The Bride Stripped Bare by Nikki Gemmell (3 stars)

About The Bride Stripped Bare

Publisher: Harper Perennial
(February 1, 2005)
Language: English

A woman disappears, leaving behind an incendiary diary chronicling a journey of sexual awakening. To all who knew her, she was the good wife: happy, devoted, content. But the diary reveals a secret self, one who’s discovered that her new marriage contains mysteries of its own. She has discovered a forgotten Elizabethan manuscript that dares to speak of what women truly desire, and inspired by its revelations, she tastes for the first time the intoxicating power of knowing what she wants and how to get it.

The question is: How long can she sustain a perilous double life?

Review

Normally I would summarize the book and then move onto my feelings. But this book stirred up so many feelings--it's quite the emotional roller coaster--that I have to skip right ahead. I cared about the main character and her struggles to feel loved and satisfied, but then she would always take it just a bit too far and I was frustrated. She became her own worst enemy, striving for some kind of impossible ideal.

But I was eagerly flipping the pages, wanting to know what happened--dying to know if she was going to figure it out. That, perhaps, is where I became the most frustrated because the ending came too quickly and without much resolution. Of course, the reader knows the unsatisfying ending from page one. Still, I hoped for something against the odds.

I read this book as part of a bigger blog tour where I will read two more books by this author. Although I was often torn about this book, the writing was engaging and compelling. I was emotionally invested in this character, even when I wanted to smack her. And sometimes life simply doesn't have an answer for someone's pain and dissatisfaction. I just wish it did.

Rating: 3 stars

About Nikki Gemmell

Nikki Gemmell is the internationally bestselling author of The Bride Stripped Bare and With My Body, as well as Shiver, Alice Springs, and The Book of Rapture. She lives in Sydney, Australia with her family.

Find out more about Nikki at her website and connect with her on Facebook.


Thanks to TLC for my review copy.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

Please visit other stops on The Bride Stripped Bare blog tour page.