Name: Abby Byers's review of Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks
Item: Twenty-one Truths About Love
Rating: 4
Author: Abby Byers

Matthew Dicks

From the beloved author of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend comes a wonderful new novel about a struggling man, written entirely in lists. Daniel Mayrock's life is at a crossroads. He knows the following to be true: 1. He loves his wife Jill... more than anything. 2. He only regrets quitting his job and opening a bookshop a little (maybe more than a little) 3. Jill is ready to have a baby. 4. The bookshop isn’t doing well. Financial crisis is imminent. Dan doesn't know how to fix it. 5. Dan hasn’t told Jill about their financial trouble. 6. Then Jill gets pregnant. This heartfelt story is about the lengths one man will go to and the risks he will take to save his family. But Dan doesn’t just want to save his failing bookstore and his family’s finances: 1. Dan wants to do something special. 2. He’s a man who is tired of feeling ordinary. 3. He’s sick of feeling like a failure. 4. He doesn't want to live in the shadow of his wife’s deceased first husband. Dan is also an obsessive list maker; his story unfolds entirely in his lists, which are brimming with Dan’s hilarious sense of humor, unique world-view, and deeply personal thoughts. When read in full, his lists paint a picture of a man struggling to be a man, a man who has reached a point where he’s willing to do anything for the love (and soon-to-be new love) of his life.

A Novel

Twenty-one Truths About Love

Carrie Ness

Abby Byers

Jeremy Anderberg

Daniel Mayrock owns a bookshop; he bought it after quitting his job as a teacher. It’s far less romantic in reality than in his daydreams. Jill Mayrock wants a baby, but Daniel is terrified at the thought, secretly in debt, and trying to get out from under the shadow of Jill’s deceased first husband.

So what makes this delightful book unique? It’s written entirely in the form of Daniel’s eccentric, neurotic, and heartfelt lists.

There are lists brainstorming how to avoid the financial disaster, the myths vs. realities of owning a bookstore, comparisons to his wife’s dead husband, his insecurities about becoming a father, and, of course, 21 Truths About Love.

It’s as unique a format as you’ll ever come across, and while part of me wanted a standard narrative structure, my brain also filled in those parts on its own; this is the beauty of Matthew’s writing . . . through the lists, you do in fact get a dramatic and witty and poignant narrative even if it doesn’t seem like it as you’re reading.

Truly, some of the lists are so thoughtful that they could be framed as prints. Combined with the author’s natural humor, it’s a story that boldly defies convention — always a risky move — and entirely works.

Twenty-One Truths About Love is a very quick and utterly potent read that I think just about anyone would enjoy.

Jolie

When I started reading Twenty-one Truths about Love, I wasn’t a massive fan of it. I mean, a book that is told through lists. I was expecting to DNF it after the first chapter. Then a funny thing happened. I started to get involved with the book. I began to care about Dan. I wanted to know if he was going to carry out his crazy plan. I wanted to see if he would ever contact his father.

I liked Dan. He had his quirks (don’t we all) and was trying to do his best. He also had an excellent sense of humor. But, he was also insecure. He was jealous of his wife’s first husband, who seemed to be a saint. He felt that he couldn’t live up to his brother’s success. He was also the most affected by his mother’s affair, the divorce, and his father not contacting them again.

I laughed my butt off at his plan to get more money. It wasn’t what he was going to do. But it was how he went about doing it. I liked that he turned that episode into something he learned from.

The end of Twenty-one Truths About Love was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. I had a huge smile when the book ended. The book that I was sure I wouldn’t like ended up being a fantastic book!!

I would give Twenty-one Truths About Love an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I am on the fence if I would reread Twenty-one Truths About Love. I am on the fence if I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Carrie Ness &
Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks

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Carrie Ness &
Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks