter. Sarah Gardner Borden writes well enough, I just didn’t expect a literaryBlack and Blue.
October 20, 2016
Very difficult to read. The story jumps around alot and is not very connected. The title is a bit misleading and is not supported by the contents of this book.. What games were being played after dark? It was hard to understand if Kate is the way she is as a result of her history with her Father. The dynamic in the marriage between Colin and Kate was boring. It was 28 chapters of Kate being bored which in turn bores the reader. The affair might of sparked a little bit more interest in this story. Not a fan of the ending of this book.
January 11, 2011
Terrifying. After reading this novel, I felt I'd actually spent six years living in the burbs and falling out of love with my husband.
May 15, 2011
Like reading the diary of a self-absorbed, narcissistic and lonely housewife who perpetually thinks the grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side.
Depressing, lonely and dark.
Smart ending.
Depressing, lonely and dark.
Smart ending.
August 25, 2017
Ugh...what did I just read?! Rarely do I leave a negative review; I always try to find something positive about the book. But I just didn't enjoy this at all. In fact, I didn't even finish. Its so boring and the characters seem watered-down and so shallow. The storyline is weak and uninteresting. I'm glad I borrowed it instead of wasting my money.
June 17, 2024
All admissions forward: I won this ARC in a goodreads giveaway.
This is a polarizing novel. The content of the story is dark, depressing even, and the characters are more of the same. It's told in a very dry, almost apathetic voice; the prose is tight and direct. The author does a great job of reinforcing the intransigence of Kate and Colin with the style of her writing. Like the plot and the characters, there is nothing frivolous or lush about the writing. I very much liked how the story was told as opposed to the story itself.
The beginning starts off innocuous and fairly normal, but quickly escalates into a picture of a suburban nightmare. I was reminded a bit of Richard Yates' brilliant and disturbing Revolutionary Road , as both stories feature a young couple that meets, marries quickly, has two children and must deal with the disillusionment that follows the achieving "the American dream."
Kate and Colin are both selfish, difficult people. Both assume the other should make life better for them, rather than taking any imitative on their own terms to seek happiness. I have a greater antipathy towards Kate rather than her husband because she is the main character and the evolution of her nature is truly sad, and often enraging. Her attitude toward her husband and eventually her two daughters is often out-of-control and unfathomable. I never connected to Kate, even during flashbacks to a kinder, less complicated Kate. Colin is more removed/distant from the story than his wife; we never see a chapter from his point of view or get in his head like we do Kate's. In fact, he is almost a nonentity, he moves around his family like a satellite orbiting a planet for most of the novel. This is done on purpose, I feel, to give an illustration of how lonely and bereft Kate often feels with Colin as her partner.
I'm not sure if I liked this novel, whereas I loved Revolutionary Road , but it definitely managed to get inside my head. To dislike characters that intensely means that they at least have struck a chord within the audience, and that is a feat to be applauded. It was a brilliantly done novel, it truly showed the deterioration of a once-happy marriage and all that implies, but just so bleak and uncompromising I cannot see myself recommending it to a friend to read.
This is a polarizing novel. The content of the story is dark, depressing even, and the characters are more of the same. It's told in a very dry, almost apathetic voice; the prose is tight and direct. The author does a great job of reinforcing the intransigence of Kate and Colin with the style of her writing. Like the plot and the characters, there is nothing frivolous or lush about the writing. I very much liked how the story was told as opposed to the story itself.
The beginning starts off innocuous and fairly normal, but quickly escalates into a picture of a suburban nightmare. I was reminded a bit of Richard Yates' brilliant and disturbing Revolutionary Road , as both stories feature a young couple that meets, marries quickly, has two children and must deal with the disillusionment that follows the achieving "the American dream."
Kate and Colin are both selfish, difficult people. Both assume the other should make life better for them, rather than taking any imitative on their own terms to seek happiness. I have a greater antipathy towards Kate rather than her husband because she is the main character and the evolution of her nature is truly sad, and often enraging. Her attitude toward her husband and eventually her two daughters is often out-of-control and unfathomable. I never connected to Kate, even during flashbacks to a kinder, less complicated Kate. Colin is more removed/distant from the story than his wife; we never see a chapter from his point of view or get in his head like we do Kate's. In fact, he is almost a nonentity, he moves around his family like a satellite orbiting a planet for most of the novel. This is done on purpose, I feel, to give an illustration of how lonely and bereft Kate often feels with Colin as her partner.
I'm not sure if I liked this novel, whereas I loved Revolutionary Road , but it definitely managed to get inside my head. To dislike characters that intensely means that they at least have struck a chord within the audience, and that is a feat to be applauded. It was a brilliantly done novel, it truly showed the deterioration of a once-happy marriage and all that implies, but just so bleak and uncompromising I cannot see myself recommending it to a friend to read.
August 22, 2011
I made an account to attest to how beautiful this book is. The audience it will reach will be people who are interested in the functioning and reasoning behind choices we make - if you have an interest in the human psyche, you will like this book. It doesn't paint a pretty picture about life - it paints an honest picture. This isn't Gossip Girls, so don't expect your happy ending or endless surprising relationships between characters, because this book requires actual thought to understand and enjoy. It reviews the complexities between a woman and her life circumstances and important people. It attests to the difficulties behind being a mother, feeling sad at times and joyful at the simple things her daughters do and concern that she ought to be working to set the right example for her daughters as a working woman. It examines her husband and the ways he makes her feel inadequate and the times she acts out and finds herself acting for the wrong reasons.
A wonderful read, though not a simple one. If you're interested in a more complex and dark book, you'll like this one.
A wonderful read, though not a simple one. If you're interested in a more complex and dark book, you'll like this one.
November 12, 2013
I really couldn't empathize or sympathize with the protagonist, Kate. I saw little reason for the whorish liar she turned out to be. The reason her whole life changed , & she became a self-described expert at blow jobs, is because her father slapped her across the mouth for saying she wishes her brother would fall out of a tree and die? I am obviously missing something about where all the man-hate comes from. Sounds like a spoiled brat who just wants to do what she wants to do, without any concern or consideration for any other person - and no apparent apologies would be forthcoming. It's everyone else's fault? No, Kate admits there is something wrong with her. Everything is half-assed with this woman, except her own psychopathic tendencies. And yet, Kate's mental state is fairly glossed-over because the book tends to relate only the actions of this dislikable character, without fully explaining how she got to this point, or how she really makes any of her choices.
November 10, 2010
Damaged Daddy's Girl marries the one-night stand and tries to become the perfect suburban mom; has affair and sees her marriage move into domestic violence.
March 19, 2013
I had high hopes for this book but I was extremely disappointed. I kept reading hoping it'd get better, then after a while I just kept reading to get it over with.
August 18, 2018
Kept waiting for something to happen, it never did. 2 stars only because the author had some understanding of what life can sometimes feel like as a wife and mother.
May 28, 2023
Alot of confusion for me to much drama. Bounced around alot. Not sure I understood the ending.
July 3, 2023
Nah, nah, nah
May 24, 2014
so i got to the part where kate is freaking out about the button on the dress... and then i stopped reading and started skimming... and ive come up with a few points about this book:
1) the synopsis is a lie! this is not erotica! the sex scenes arent even detailed as you would expect from erotica. there is just some vague dialogue of them talking about how she likes him to pull her hair.
2) there seems to be a lot of lady-hate going on with the reviews for this book... ill admit that kate is a pretty dreadful person... but i also understand that the environment she is in is pretty fucking shitty also. if you look at this book from a feminist standpoint, you might find greater insight into this character and greater sympathy for her problems.
3) child abuse is not ok ever. how do i know it was child abuse? she lied about it after.
4) her relationship with her husband after her first child, and maybe even after their marriage devolves into a creepy father-daughter thing when it really should be husband-wife. this is why the whole "daddy-issue" thing that people are complaining about comes into play. i think understanding the dynamic between the two is really the point of the book, but i only skimmed. now the various tells about this are the changes in their sex life after the occurrence of certain events.
5) along with the "daddy-issue" thing i have to say i am really offended that there are some assholes out there complaining about people with what they have coined "daddy-issues".
women who have "daddy-issues" were generally abused by their fathers as children/teens. abuse varies between emotional and physical, however making light of child abuse is NEVER OK. and it really irritates me when grown adults berate another human being and victim blame them for the abuse that happened when they were a child by a person who was entrusted to protect them from abuse.
example: if you had a dog and decided to use that dog as a football one day, would you blame the dog for looking too football-like once it bit the person who caught it as it flew across the yard?
no. you would probably get new glasses. and go to jail for animal abuse.
6)the husband is clueless about the abusive relationship, but its set up earlier in the book that these people only married because of the sex.
they didnt really know one another, they didnt really marry for the same reasons. they just got married to be married.
and this is bad.
thats the point of the book.
marrying a person you DONT REALLY KNOW is bad. marrying a person you just met a month ago IS BAD.
you should know the person youre getting married to.
or you shouldnt be married at all.
im for the "shouldnt be married at all" thing because, well, our mothers and grandmothers got married, and look what happened to them.
7) i have a question, and dont bullshit about spoilers and not telling because i dont really care how it happens i just want to know what happens. so a few chapters from the end the husband (collin?) manhandles kate and grabs her hair and forces her head into the kitchen sink. my questions about this:
1) was he trying to kill her?
2) the way its worded it sounds like hes done it before. is this true? if so, what was the context of the event? did she request him to do that? did he just freak out and try to shove her in the sink? was there something stuck in the garbage disposal?
you see, in the context of the last sink scene, it seemed pretty non-consensual and she was really trying to stop him.
and i guess the answer to this would tell me whether or not the kate-collin relationship was abusive.
if it is then my train of thought would be this: children who have been abused get into abusive relationships and abuse their children.
which is a cliched mofo if there ever was one.
if its not then my train of thought is this: children who have been abused go onto abuse their children. and maybe some psychobabble about how victims blame themselves for their own abuse and purposefully go find crappy relationships.
while these ideas are both interesting, and the execution of these ideas was, to say the least, interesting, i still find such a philosophy utterly repugnant. which means this book scores a default of F.
star wise? 1
i will give this 1 measly star, because without it my review would not register.
1) the synopsis is a lie! this is not erotica! the sex scenes arent even detailed as you would expect from erotica. there is just some vague dialogue of them talking about how she likes him to pull her hair.
2) there seems to be a lot of lady-hate going on with the reviews for this book... ill admit that kate is a pretty dreadful person... but i also understand that the environment she is in is pretty fucking shitty also. if you look at this book from a feminist standpoint, you might find greater insight into this character and greater sympathy for her problems.
3) child abuse is not ok ever. how do i know it was child abuse? she lied about it after.
4) her relationship with her husband after her first child, and maybe even after their marriage devolves into a creepy father-daughter thing when it really should be husband-wife. this is why the whole "daddy-issue" thing that people are complaining about comes into play. i think understanding the dynamic between the two is really the point of the book, but i only skimmed. now the various tells about this are the changes in their sex life after the occurrence of certain events.
5) along with the "daddy-issue" thing i have to say i am really offended that there are some assholes out there complaining about people with what they have coined "daddy-issues".
women who have "daddy-issues" were generally abused by their fathers as children/teens. abuse varies between emotional and physical, however making light of child abuse is NEVER OK. and it really irritates me when grown adults berate another human being and victim blame them for the abuse that happened when they were a child by a person who was entrusted to protect them from abuse.
example: if you had a dog and decided to use that dog as a football one day, would you blame the dog for looking too football-like once it bit the person who caught it as it flew across the yard?
no. you would probably get new glasses. and go to jail for animal abuse.
6)the husband is clueless about the abusive relationship, but its set up earlier in the book that these people only married because of the sex.
they didnt really know one another, they didnt really marry for the same reasons. they just got married to be married.
and this is bad.
thats the point of the book.
marrying a person you DONT REALLY KNOW is bad. marrying a person you just met a month ago IS BAD.
you should know the person youre getting married to.
or you shouldnt be married at all.
im for the "shouldnt be married at all" thing because, well, our mothers and grandmothers got married, and look what happened to them.
7) i have a question, and dont bullshit about spoilers and not telling because i dont really care how it happens i just want to know what happens. so a few chapters from the end the husband (collin?) manhandles kate and grabs her hair and forces her head into the kitchen sink. my questions about this:
1) was he trying to kill her?
2) the way its worded it sounds like hes done it before. is this true? if so, what was the context of the event? did she request him to do that? did he just freak out and try to shove her in the sink? was there something stuck in the garbage disposal?
you see, in the context of the last sink scene, it seemed pretty non-consensual and she was really trying to stop him.
and i guess the answer to this would tell me whether or not the kate-collin relationship was abusive.
if it is then my train of thought would be this: children who have been abused get into abusive relationships and abuse their children.
which is a cliched mofo if there ever was one.
if its not then my train of thought is this: children who have been abused go onto abuse their children. and maybe some psychobabble about how victims blame themselves for their own abuse and purposefully go find crappy relationships.
while these ideas are both interesting, and the execution of these ideas was, to say the least, interesting, i still find such a philosophy utterly repugnant. which means this book scores a default of F.
star wise? 1
i will give this 1 measly star, because without it my review would not register.
August 2, 2011
I won Games to Play After Dark as a goodreads giveaway. I really thought the book would be different, based on the title. It's about a girl that meets a guy, they get married and have a great marriage, the first little while. Then enters baby #1, and the relationship changes. Even more so when they have #2. It comes out later in the book that this girl has issues with her dad, and I'm still not quite sure I understand what they were, or why. I kept hoping the book would get better, and it did to a point, but then the next chapter would be kind of bland. I finished the book, but the ending was a bit too vague for me. I guess I have issues with people not being able to communicate, and was finding myself thinking "what is wrong with this girl? why doesn't she just talk to her husband or the therapist?" I don't think I'll be recommending this to my friends.
July 8, 2013
I liked this book simply because it is contemporary adult fiction and deals with the spicy things I like such as infidelity and marriage.
The only thing I don't understand is why the book is called Games to Play After Dark, and why, in the synopsis, it talks about how the things Kate and Colin do after dark are 'far from routine.' I felt that there was nothing abnormal or extraordinary about what they did. What did they do other than have sex, argue, and/or go out to diner every once in a while? What is so out-of-the-ordinary about that? Especially for a married couple.
I keep thinking I might have missed something throughout reading the book, and I tell myself that maybe I will understand it better if I were to give the story another read.
Nonetheless, I'm not sure it is worthy of being a classic like some think but I did like it for what it was.
The only thing I don't understand is why the book is called Games to Play After Dark, and why, in the synopsis, it talks about how the things Kate and Colin do after dark are 'far from routine.' I felt that there was nothing abnormal or extraordinary about what they did. What did they do other than have sex, argue, and/or go out to diner every once in a while? What is so out-of-the-ordinary about that? Especially for a married couple.
I keep thinking I might have missed something throughout reading the book, and I tell myself that maybe I will understand it better if I were to give the story another read.
Nonetheless, I'm not sure it is worthy of being a classic like some think but I did like it for what it was.
June 8, 2011
I'd give this a solid 3.5 if Goodreads would let me. (It's at least .5 stars better than the previously reviewed The Ninth Wife.) It's certainly not the feel-good hit of the summer, but I thought it was an extremely well-written exploration of the modern marriage... what leads us to it, keeps us in it, or shakes us out of it. It also raises fascinating questions about the impact of parental influence on a marriage, nature versus nurture, and even self-fulfilling prophecy. Kate and Colin are both such fleshed-out characters that it is impossible to point to the "bad guy" in their relationship, which might frustrate some readers but made the story feel that much more realistic to me. While this is a love story of sorts, I would definitely not call it a fairytale.
August 12, 2011
The novel started out promising, I liked how the author described the characters (Kate and Colin) and the events that led up to their marriage. In the first chapters, about how their relationship progresses and how they develope a somewhat disturbing intimacy pattern, I thought the story would be about sex, love and violence (because of the title), and it sort of is, but not in the way you would think. Suddenly, halfway through the story the characters' relationship, personalities and life change (when the children are born). This made me very disappointed, it felt like the second half of the novel didn't really have anything to do with the funny and interesting start. Also, the ending is very abrupt. I wouldn't recommend this book.
August 29, 2011
I liked this book. I thought Kate was a raging whiny ass bitch who needed to get the hell over herself, but as a wife and mother, I also understand where the character was coming from. But, life, kids, and marriage aren't always perfect. You have to just deal with it. That being said, I think the book is reflective of a lot of people's lives. Even if not in the entirety, but at least bits and pieces. The husband (can't even remember his name) was a bit of a clueless schmuck. Unfortunately, men get portrayed a lot that way, and that is not fair to them.
I would have liked the writing a bit better if it had been more linear, instead of flashing back to Kate's childhood during the book.
All in all, a good book, and worth the afternoon it took to read.
I would have liked the writing a bit better if it had been more linear, instead of flashing back to Kate's childhood during the book.
All in all, a good book, and worth the afternoon it took to read.
February 13, 2012
Written in a very detached third person narrative, this book tells the tale of a woman who just can not figure out why as her marriage progresses, she loses sexual interest in her husband. Kate was unlikable, unintelligent and a caricature of the type of women who always sees men as the problem. The final confrontation wasn't believable at all as it made Colin completely break his personality type. I felt very sorry for two little girls with a mom like Kate...at one point while in couples therapy, she admits her biggest hope for her daughters is that they grow up to be lesbians so that they are not pushed around by men. Except for her father however, it seemed like Kate was the one always bitter, nagging and hostile. Depressing story with very open to interpretation end.
June 6, 2011
By: Crystal Trent Dotson
Kate and Colin meet at a party , they immediately connect , the passion , lust, and exotic love , they experience together makes them a perfect couple, but after marriage , kids and everyday challenges, Kate begins to lose affection for Colin , but finds it with some one else.
This is a very intimate and exciting book , it connects so well with everyday life of a wife and mother and all the everyday struggles that come with it. I enjoyed this book , but at certain points of the story , it did tend to linger on a bit to much about things that wasn't that interesting
Kate and Colin meet at a party , they immediately connect , the passion , lust, and exotic love , they experience together makes them a perfect couple, but after marriage , kids and everyday challenges, Kate begins to lose affection for Colin , but finds it with some one else.
This is a very intimate and exciting book , it connects so well with everyday life of a wife and mother and all the everyday struggles that come with it. I enjoyed this book , but at certain points of the story , it did tend to linger on a bit to much about things that wasn't that interesting
June 23, 2011
I thought this was a very honest book. How things never really turn out like you hope they would and how the things you think you want are rarely the things you need. I liked the blunt nature of the narrative; the author's way of saying things just the way they are, without any undue descriptions of anything we don't need to know. My biggest complaint was that I found the ending incredibly unsatisfying, as if the author really had no idea of how the story ended. No resolution, no conclusions reached, however improbable or implausible, just some half-assed, "let the reader decide how it ends" kind of thing. Still, all in all, not too bad.
Read
December 14, 2011This novel was very thought provoking. In a way it was also a bit scary to think that similar situations are playing out every day in our own neighborhoods, our own families, and perhaps in our own lives. It was far from resolved by the end but I think that made it work even more.
I sort of wanted to smack Kate because she had a husband who still wanted her; two beautiful girls; and a comfortable life. Then again you felt for her. She wanted more! Yes, she had daddy issues, lots of them! This shed a light on issues of how women are treated in society and particularly within a family dynamic.
Dark but worth the read!
I sort of wanted to smack Kate because she had a husband who still wanted her; two beautiful girls; and a comfortable life. Then again you felt for her. She wanted more! Yes, she had daddy issues, lots of them! This shed a light on issues of how women are treated in society and particularly within a family dynamic.
Dark but worth the read!
July 13, 2013
Near the end of this book, Kate, the protagonist (of sorts), is talking with her adulterous lover about books they should write. He begins describing a book based on her life (which the reader has just read, how post-modern of Ms. Boren) and she claims that it would be a dull read. Turns out, Kate is right. By taking the minutiae of family life, mixing it with misogynistic thrill-less sex, adding a dash of senseless adultery and topping it all off with some random domestic violence, Borden has managed to do nothing more than bore me (and with a combination like that, you'd think the story might be at least mildly interesting). Kate's life is as pointless as the book that chronicles it.
October 10, 2011
I could go on ad nauseam about how slow and excrutiatingly boring this story is, but instead I shall end this sentence by pointing out that the part of the book synopsis that states "the games they play after dark are far from routine" is a misleading crockpot of baloney! I thought this was going to be something totally different, kinky perhaps, but exciting and maybe dangerous or suspenseful. But what readers really get is a tale that has been told over a thousand times before about married life and a dissatisfied partner, with a bland plot with no twists, and a predictible ending.
August 21, 2011
I received this book free as an ARC book (thank you!). First, the title of this book doesn't match the story AT ALL. It makes no sense. This story follows the brief courtship, marriage, then gradual demise of the relationship between a couple. The female lead has daddy issues that she brings into the marriage...but to me it really doesn't make sense. I struggled through the first part of the book and would have completely given up if I hadn't recieved it for free and felt compelled to finish it. It eventually got better and by the end I did care about the characters and what happened to them.
December 17, 2010
I was doing fine with this book, enjoying it even, getting freaked out by the book's setting in Hamden and New Haven, CT (where I grew up). I know which school Borden's referring to when she talks about Whitney Hall! I've been to the Educated Burgher and the bookstore café on Main Street! But then this book took a weird turn with the domestic abuse angle, and I'm not sure it even needed to go there. The darkness was richer, subtler without it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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