Review: Wife 22

Blurb:
Maybe it was those extra five pounds I’d gained. Maybe it was because I was about to turn the same age my mother was when I lost her. Maybe it was because after almost twenty years of marriage my husband and I seemed to be running out of things to say to each other.

But when the anonymous online study called “Marriage in the 21st Century” showed up in my inbox, I had no idea how profoundly it would change my life. It wasn’t long before I was assigned both a pseudonym (Wife 22) and a caseworker (Researcher 101).

And, just like that, I found myself answering questions.

7. Sometimes I tell him he’s snoring when he’s not snoring so he’ll sleep in the guest room and I can have the bed all to myself.
61. Chet Baker on the tape player. He was cutting peppers for the salad. I looked at those hands and thought, I am going to have this man’s children.
67. To not want what you don’t have. What you can’t have. What you shouldn’t have.
32. That if we weren’t careful, it was possible to forget one another.

Before the study, my life was an endless blur of school lunches and doctor’s appointments, family dinners, budgets, and trying to discern the fastest-moving line at the grocery store. I was Alice Buckle: spouse of William and mother to Zoe and Peter, drama teacher and Facebook chatter, downloader of memories and Googler of solutions.

But these days, I’m also Wife 22. And somehow, my anonymous correspondence with Researcher 101 has taken an unexpectedly personal turn. Soon, I’ll have to make a decision—one that will affect my family, my marriage, my whole life. But at the moment, I’m too busy answering questions.

As it turns out, confession can be a very powerful aphrodisiac.

My Thoughts:
I thought this was an adorable book. It's not my usual genre, but I was very intrigued by the blurb and the reviews that I saw online. I really enjoyed the humor that was brought to such an almost universal topic, I mean what wife hasn't felt a little distant from what and who she used to be. We take on so many roles as we grow up and older, that sometimes it's good to be reminded of the past. That's why this was a welcomed change of pace for me.

The story is handled and written with such care that I had no problem getting lost in Alice's story. I found myself wondering ahead, trying to figure out where their relationship went wrong. I actually started rooting for her and William. I want them to sort out their problems. The deeper she reflects into her past the more I fall in love with these characters. The more I want them to save it all!

Now the ending is a bit predictable. You really do figure it out pretty soon into the story, but for some reason that wasn't irksome for me. I think that it made it more of an adorable set up. You are in on the secret. You know what Alice doesn't. That sort of makes you a co-conspirator in a way. I think that is a reflection of pretty darn good writing.

Now in the end, this is a great book. It's fluffy and adorable, but also has it's merits.