Sarah B. (caffeinegirl) reviewed on 8/29/2013 + 114 more book reviews

Although this book was reviewed as "one of the smartest and most candid books on marriage", it really seemed to be more about couples therapy than it was about marriage. It follows several couples in therapy while examining the practice of and theory behind group marriage therapy. Much time is spent discussing the therapist, Coché, and her techniques, as well as the history of the psychology of relationship dynamics and therapy practice. This part is very dry.

The structure of the book also made it difficult to read. Despite the introduction of each of the five couples at the beginning, I quickly forgot which person was which and who was married to whom. I'm not sure that following all five couples simultaneously and chasing down the history and theory behind the therapy at the same time was the best choice for this book. Theoretically, the couples should be interacting and influencing each other, but I didn't really see that happening in the book. So from a reader's perspective, I think it would have been easier and more satisfying to follow each couple individually, one chapter at a time. If Abraham still wanted to cover some point of theory or history, she could have picked one idea that was illustrated by each couple and explored it through their particular issue. Honestly, though, I think she was prevented from presenting a better structure in this book by Coché, who doesn't come across as having much of a long-term plan behind her actions.

I wanted to stay with it, but after about a third of the book I still didn't know who was who and I just really didn't care about them yet. Even though hints had been dropped along the way that at least one couple was headed for separation, there wasn't any tension from page to page. I didn't finish it.

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