Goddess of Suburbia

I wanted to post this real quick before I collapse.  I was plagued by migraines (technically, I suffer from three types of headaches--lucky me) all night so I am low on energy today.  I am so thankful for whoever invented Imitrex!  Wonderful medication!  I received the biggest greeting from Doozy when I returned from the grocery. He even gave me a hug!  Doozy is one friendly dog!  Such a cutie.

Goddess of Suburbia by Stephanie Kepke is a contemporary novel (chick lit).  Max Green Giordano is wife to Nick and mother to four children (Emma, Will, Trevor, and Sam).  She was a pastry chef before she had the four children.  She would like to have a cookie business out of the house, but her husband keeps shooting down that idea.  One day her husband, Nick asked if he could make a video of them having sex (with his phone).  He is a traveling salesman (of restaurant supplies) and wanted it to keep him company on the road (my answer would have been a big NO).  Max, unfortunately, said yes (the answer should always be a big fat NO).  She thought it would help hold their marriage together (what harm could come from a video on his phone she thought).  Then a few weeks later she hears a scream come from her daughter Emma’s room (she is fourteen—need I say more).  A girl from her class sent her a link to a video (guess what video).  There is Max in all her naked glory!  When she confronts her husband, she finds out that he has been having an affair with Sloane Silver Williams (local rich divorcee).  The daughter of the woman sent Emma the video (lovely people)!

Nick claims to be a sex addict and that he cannot help himself (that cracked me up).  Max, thankfully, does not believe him and tells him to move out.  One of Max’s first acts is to change her Facebook status to single (before she tells the kids, family or friends).   The video then goes viral with Twitter, Facebook, and uploaded to a housewife porn site.  First it hits the tabloids and then the national news.  Paparazzi starts following her all over town.  Nick has virtually moved in with Sloane who is just thrilled (posts lovey dovey photos online).  Max feels her life is falling apart especially when her children start having trouble in school (even little Sam in preschool).  One day Max gets an unexpected message from an old boyfriend.  Max dated Ben Miller in college.  One evening while Ben was taking a shower, Max went through his pockets and found a little piece a paper with a name and phone number.  Max assumes it is from a woman (she has trust issues).  This ruins their relationship because of Max’s lack of trust.  Now Ben would like to reconnect with Max.  Is it too soon for Max?  Nick does move in with Sloane and he breaks the news that Sloane is eleven weeks pregnant (which means Max and Nick were still living together at the time).  Max needs to find a way to move on with her life and get past the video (and break up of her marriage).

As I am sure you can tell, I did not enjoy reading Goddess of Suburbia.  It sounded like such a cute, fun book.  Unfortunately, it was just disheartening.  There are long internal monologues from Max with her thinking about her life, daydreaming, obsessing, worrying, etc.  They went on for pages (I skimmed through these sections after a while).  Max was not a likable character.  She had body image issues, commitment issues, anxiety/panic attacks, anger management problems, and she has trouble saying no.  I read to escape life, to venture into a different world and have fun not to be bummed out.  If someone posted a video of me online without my permission (not that I would ever let anyone make such a video), the first thing I would do is try to get it removed.  Max never even looked into it.  To me that did not make any sense.  Then after she reconnects with Ben, she starts these odd daydreaming sequences (where she tunes out everything around her including the kids).  She has not seen the man in twenty years and she is already dreaming of a life with him.  I like reading about strong women.  Max would not even stand up to her daughter!  The writing was just satisfactory and the book does contain quite a bit of foul language.  I give Goddess of Suburbia 1.5 out of 5 stars (I just did not like it).  This book was just not for me. 

I received a complimentary copy of The Goddess of Suburbia from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  The review and opinions expressed are my own.

I am currently reading Broken Grace by E.C. Diskin (it is very slow).  Have a lovely, relaxing evening and Happy Reading!

Kris
The Avid Reader