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BECAUSE I LOVE YOU - Three Women, Three Stories
240 pages, Paperback
Published April 20, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 3, 2026
I first encountered Joy Watson's writing in her debut novel The Other Me. I'm hardly one to read young adult fiction, particularly due to my protest against attributing a character's choices to their juvenile minds. On the other hand, an author's own wiser thoughts can leak out of the younger character with a level of maturity ! struggle to believe an 8 year old would possess or articulate in that manner. Nevertheless, The Other Me held a perfect balance between my two conflicts with a level of realness that kept me captivated all the way to five stars at the end and cemented Joy as an auto-read author in my books.
The nonfiction anthology shares the stories of three women, Zara, Mira and Thuli, whose lives are altered by the love they choose to share. While it's easy to almost want to condemn the women for what they, for lack of a better word, allow, I cannot discount the impact of hindsight (and foresight actually, as we go into the book expecting the shoe to drop) on the experience. These are men who are seemingly well-meaning at first encounter, to a point where it could be inconsiderate to not be understanding of their seemingly minor issues like a work emergency. In fact, I can understand the women chastising themselves for it. It's a quiet violence.
I appreciate that the stories have no neat endings because this is not fiction and the women's lives go on beyond the pages. Joy also includes her own narrative in between the each story, which induced mixed feelings in me. At first I thought she was breaking the fourth wall and distracting from the plot. However, this is not a plot to be merely endeavoured and Joy's interjections serve as a reminder of that reality. It is the poignancy in her writing that lulls us into a nepenthic forgetfulness of the stories being a reality.
Thanks to Jonathan Ball for the review copy and, while I acknowledge that the book is set in Cape Town, I hope Joy Watson knows she still owes us a Jo'burg launch!
The nonfiction anthology shares the stories of three women, Zara, Mira and Thuli, whose lives are altered by the love they choose to share. While it's easy to almost want to condemn the women for what they, for lack of a better word, allow, I cannot discount the impact of hindsight (and foresight actually, as we go into the book expecting the shoe to drop) on the experience. These are men who are seemingly well-meaning at first encounter, to a point where it could be inconsiderate to not be understanding of their seemingly minor issues like a work emergency. In fact, I can understand the women chastising themselves for it. It's a quiet violence.
I appreciate that the stories have no neat endings because this is not fiction and the women's lives go on beyond the pages. Joy also includes her own narrative in between the each story, which induced mixed feelings in me. At first I thought she was breaking the fourth wall and distracting from the plot. However, this is not a plot to be merely endeavoured and Joy's interjections serve as a reminder of that reality. It is the poignancy in her writing that lulls us into a nepenthic forgetfulness of the stories being a reality.
Thanks to Jonathan Ball for the review copy and, while I acknowledge that the book is set in Cape Town, I hope Joy Watson knows she still owes us a Jo'burg launch!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
If you've ever been ghosted 🙋♀️
If you've ever been in a relationship where your partner made you (or tried to make you) wonder if you were the problem 🙋♀️
If you've ever been told you're over-sensitive or that you've overreacted or that you're too much or too little 🙋♀️ (actually never been told I'm too little, but you get the gist).
If you've ever felt lonelier in a relationship than you were on your own 🙋♀️
in because i love you, Joy Watson has taken three women's stories and lightly fictionalised them from start to finish, sharing the universal truths of our lived experiences, verbalising moments and feelings i've had in relationships but never known how to, or been brave enough to share.
I devoured this book in one sitting barely looking up from it. It's smart, and at times painfully funny, at other times just painful to recognise myself in these other women's lived experiences. So often i've thought over the years, if a friend or sister told me she was going through what I was going through, I'd tell her to run, so why didn't i?
I'd like to say we live and learn, but probably only in increments.
This is such a great book, I was so impressed by it. Couldn't think of a single flaw.
I've read something similar before in Lisa Taddeo's Three Women, but honestly, I think Joy has done it better.
If you've ever been in a relationship where your partner made you (or tried to make you) wonder if you were the problem 🙋♀️
If you've ever been told you're over-sensitive or that you've overreacted or that you're too much or too little 🙋♀️ (actually never been told I'm too little, but you get the gist).
If you've ever felt lonelier in a relationship than you were on your own 🙋♀️
in because i love you, Joy Watson has taken three women's stories and lightly fictionalised them from start to finish, sharing the universal truths of our lived experiences, verbalising moments and feelings i've had in relationships but never known how to, or been brave enough to share.
I devoured this book in one sitting barely looking up from it. It's smart, and at times painfully funny, at other times just painful to recognise myself in these other women's lived experiences. So often i've thought over the years, if a friend or sister told me she was going through what I was going through, I'd tell her to run, so why didn't i?
I'd like to say we live and learn, but probably only in increments.
This is such a great book, I was so impressed by it. Couldn't think of a single flaw.
I've read something similar before in Lisa Taddeo's Three Women, but honestly, I think Joy has done it better.
June 22, 2026
Three women's stories all beautifully woven together. The men who just take and give nothing in return. Love how the author shared the stories about each woman and left the ending open for the reader to draw their own conclusion. The book is beautifully woven and beautifully written, touching one's heart.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews