Jen Waite | A BEAUTIFUL, TERRIBLE THING (A Memoir)

Plot (via Goodreads):

What do you do when you discover that the person you've built your life around never existed? When "it could never happen to me" does happen to you?

These are the questions facing Jen Waite when she begins to realize that her loving husband--the father of her infant daughter, her best friend, the love of her life--fits the textbook definition of psychopath. In a raw, first-person account, Waite recounts each heartbreaking discovery, every life-destroying lie, and reveals what happens once the dust finally settles on her demolished marriage.

After a disturbing email sparks Waite's suspicion that her husband is having an affair, she tries to uncover the truth and rebuild trust in her marriage. Instead, she finds more lies, infidelity, and betrayal than she could have imagined. Waite obsessively analyzes her relationship, trying to find a single moment from the last five years that isn't part of the long-con of lies and manipulation. With a dual-timeline narrative structure, we see Waite's romance bud, bloom, and wither simultaneously, making the heartbreak and disbelief even more affecting. 

Review:

There's something unique and admirable when not only a publisher reaches out to you directly to review a book, but when it comes from the author themselves. Needless to say when Jen Waite reached out to me to read her memoir, this amazing human sold it to me so well that I immediately said yes within 15 seconds. 

Jen told me briefly she wrote a memoir that reads like a psychological thriller and asked if I wanted to review it. I've read memoirs that I have enjoyed and I adore psychological thrillers so the idea that someone wrote a memoir of something that happened to them just peaked my interest even more and I cannot even begin to tell you how blown away I was. First of all - can I just say once again...this is a MEMOIR combined with a PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER?! I mean, my literary heart almost exploded. 

If I hadn't known this was a memoir, I would have read this as a thriller. Waite has an incredible way of piquing the readers interest by combining alternate timelines (which I am a sucker for) and brilliant pacing within her writing. Yes, I understand this is a true story, but the way that Waite tells it and holds back on certain things really builds a beautiful picture of how someone can find themselves in a situation like this and how devastating it can be when there is love lost and betrayal is mounting in a relationship. Her prose is spectacular and beguiling while painting herself in a rather honest portrayal. This isn't the kind of memoir where Waite's flaws and imperfections are hidden and it's all about the bad guy. This is honesty at it's purest form about the disastrous situation Waite found herself in and a story about two very different people who are written phenomenally in contrast between who they are when you begin this read and who they are when it's all said and done. 

What I loved so much about this book is the ending. I was expecting a darker ending given the nature of this harrowing story, but I loved the uplifting way that Waite ended this book. This is a spectacular read that is so much more than anyone can give it credit for. Yes, it's sad, but it's beautiful and some good did come of what happened to Jen Waite including a beautiful daughter. I think this is the kind of uplifting read that people need to embrace and realize that no matter what situation you find yourself in, there's always hope and the light at the end of the tunnel is closer than you think when you believe and learn to love yourself.

Special thanks to Jen Waite and Dutton Books for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5