The Consequences, written by Colette Freedman, is about a married couple, Kathy and Robert Walker. Their lives have been exciting and joyful due to their marriage. This is including: being married for eighteen years, having two children (that are now teenagers), and owning a film production business together. On Christmas Eve, Kathy’s suspicions were finally answered. She learned her husband was having an affair with another woman. When Stephanie and Kathy come face-to-face Stephanie realizes the damage she has done to Robert’s family. She then decides to never come in contact with Robert again. This plan does not last for long when she makes a discovery: she’s pregnant. Now that Robert and Stephanie could form a real family together, this difficult situation has really come to a head.
As this book has gone on, it has been difficult to make it to each important plot twister. With the constant: lagging, unnecessary information; taking too many chapters to get to the next exciting part of the story, it has been a challenge to continue to feel engaged and the want to read on. Based on the plot it is confusing right from the beginning. Having a heavy storyline like this can be difficult to portray the plot while keeping the readers engaged throughout. Attempting to explain the situation makes it less enjoyable. Spending the majority of the time trying to understand the story makes it extremely hard to have the engaged feeling or urge to want to read on.
The main problem is keeping the audience interested. It’s tough. There are many sections throughout the novel that make you feel less engaged in the story because the plot is so complex. When going for a bold concept there needs to constantly be something that will not only: help you understand what is happening, give you a taste of action that will keep you engaged and still separating the action so it doesn’t get too intense.
Perhaps if the action heated up more than every other four chapters, more readers would be recommending it to their peers. Based on the reviews online, not many people have enjoyed this book. “I guess they publish anything these days.” said one reviewer. Without even reading the whole book, I would not read the sequel (Praise for The Affair) or read this novel again. It was too dry. The context did not match up to the bold storyline. Bummer. This book could have done really well if the author attempted to use the plot and brought some more action into the writing. What a shame that this exciting plot went to waste.
Written by Camille Spence
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