Tuesday, March 24, 2015

ARC Review: The Wednesday Group ♥ by Sylvia True

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The Wednesday Group
Sylvia True
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  • Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin;  (March 24, 2015)
  • ISBN-13: 978-1250051882
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
  • Purchase: Amazon | B & N
  • Source: Review Copy was sent via St. Martin's Griffin. Thank you Jessica.

  • Synopsis: Gail. Hannah. Bridget. Lizzy. Flavia. Each of them has a shameful secret, and each is about to find out that she is not alone. Gail, a prominent Boston judge, keeps receiving letters from her husband's latest girlfriend, while her husband, a theology professor, claims he's nine-months sober from sex with grad students. Hannah, a homemaker, catches her husband having sex with a male prostitute in a public restroom. Bridget, a psychiatric nurse at a state hospital, is sure she has a loving, doting spouse, until she learns that he is addicted to chat rooms and match-making websites. Lizzy, a teacher, is married to a porn addict. Flavia was working at the library when someone brought her an article that stated her husband had been arrested for groping a teenage girl on the subway. Finally, Kathryn, the young psychologist running the group, has as much at stake as all of the others. 

  • The Wednesday Group is Sylvia True's first novel and she has done a brilliant job on it. This novel reminded me a lifetime movie - it consists of five, no six characters. Gail, Hannah, Bridget, Lizzy, and Flavia are the clients and Kathryn is the young psychologist. The clients are women who are all beautiful, and they're married to handsome men. Unfortunately, physical beauty cannot hide the ugliness of their lives. All of their husbands are diagnosed as sex addicts, now these women must learn to cope with that. I liked this book, it's a strong novel with a taboo subject.
  •  Gail is a prominent Boston judge, and she's quite strict and formal. Hannah is a housewife, and she loves her husband and children. Bridget is a psychiatric nurse, Lizzy is a high school teacher, and Flavia works at the public library. My favorite character would have to be Bridget, she's brave and open minded. She's not afraid to be blunt and stand up for herself. I also liked Flavia, she's timid and soft-spoken. She's actually a foreigner. My least favorites would have to be Gail and Hannah. They're both quite judgmental, although Gail does show character growth by the end of the novel - Hannah not so much. It was hard keeping up with the five clients and their lives though, I believe three characters would be my limit to comprehend. Kathryn is the young psychologist who was running the group is a well-developed character as well - this is her first time at group therapy and she does a fine job at it. She was a minor story in the book as well with her mentor which I'm quite happy chappy about. I did like the female friendships in The Wednesday Group and how much they supported each other once they got to know each other.
  • The inner psychologist in me loves the idea of the group therapy - I liked reading about all of these women's stories. My least likeable person was Hannah, but I could understand why she behaved in such a way. Her husband was caught with a male prostitute.. The other women and their lives can be changed around, but how can you change your husbands sexual preferences? I believe her story was the most saddest and difficult one out of the bunch. I would probably forgive Lizzy's husband but definitely not the others. Each of these women have a different style of dealing with their pain, it is a hard subject to tackle and the author does a really good job of explaining it. Sex addiction is barely heard of in novels, so it was interesting to read about a change. 
  • Overall, it is a powerful novel about denial and betrayal. I liked that this novel focuses on the psychologist perspective of these women's lives, they're aren't that many explicit scenes. There is barely any romance in this novel, because it's a novel about self-discovery and coping with pain. This is a fascinating novel, although, the ending felt a bit incomplete and rushed. I would have liked a more revised ending. I would rate A Wednesday Group 3.5 butterflies.
Recommended for fans of Addicted To You, Clean, and A Million Little Pieces.

    • Shukran for reading this! Leave your blog links in the comments & I'll be sure to check them out & follow :) Stay in tuned pretty creatures.. 

      “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness.” —George R.R. Martin 
      femmmefatalee@gmail.com

33 comments:

  1. This sounds like it is going to be a good book, which explains why you are looking forward to it!

    I tagged you in a tag: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2015/03/blogger-recognition-tag.html

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  2. This book sounds really complex. Like something I would read. It would be pretty difficult to keep track of 5 (or 6) stories going on simultaneously.

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  3. I read this one too and it was a hard read but definitely worth it. Great review!

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    1. YAY<3 Happy to hear you liked it as well :)

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  4. This sounds really fascinating, not your average story. Thanks for bringing it to my attention :)

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  5. Holy crap, those women have some ... screwed up personal lives o.o poor women. I don't particularly like having to keep up with a full cast of main characters. I prefer 2-4 because they are much easier to follow. Not sure this book is for me, but great review!

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    1. Yes, my reaction exactly </3 .. Thank you Sarah ♥

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  6. I never read a book about this subject before, sounds like the author choose a taboo topic indeed. Although I do wonder how the author handles that writing a book about 6 different character and their husbands. Althought the charactectization sounds well done, I can imagine it would be hard at times to keep up with the different characters. I like that one of the character is a psychologist, I studied psychology although I went into a different direction I still have some knowledge about clinical psychology as well. That's sad the ending was a bit rushed, it's a shame when an ending isn't as good as the rest of the book. Great review!

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    1. If you haven't, you should try the series Addicted To You. It's about these two best friends, one has s*x addiction - the other one has alcohol addiction. It's a NA series, not erotica though :) & I agree, I study clinical psychology as well. Thank you for dropping by Lola ♥

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  7. Shame on me for not reading this book before it's release, but hopefully I can get around to it soon. When I received the copy, I had NO clue what it was about, and after reading the synopsis, I just knew I would love it. It has all the elements in an adult novel that I enjoy, (I love me a dysfunctional read with some messed up characters) so this is really up my alley. I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it, hopefully my experience will be the same :)

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    1. Aww, hope you get around to it sometime soon Martika, hope to see your thoughts on it soon :) Thank you for dropping by ♥

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  8. That is a very interesting concept, and it does interest me! I would definitely like to see how the author handles that taboo subject! Lovely review!

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  9. Despite the rushed ending, this sounds interesting and it sounds like it was fun getting to know each of the women.

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  10. Wow, this sounds so unique and different than something I have read before, I think I need to add it to my TBR!
    Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings

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  11. Hmm. This sounds quite intriguing! I have a bit of a personal experience in common with one of these characters, and I would really love to know how it all works out. Though I agree that that many characters can be a bit hard to keep track of! I am glad you enjoyed it, great review!
    Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight

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    1. Yes, too many characters in this novel, but overall it is a unique novel.

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  12. sound like a good book, Happy to see you enjoyed it, I will make to check it out :D

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  13. So happy you enjoyed all the stories from each woman. Not sure if it's for me.

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  14. The psychological aspect of this really interests me, especially with how these different women come together and support one another. I haven't read about the repercussions of male sex addiction either. Adding it to my TBR, lovely review Benish!

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    1. Thank you Jeann! Hope you get around to it sometime soon :)

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  15. This sounds like a deep read! It is probably not one I'd pick up, glad you liked it though!

    Naomi @ Nomi’s Paranormal Palace

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  16. Hm, not my type of read but certainly and interesting concept, and a taboo subject!

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