I am here again with another book review, this time it is Results May Vary by Bethany Chase! Thank you to Penguin Random House for sending me a copy of this book for an honest review, as always, all opinions are my own.
This book was phenomenal! The writing was spot-on, and I loved the voice that the main character, Caroline, had in the story. And I loved that it was a contemporary I just didn't want to put down!
Ok, so let's start with the story itself. Pretty much at the very beginning of the book, Caroline finds out her husband has been having an affair with a man. This development forces her to look at their entire marriage, starting when they were high school sweethearts, their relationship starting back when they were in their senior year of high school. They were each other's one and only, or so Caroline thought. Caroline shows an array of emotions from betrayal to anger as she learns of her husband's infidelity and probable bisexuality.
I think this story is unique because we, of course, see the cheating, but we also see the LGBT elements as well. I think Chase portrays wonderfully the struggles Caroline goes through dealing with Adam's affair. As a society trying to be more accepting of the LGBT community, I think it is hard for some people to be angry with someone who has an affair with someone of the same sex. You want to be angry, but at the same time, you don't want to stifle their courage to be who they really are. At the same time, that individual still had an affair. I loved that Caroline didn't dwell on Adam's sexuality. Yes, she was upset that she wasn't enough for him, but at the same time, she didn't go easy on him because he was exploring his sexuality. For me, cheating is still cheating, no matter who it is with.
I also loved Caroline's courage. Adam kept pushing her to work things out, make amends and go back to their 'happy' marriage. But Caroline couldn't accept that. She kept going back and forth trying to decide what to do, and in the end, I think she made the best decision for everyone.
The writing style of this book was so great as well, everything flowed beautifully and the way Caroline told the story, almost as a narrative to someone, reliving and relaying the story, kept me fully enthralled. I would have stayed up all night to finish it if I didn't have to go to work the next morning! However, even broken into two days, I couldn't get enough. There is a review from Kirkus on the back of the book that calls this book "An altogether addictive read..." and I think that describes this book perfectly!
I really enjoyed Caroline and her sister, Ruby's time together. They spend a period of time living together after Caroline kicks Adam out and I just really loved their sisterly bond. They address some underlying issues that have always caused problems, the five year age gap between the two, and the fact that ever since Caroline was 17, she had been CarolineAndAdam. Even though Caroline was the main character of the story, I still loved the parts with Ruby, her boy drama, the progression of her new blog, she was just a fun addition to the story.
I think the part I loved the most about this book was the character development. At the beginning of the book, Caroline was still CarolineAndAdam, angry with Adam, but maybe willing to work things out. I don't think she realized the extent of his lies at that moment, because he didn't want her to. As things progressed, more secrets were unveiled, Caroline grew. She became stronger, more aware of the fact that talking wasn't going to fix this. And to his credit, Adam grew too. He became sure of his choices, standing up to his father about his sexuality and being the person he always knew he was deep down. When I look back to the beginning, and then at the characters at the end of the novel, they are two completely different pairs of people. And I loved that.
Overall, I loved this book. If the number of times I've said "loved" in this review is any indicator, I really loved it. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone, I promise, you won't regret it! This book comes out August 9, so get ready!