An American Marriage

This is the story of a love triangle made more complex by the wrongful conviction of one of the main characters. What is extraordinary about this book is the three main characters. They are all fully realized and believable. None is perfect, but none of the three are imperfect enough to dislike for long. Though their actions may be questionable, the reader often understands why they have behaved this way. It’s a delicate balance, maintaining a tension that kept me reading long after I should have gone to bed.

Though I felt a bit let down by the quick and easy resolution of the Epilogue, this is an extraordinary book that explores what it means to be in find someone to love, to find your place in the world and to lose both through through a justice system that is still prejudiced and unfair.

When a book with a topic I don't find inherently interesting becomes the buzz, I kickback strong against reading it (Who wants to read about an opera singer hostage situation? A tiger on a life raft?) So I am late to the game on this book, which I assumed was about boring domestic details. Thank goodness someone gave it to me, and I was berifit of anything else to read. It is exquisite. At the sentence level. At the structure level—her ability to decide when to withhold and when to give us information is perfect. At the "theme/teaching moment" level. It deserves all the buzz.

But mostly my life is good, only it's a different type of good from what I figured on.

This is another of the books I added based on Obama's read books from the previous year and it didn't disappoint. I had no expectations before setting out on this book and it immediately hooked me.

The story is about relationships, individuals and how time can change both. The premise of the book is straight forward but how the characters deal with their lives after a significant event occurs was wonderfully crafted.

Through the story there are elements of racism and struggles of growing up in America that it is just as relevant today as it would have been if this was written decades earlier.

Everything about this was great and I'm glad I gave it a chance as I was taking a detour from what I normally read.

Not sure there's such a thing as a perfect novel, but this comes pretty damn close. Jones takes a structure that's starting to feel cliche (the multi-perspectives that work so well in [b:A Game of Thrones|13496|A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)|George R.R. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436732693s/13496.jpg|1466917] and [b:Gone Girl|19288043|Gone Girl|Gillian Flynn|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397056917s/19288043.jpg|13306276] and that now everybody is trying to use) and breaths new life in it. The narrative perspectives aren't a he-said/she-said, they are complementary, meshing together to show us the complexities of love and marriage and family. It's a masterfully structured novel. Definitely should be considered one of the best of 2018.

This book is so raw, intimate, powerful. You feel like you're in the heads of the characters, feeling everything they feel, every messy, ugly, honest emotion.

The climax meanders a bit, and there's a deus ex machina character in there. These minor quibbles aside, the book is very good. Especially the letters between Roy and Celeste - so darn powerful.