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dreamboatannie 's review for:
Becoming Sister Wives: The Story of an Unconventional Marriage
by Meri Brown, Kody Brown, Christine Brown, Robyn Brown
I sometimes marathon episodes of Sister Wives when I'm not feeling well, and constant levels of chaos and self-delusion still did not prepare me for this book. It was written better than I thought it would be, which is the reason for the second star. Either they have a pretty good ghost writer or editor, or they're not all as stupid as they seem on television.
Down to the actual contents of the book: despite the family mythos that the Browns cling to, their group marriage has been hideously dysfunctional from the jump. Through their own admissions, Kody took on more wives than he could handle, Meri emotionally and verbally abused both Christine and Janelle to the point where they each moved out at several points, and the entire family has always been dirt poor (making their lifestyle on Sister Wives even more absurd).
Surprisingly, Robyn's chapters were the most level headed and thoughtful. Like Meri and Christine, Robyn grew up with the principle of plural marriage, but she seemed to have taken a much more realistic view away from it than either Meri (spoiled first child of a first wife) or Christine (a bubbly optimist who simply chose to ignore the often dark sides to polygamy). I ended up feeling quite sorry for Robyn, as she seems the most honest and dedicated to working on emotional issues as they emerge -- instead of stuffing them back until they explode like the rest of the family does -- and she's also very aware of the edit TLC gives her and her general status as least popular wife.
It was a fast read, written well enough that I didn't find myself grimacing at the grammar (although Meri's over!use! of! exclamation! marks! grated a little). Kody seems out of touch, and most of the wives seem miserable despite their insistence that they're not. If you've seen and tolerated the show, you can handle the book.
Down to the actual contents of the book: despite the family mythos that the Browns cling to, their group marriage has been hideously dysfunctional from the jump. Through their own admissions, Kody took on more wives than he could handle, Meri emotionally and verbally abused both Christine and Janelle to the point where they each moved out at several points, and the entire family has always been dirt poor (making their lifestyle on Sister Wives even more absurd).
Surprisingly, Robyn's chapters were the most level headed and thoughtful. Like Meri and Christine, Robyn grew up with the principle of plural marriage, but she seemed to have taken a much more realistic view away from it than either Meri (spoiled first child of a first wife) or Christine (a bubbly optimist who simply chose to ignore the often dark sides to polygamy). I ended up feeling quite sorry for Robyn, as she seems the most honest and dedicated to working on emotional issues as they emerge -- instead of stuffing them back until they explode like the rest of the family does -- and she's also very aware of the edit TLC gives her and her general status as least popular wife.
It was a fast read, written well enough that I didn't find myself grimacing at the grammar (although Meri's over!use! of! exclamation! marks! grated a little). Kody seems out of touch, and most of the wives seem miserable despite their insistence that they're not. If you've seen and tolerated the show, you can handle the book.