Sarah Rayner

First of all, I would like to thank the publisher for selecting me in the Goodreads contest!

This book was the equivalent (to me) of a chick flick. Which I don't ever watch. Once you resign yourself to the fact that on every page there is going to be a character crying, or wishing her life wasn't so bad, or complaining about her mother, or sighing heavily, and then crying....well, I guess you could enjoy this book. The story, about a man's sudden death on a train and the 3 women's lives that intersect as a result of that tragedy is a good premise. The moral of the story is life is too short not to be yourself. However, it was just really depressing with all the women getting together to talk, over and over again. The only good thing I felt after reading this, was that it was finally over.… (más)

I was misled by the title: while this is to some extent a book about depression (what it is, its symptoms, causes, possible treatments, and so on) it’s in fact mostly about low mood, feeling down, going through “the blues” and has little to do with the true, full-blown, black hole of a living hell which can swallow up your mind and your life.
    With depression, it is precisely the ability to help yourself, in even the smallest way, which is disabled. You just plummet. So the phrase “reach out”, repeated here again and again (“…Please reach out if you feel this low…”, “…reaching out if you hit rock bottom…”) reads almost like a deliberate insult. Or there’s this: “The main advice I would give a person suffering from depression? Please keep putting one foot in front of another…” which felt like an actual slap in the face. And there’s this: “A few years ago, a publisher rejected a novel idea that I’d proposed. I’d spent a couple of months writing the beginning in the hopes of whetting their appetite and was very disappointed when I read the news. The good thing is that I was away on holiday when the email came through. My husband, Tom, and I had just arrived in Rome, and Tom was eager to go sightseeing. I told him what had happened, and he gave me a hug, wiped my tears, then listened to me rant for a few minutes. Within half an hour, we went out to St Peter’s as planned. The result? I got over the rejection much more quickly.” Well, that’s all very lovely I’m sure, but what does any of it have to do with depression? True depression is like becoming unplugged from the mains, like being dead while you’re still alive. Once glimpsed, it changes everything, shifts the whole landscape of your beliefs; it’s unforgettable and nothing ever looks quite the same way again.
    So if it’s help with low mood, feeling down, “the blues” you’re looking for, then this book really might be useful and helpful. But not depression.… (más)

Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What was I thinking when I requested this book? Given my stance on cheating as a plot point, I have no idea what I thought I was doing when I requested a book told in alternating views between the mistress and the wife. At no point did I get the sexiness the description mentioned. I think I only finished it so I could see what happened at the end. I found a lot of the book convoluted and far fetched. I did give it higher marks because the main character chose to follow her dreams rather than settle for a guy and that always impresses me in so called "chick lit."… (más)