A novel about a marriage dissolving is not the type of reading material I normally gravitate to, and I have to say that the 50 page rule was under serious consideration for First You Try Everything. But before I knew it I was way past page 50 and diving in head-first.
Evvie and Ben have been married for 12 years. Neither one had idealistic childhoods, and what started out as a strong relationship based on a shared love of music and culture ended up as a marriage lacking in communication and similar expectations. Ben decides he doesn’t want to be married to Evvie anymore and leaves her to pick up the pieces of their shattered life together. When Evvie meets 2 guys on a bus who promise they can bring her and Ben back together, she embarks on a scheme that is obviously a very bad idea from the beginning, but Evvie just wants Ben back.
Evvie is obviously not quite mentally balanced – her high highs and low lows are obvious to the reader, but Ben is either too close to her or willfully ignores the signs. Her brother Cedric, who lives with them and works at a grocery store, appears to have Asperger’s, or is at least somewhere on the Autism spectrum. Ben says he doesn’t love her anymore, and it’s clear he really just doesn’t want to deal with her eccentricities anymore.
I love the cover of First You Try Everything – it’s quite the apt depiction of the slow but steady unraveling of many facets of the novel: Ben and Evvie’s marriage, Evvie’s sanity, Ben’s attempts to distance himself from Evvie. The title, however, is only accurate from Evvie’s point of view, as Ben basically decided he wanted out, with no attempts at working things out with her. Most multi-perspective books have me siding with whoever’s telling the story at the time, but I just couldn’t get behind Ben’s actions. And as crazy as Evvie may be, I liked her. A lot.
First You Try Everything is a fascinating look at the dissolution of a marriage and the extremes some people will go to save what can’t be saved.
Nancy is often thankful for her fairly normal life. She writes about her 2 boys, books and life in Colorado at Life With My Boys and Books.
I put this one down about half way through. I’m not sure if I should go back to it or not. I was getting incredibly frustrated with Evie, and with Ben for that matter.
They were pretty frustrating, both of them, but it does get more interesting when Evvie meets with the men from the bus (not sure if you read that part or not). But there are too many books out there so I wouldn’t blame you for not going back to it!
I was wondering how this one would be – I think it would have hit a bit too close to home for me right now.
It could definitely be tough for someone going through a similar situation. It definitely wasn’t a happy read for sure!
This sounds like a sad but interesting read… I might have to check it out. I don’t think I would like Ben very much!
No, Ben was kind of a heartless jerk, though he does have a few redeeming qualities. I’ll be interested what you think if you do check it out.
Interesting synopsis here, Nancy. I’m intrigued, but not sure if I want to go there emotionally, you know?
I do know, the material can be tough to read. It was an interesting subject though, one that’s not often tackled.
Hi Nancy! This is Danielle from Harper. Great review! I love this cover too, but could never quite put my finger on why, and you completely described what I was thinking but couldn’t articulate.
Hi Danielle, glad you liked the review! The cover is so unique, and it’s meanings didn’t really hit me until I was about halfway through the book.