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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
B.A. Paris is my old reliable easy to read thriller. I've even gone so far as to order her books from Amazon UK just to get my hands on them faster. I enjoyed this one more than her first two books, even though it's more drama and less thriller. It's a simple premise, but one birthday party is jammed packed full of husband & wife drama and secrets. The characters are a bit annoying and flawed, but still I couldn't stop reading. This is a perfect summer mind kill!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my first B.A. Paris advanced copy!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my first B.A. Paris advanced copy!
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The entire premise of these two people not talking to each other to preserve some strange, overpriced fantasy birthday party is absurd. Neither of the main characters in this book behave like real humans. And they are both terrible, awful, self-involved people who I couldn't muster sympathy for at all.
The book also drags so much. Halfway through I was wondering how it could possibly go for any more than 5 more minutes. With an hour left I felt like I had been listening forever and still couldn't imagine what could take another hour more. The answer was... nothing much.
I'm not even sure how, but the ending was more disappointing than all of the slog that happened before it. There is no mystery or suspense. This is not a thriller by any stretch of the word. It was just a disappointing waste of time. This is the second book from this author that I've hated, so I will just have to stop trying her stuff.
The book also drags so much. Halfway through I was wondering how it could possibly go for any more than 5 more minutes. With an hour left I felt like I had been listening forever and still couldn't imagine what could take another hour more. The answer was... nothing much.
I'm not even sure how, but the ending was more disappointing than all of the slog that happened before it. There is no mystery or suspense. This is not a thriller by any stretch of the word. It was just a disappointing waste of time. This is the second book from this author that I've hated, so I will just have to stop trying her stuff.
A great read, a bit high on emotions but cleverly constructed plot.
For a complete review pop over to my blog http://onerightword.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-dilemma-b-paris.html
For a complete review pop over to my blog http://onerightword.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-dilemma-b-paris.html
B.A. Paris is an absolute gift to fiction, let’s be honest. I am yet to be disappointed by any of her books – she’s written some of the best thrillers I’ve read in the past few years. The Dilemma is a little bit different, in the sense that it’s not a thriller in the ‘someone’s been murdered sense.’ A domestic thriller, The Dilemma explores a relationship in a single day – a relationship where both the man and the wife have a secret that will change their lives forever. It’s Livia’s 40th birthday and she’s throwing the party she’s always dreamed of having. She’s obsessed over this party since she was in her late teens – but, amongst all of her excitement, she has a secret. Even worse- so does her husband, Adam.
The Dilemma allows for a whole different type of thriller – there is no murder involved, no psycho-analysis and the story itself has a particularly homely feel about it. Arguably, that makes it all the more affective in its purpose. I immediately connected with the characters and felt their ‘dilemma’ and understood exactly why they had to keep it a secret. I dread to think what I would have done had I been put in their situations and I don’t envy their torment whatsoever. This is a hard one to review without going into detail as to what exactly the two characters are keeping secret but what I will say is that you should definitely get yourself a copy of the book upon publication – one that really did keep me hanging on right until the very last page (I even stayed up until 2am reading this one one weekend in November as I couldn’t bear to go to sleep without finding out what was going to happen!).
The Dilemma allows for a whole different type of thriller – there is no murder involved, no psycho-analysis and the story itself has a particularly homely feel about it. Arguably, that makes it all the more affective in its purpose. I immediately connected with the characters and felt their ‘dilemma’ and understood exactly why they had to keep it a secret. I dread to think what I would have done had I been put in their situations and I don’t envy their torment whatsoever. This is a hard one to review without going into detail as to what exactly the two characters are keeping secret but what I will say is that you should definitely get yourself a copy of the book upon publication – one that really did keep me hanging on right until the very last page (I even stayed up until 2am reading this one one weekend in November as I couldn’t bear to go to sleep without finding out what was going to happen!).
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I have never in my life...
The truth is, the actual “dilemma” was the fact that this book should have been entitled, “The Unbelievable.”
A wife obsesses over giving herself 40th birthday party to make up for the big beautiful wedding she never had. (Yawn..) She spends YEARS (not weeks) planning and saving to make this expensive-ass birthday party come true and nothing is going to stop her from having this day. Even if it means trying to dissuade her own daughter from showing up from another damn country just so she does not have to deal with her daughter’s transgressions that she had learned about SIX WEEKS PRIOR. Transgressions, mind you, that can tear the family completely apart and destroy long-term friendships. Oh no, that has to wait to be dealt with because this party is just wayyy more important. Selfish, childish and delusional.
Then we have the dumb-ass husband who begins to believe that his daughter who was going to surprise her mom for her birthday by showing up, may have been one of the passengers on the flight that actually crashed the same day. He mentions nothing about it to his immature-ass wife because he just wanted her to have her wonderful birthday party that she has worked and planned so hard for. He didn’t want to spoil her joy based on a “hunch,” because by that time, it was only speculated.
Speculated, duplicated, originated...Matters none. If you know there is a slight possibility that a plane your child was on crashed and burned with no survivors on board, why would you not mention it to your spouse?? At least MENTION IT. Decide to cancel the party, decide not to, decide to wait for the actual confirmation of death, decide to wait and see if daughter shows up, but at least MENTION IT. You don’t hide her phone in a damn laundry room somewhere to prevent her from being connected to the outside world. You don’t instantly implement a “no cell” policy for the guests under the guise of wanting people to “focus on the party only” to get the “full experience.” All because you don’t want to ruin the day for your childish-ass, 40-YEAR-OLD wife?? And seriously, WHO WAITS to call a number to verify if loved one was on said plane, HOURS later??? The number was made available within hours of crash.
Add insult to all injuries, wife and husband decide NOT to tell best friend that their hoe-ass daughter has been having an affair with best friend’s husband to just maintain the peace. Why? Because daughter is no longer a threat because she died in plane crash? How can this woman continue to be in this woman’s company no matter how often or infrequent and smile in her face and act like everything is okay on that front? Ok, so the best friend has MS, ok. AND???
This entire book was one big epic fail with unrealistic dynamics and had the NERVE to be over 300 pages. (Sigh)
The truth is, the actual “dilemma” was the fact that this book should have been entitled, “The Unbelievable.”
A wife obsesses over giving herself 40th birthday party to make up for the big beautiful wedding she never had. (Yawn..) She spends YEARS (not weeks) planning and saving to make this expensive-ass birthday party come true and nothing is going to stop her from having this day. Even if it means trying to dissuade her own daughter from showing up from another damn country just so she does not have to deal with her daughter’s transgressions that she had learned about SIX WEEKS PRIOR. Transgressions, mind you, that can tear the family completely apart and destroy long-term friendships. Oh no, that has to wait to be dealt with because this party is just wayyy more important. Selfish, childish and delusional.
Then we have the dumb-ass husband who begins to believe that his daughter who was going to surprise her mom for her birthday by showing up, may have been one of the passengers on the flight that actually crashed the same day. He mentions nothing about it to his immature-ass wife because he just wanted her to have her wonderful birthday party that she has worked and planned so hard for. He didn’t want to spoil her joy based on a “hunch,” because by that time, it was only speculated.
Speculated, duplicated, originated...Matters none. If you know there is a slight possibility that a plane your child was on crashed and burned with no survivors on board, why would you not mention it to your spouse?? At least MENTION IT. Decide to cancel the party, decide not to, decide to wait for the actual confirmation of death, decide to wait and see if daughter shows up, but at least MENTION IT. You don’t hide her phone in a damn laundry room somewhere to prevent her from being connected to the outside world. You don’t instantly implement a “no cell” policy for the guests under the guise of wanting people to “focus on the party only” to get the “full experience.” All because you don’t want to ruin the day for your childish-ass, 40-YEAR-OLD wife?? And seriously, WHO WAITS to call a number to verify if loved one was on said plane, HOURS later??? The number was made available within hours of crash.
Add insult to all injuries, wife and husband decide NOT to tell best friend that their hoe-ass daughter has been having an affair with best friend’s husband to just maintain the peace. Why? Because daughter is no longer a threat because she died in plane crash? How can this woman continue to be in this woman’s company no matter how often or infrequent and smile in her face and act like everything is okay on that front? Ok, so the best friend has MS, ok. AND???
This entire book was one big epic fail with unrealistic dynamics and had the NERVE to be over 300 pages. (Sigh)
The Dilemma by B A Paris is about a family and the secrets they are hiding from one another.
Livia is excited to celebrate her 40th birthday by throwing an extravagant party that she has spent the past 20 years dreaming about and planning. On the morning of the party, her husband – Adam, discovers some potentially devastating news about their daughter, Marnie – who is studying abroad. Instead of telling Livia what he has found out, he spends the whole day hiding and torturing himself with the information so as not to ruin her special day.
As a mother, The Dilemma is one of the most stress-inducing, frustrating books I have read in a long time. I read the book within a couple of days, as the heartbreaking – yet bizarre, storyline meant it was a definite page-turner.
The storyline itself reminded me of one from a 90’s soap opera due to the number of secrets and amount of drama within the family. I cannot say I warmed to any of the characters, except the son, Josh, who is a side character in the book. I could not help but feel extremely sorry for him. I found Livia and Adam particularly unlikeable, and their actions irritated me.
Although it sounds as though I am not the biggest fan of this book, I would recommend it. Any book that stirs such an emotional response towards the characters, whether positive or negative, is well-written and deserves credit.
Livia is excited to celebrate her 40th birthday by throwing an extravagant party that she has spent the past 20 years dreaming about and planning. On the morning of the party, her husband – Adam, discovers some potentially devastating news about their daughter, Marnie – who is studying abroad. Instead of telling Livia what he has found out, he spends the whole day hiding and torturing himself with the information so as not to ruin her special day.
As a mother, The Dilemma is one of the most stress-inducing, frustrating books I have read in a long time. I read the book within a couple of days, as the heartbreaking – yet bizarre, storyline meant it was a definite page-turner.
The storyline itself reminded me of one from a 90’s soap opera due to the number of secrets and amount of drama within the family. I cannot say I warmed to any of the characters, except the son, Josh, who is a side character in the book. I could not help but feel extremely sorry for him. I found Livia and Adam particularly unlikeable, and their actions irritated me.
Although it sounds as though I am not the biggest fan of this book, I would recommend it. Any book that stirs such an emotional response towards the characters, whether positive or negative, is well-written and deserves credit.
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No