I'll be completely frank. If it weren't for the fact that I wanted to find out why Simon was having trouble adjusting and why Megan had done in the past what she had done, this would have been a Did-Not-Finish book for me. I knew it by the first fifth of this book. The sad part is that I had wanted to read Ethan's book after reading Jennifer and Nick's book in His Son's Teacher. Too bad Jennifer seemed to be completely out of character in Simon Says Mommy and destroyed whatever desire I had left in wanting to enjoy this book.
I understand that Jennifer and Megan had a lot of baggage from an unconventional childhood that involved sibling rivalry and poor parental support and role model, but I did not think that it warranted such obstinate hostility that Jennifer evinced throughout most of the book. I started off feeling dismayed by her evident animosity and refusal to try to accept the peace offering from Megan. What we were told about their childhood did not adequately explain the reason for Jennifer's insistence that Megan cannot be trusted, is bad news, and that everyone she loved would be better off without Megan around. That is why, my dismay quickly turned into active dislike, which is a shame because I didn't think she was such a terrible heroine in His Son's Teacher. To add insult to injury, it was her first interaction with Ethan in His Son's Teacher that had made me want to read Ethan's book. I'm feeling a bit bitter and disappointed about it now.
It didn't help matters when her reaction to being told that her ex-boyfriend (and Megan's ex-husband) had hit her sister, after shock, was, "So what? You still stole my boyfriend." Likely she doubted the veracity of this claim but as mentioned before, the author failed to provide a satisfactory reason for Jennifer's insistence that her older sister is a lying, manipulative witch, I had trouble accepting that Jennifer had a good reason to continue doubting and being upset (even if she happened to be in a particularly emotional condition).
Yes, it's true. A secondary character destroyed the book for me.
Not only was I upset about Jennifer's hostility towards Megan, I started getting really ticked off with the whole "we-are-family;we-protect-our-own" mentality of the Tulanes. Yes, Nick, I'm looking at you. Loyalty and protection of family is great, but either there is an excess of that going around in the connected romance books, or I've just been reading too many of them. Granted, Nick wasn't too happy about being in the doghouse with Jennifer upset but as much as I was starting to dislike Jennifer, his "talk" with Megan just added fuel to the fire.
I thought that the author did quite well portraying Megan as the victim of domestic violence. It took Megan a while to trust Ethan, even after living with him and experiencing gentleness from him. I thought it was rather believable, especially when we see that Megan having panic attacks or difficulty trusting Ethan despite his gentleness. As we learn, Megan has not had a good history of trustworthy men.
I thought it was sweet that Megan saw herself reflected in Simon. They were both victims of violence and struggling to put themselves back together. Simon didn't speak much but I let it pass with the excuse that he was a traumatized and confused 5-year-old.
As for Ethan? Although he remained nice, he kind of fizzled for me.
I did not particularly care for how the book ended. It was all too pat and nice. The irony was fine but it was just too much for me.
This is my third Kay Stockham book, and my ratings have gone from average, to okay, to the lowest of all. I am not entirely certain I want to continue reading her. Apparently, her books just aren't for me.
PS: As an aside, my sister, who really wanted to read the rest of the Tulane books, is reading this now and she commented in surprise, "I don't remember Jennifer being this mean."