Book Club April Review: The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose

Since April is my birthday month, I was eager to choose a book that I would love and enjoy, something to satisfy my need for a good read. I thought a thriller book would be a great pick, as I wouldn't get bored with the pacing, and the mystery surrounding the murder would keep me intrigued and curious until the last page. Jeneva Rose's The Perfect Marriage appeared on my Goodreads feed with an average rating of 3.47, submitted by almost a million reviewers. That's pretty impressive, so I definitely had my hopes up.

(Spoiler: I wish I could go back and slap myself in the face for believing the Goodreads rating.)

The Perfect Marriage is a dual-perspective mystery-thriller about a defence attorney and her husband, whose mistress is found dead in their second home, and he is arrested on suspicion of her murder. Devastated by the affair, the wife chooses to defend her husband, who proclaims his innocence, as they both dig deeper into the truth behind the shocking event.

The Good Stuff

I have to be honest here... I struggled to find anything good to say about this book, but Kay reminded me that it was a quick read, and the blurb was interesting enough for me to choose it as our book club pick. Despite the ridiculous dialogue, I was eager to find out what happened during the first half of the book. However, things went downhill after that, dragging on for no reason and losing my interest.

The Really Bad Stuff

No words in my arsenal, that shall remain PG and still respectful to the author, will do justice to my infuriating thoughts about this book or fully capture the frustration I felt about my waste of time and the lies I've been fed by Goodreads. I can't take those hours back, and it is slowly destroying me. No exaggeration.

A good story has an intriguing plot with interesting characters, all wrapped up in nice prose. A mediocre book has at least two of the three: good writing, exciting characters, or a fun plot that hooks the reader. The Perfect Marriage had none of the good qualities about a book. The writing was subpar and desperately needed another editor. If I hadn't deleted the book from my Kindle, I would have been able to share some examples, but I clearly couldn't wait to remove it from my inventory.

In addition, the characters were boring and unbelievable. I didn't care about the husband and his idiotic choices. There was no cell in me that thought the wife was convincing in her behaviour and thoughts. In fact, I couldn't remember one single character whose action didn't seem ridiculous or juvenile (including the sheriff). Characters only made decisions for the convenience of the plot, and it was clear that Rose hadn't done her research on criminal investigations or court proceedings before writing this book.

On the topic of plot, I was bored out of mind. The twists and turns didn't make any sense, and I didn't care one single bit about who the real perpetrator was. (In fact, the big reveal was so badly done that I had to laugh out loud.) The premise was unrealistic and not rooted in facts, lacking any substance to keep the reader engaged.

Rating

CY - 1/5. Enough said...

Kay - The writing was bad, the split perspective sounded like the same narrator, but the premise was somewhat compelling. 2/5.

Has anyone else read this book and felt differently? I'm intrigued to know if you can challenge my opinion on it.