Name: After I Do
Rating: 4.043785310734464 (354 reviews)
ISBN: 9781681414126

Taylor Jenkins Reid

Tara Sands

After I Do

Sarah Campbell

"But the way I see it" she continues, your love life should bring you love. If it doesn't, no matter how hard you try, if you are honest and fair and good, and you decide it's over and you need to go find love somewhere else, then … what more can the world ask of you?”

I can spot Ryan in a crowd. I can recognize his scent from another room. Just a few months ago, we were separated at the grocery store, and I found him by recognizing his sneeze from few aisles away. But at this airport, this time, I got it wrong. It’s not Ryan. All of that fear and jealousy and hurt and pain so sharp I thought it could cut me — wasn't real. It was entirely imaginary. It's stunning, really, what I can do to myself with only a misunderstanding.

A couple embarks on a journey of self-discovery when they decide to take a year off from their troubled marriage to see if they can fall in love again. By the author of Forever, Interrupted. Original.

A Novel

A lovely read, but not my favourite. Very predicable. You can see what’s going to happen a mile off. 

Aims

When Lauren and Ryan’s marriage reaches the breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes.

Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren’s ideas about monogamy and marriage. She starts to question: When you can have romance without loyalty and commitment without marriage, when love and lust are no longer tied together, what do you value? What are you willing to fight for?

A cute tale of the tumultuous trials a marriage can put you through. A book of self discovery and reflection. 

Siri 

such a good basically second chance book, i needed to read this book right when i did, this is definitely one of trj bests, absolutely fell in love with the characters, but i would have killed myself right when i saw this man dated three different girls in one year anywayssss love it!!

debbie <3

A cute and more realistic love story - I enjoyed the way it was broken up into the different sections and how the plot moved forward with their email drafts. The beginning of part 1 made me nostalgic for the beginning parts of my own relationship 🥲

Paige Paul

I like when the right book finds you at the right time. 

Jenna

Liyah 🤎

Read this because I've heard so much about this author. It was def a nice palette cleanser from the other romance books I've read lately. It basically follows a married couple on the verge of divorce who decide to take a break for a year to see if they want to stay married. Honestly a weird premise I think they could've learned what they learned by just going to marriage counseling and maybe living in separate quarters but pretending to be single is weird. I thought Lauren's family members were written really well and were quite loveable. The "lesson" of the book is a cute one–life doesn't have to be lived by a script and relationships are what you put into them. CLiche but cliche because its true and I think the book tries its best to give that platitude some weight. In general, though...I don't like the central couple. This book is nearly a decade old so I can forgive its lacking interpersonal gender politics but as a reader in 2023 with my beliefs I saw fundamental cracks in the relationship of the characters that i think the narrative didn't repair. From the beginning, Ryan is a little whiny and manipulative, and neither Lauren nor the book holds him to tasks for that. Like the weird thing with him always wanting her to say she wants to have sex or the way he blows up at her because he feels bad that he messed up their honeymoon...and Lauren coddles him...BIG NO from me. And it happened so early and often in their relationship that i honestly thought the book wasn't going to put them back together because their issues seemed structural. How they did come back together was pretty dramatic and a little cheesy but I'll allow it every romance book needs its cheesy run into each others arm moment. At least there was no 3rd act breakup! Could be a good book club book and couples co-read!

Kate

The way Reid writes about life is always the most beautiful thing I’ve ever read. Reading TJR I’m always so in love with the things she can say and the life lessons she adds to her books. “After I Do” should be read by everyone that is married or wanting to get married someday. It’s so real and if you thought it was cheesy you need to read it again- and this time understand it. 

After I Do

Reviews

Highlights