Catch & Release

by B.L. Wiebe

Brenda was inspired to write this book when she began dating again after her divorce. The dating scene had completely changed since the last time she was actively looking for a partner so she did what she does best and began to do some research. This is when she was introduced to ethical non-monogamy. While she had dabbled in swinging towards the end of her marriage, this was different. The more she researched the idea the more it appealed to her so she began to apply ethical non-monogamy to her life. The book is the story of her transition into polyamory featuring actual journal entries from her during the rise and fall of her relationships that brought her to where she is now. In between her personal stories, she breaks down the scientific research that has been done related the topic of monogamy versus non-monogamy to see if there is a best way to do relationships.

Genres: Relationships

139 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 20, 2018

Reviews

[Melody · Rating 1 out of 5]

This ached for an editor. It was painful to read in this format. It could have been a really gripping magazine article or long blog post. Mostly it read like someone's thesis. I wanted so much to like it, and just couldn't.

[Itandehui Salmorán · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book quite a lot, there are a lot of interesting theories and facts about monogamy and non-monogamy. As some have said already, it would be better with a little bit of editing as I the transitions from the anecdotes to the research is sometimes confusing.

[Madalyn Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish there was a more solid format. I see where she wants the reader to see how it works in her life, but weaving back and forth made it hard to follow.

[Rachel Currie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I struggled through this book because the format was very confusing. The journal entries? mixed with the research had my brain feeling like scrambled eggs. I put the book down almost every time it switched. I think I would have loved this if the research and journal entries were separate parts in the book. Part one research, part two personal experiences relating back to your research would have been cool to read. I appreciate the effort and concept, poorly executed in my opinion.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to people curious about polyamory, swinging, and other non-monamorous lifestyles.

It mixes biography with synopses of scientific research. For me, this was a bit of a best of both worlds, though both were a little scant in details for my tastes.

I listened to this on audio, which I'm not sure I'd recommend. It was read by the author, which is usually good for something autobiographical. But, she mostly felt flat and emotionless, though this seemed to soften towards the end. It wasn't bad, but didn't really add to it. It could have also used some more editorial work as there were several points where she sounded like she was out of breath or otherwise stressed. Not Bad, but decidedly neutral for me.

Overall, I would recommend in both text and audio, but with the above caveats.