After I Do Review

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid is an adult contemporary romance. It is about a woman named Lauren. She has been with her husband since she was 19, but lately things have been falling apart. So, in order to try and save their marriage, she and her husband agree to a year apart (with no contact). So begins a year of growth and learning what love and marriage are really all about.

I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was a very interesting book. I appreciated this look into marriage, love, etc. from the world’s perspective. Having grown up in the church and being raised with a Biblical viewpoint on marriage, I have never been able to understand or relate to non-believers on the topic. Throughout this story it seemed so clear to me why God has made marriage the way He did. This seemed to show in clear detail how hard it is if we don’t have, or I imagine keep, God at the heart of our marriages. Even though I disagree with the worldview and ideology expressed in the book, I find it helpful in understanding the people around me who are not believers and beneficial to how I can interact with them (especially in dialogue about marriage).

One thing I found fascinating was that the main character turns 30 in this book and I am turning 30 next month (so I have a unique perspective with her). I was really able to see the parallels, or lack of, from Biblical living compared to world living, etc.

There was some cursing in the book and I found that distracting whenever it came up, but thankfully it was only occasionally present. The sexual content was also a bit more than I am normally comfortable with, but it wasn’t overly descriptive. I was able to appreciate that Reid only got as descriptive as she needed to for context within the plot (it played a role in the development of the story). Not that the sex was needed, but the level of description varied based on necessity. So I wasn’t totally okay with it, but can understand it’s presence.

Overall this was an interesting and thought provoking read (especially coming at it from a Christian perspective). Because of the content I wasn’t able to “really like” or “love” this book, but it is still a good read. It would probably be a great book to dialogue in a group setting.