Ten Thousand I Love Yous by Lisa SlabachMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
“I'm not in love with you anymore.”
The day after their daughter's high school graduation, Kim's husband of eighteen years tells her he doesn't love her anymore and blindsides her with wanting a divorce and walking out. After a year of depression and waiting for Jay to come back, Kim decides it's time to start living her life. Ten Thousand I Love Yous is a story told in first person point-of-view from Kim and will have you wincing in sympathy for all her heartache, cheering her on as she takes control of her life, and either will leave you happy satisfied with how things ultimately work out or vastly disappointed in ending decisions.
The first chapter is an emotional doozy with how blindsided Kim was with her husband's decision of leaving her, he says some very harsh things in his desire to get out the door as Kim tries to keep him there. We then jump a year forward for chapter two and Kim is starting to come out of her depression. She gets in shape to feel better about herself, starts to dip her toe into the dating world, is thinking about changes she needs to make to get her life in order, contemplative about her how her life has went, and reflective on how there were warning signs in her marriage. Kim and Jay got pregnant when they were seventeen and ended up marrying young, now at thirty-seven, Jay says his reason for wanting a divorce is because they never got to be young and try new things. When he starts dating twenty-something cocktail waitresses it can't help but feel like the guy is going through a mid-life crisis and/or just wanted to sleep with other younger women. When Kim begins dating, specifically a hot fireman, Jay starts to creep back into the picture and his jealousy is obvious. There's a great revenge scene that I thought Kim should have enjoyed more when they bump into Jay with a young woman who recognizes Kim's fireman from a calendar and drools over him in front of Jay.
I shouldn't ever have to worry about loving my husband too much.
I cheered Kim on when she decides to move to San Francisco and live on her own and begins writing a regular advice column for dating single and divorced women. It's clear that she is thriving and starting to come into her own. Jay wasn't controlling and seemed like a good husband but Kim fell into that supportive wife role and withered in the town and group of friends they had. While in San Fran, Kim reconnects with a guy who she had a crush on but after a quick kiss, never acted on because she thought he was so much younger than her and he was the check-out guy at her grocery store. Turns out that Joshua is twenty-seven, ten years younger than Kim and now a sous chef and their chemistry is still there. A lot of readers are going to like Joshua for Kim as they playfully bring out the best in each other. However, the age issue is a tough one for Kim to get over, she has a nineteen year old daughter and after a Thanksgiving together with their friends, Kim felt so much older than Joshua's group of friends. It's easy to see why Kim feels this insecurity but also easy to feel, with given time, this would ease away.
This book had an immensely smooth reading flow, I finished it in a day, but my personal feelings on the ending gave me more of a dejected feeling, rather than a satisfied happy sigh. It's clear as the story goes on that Jay is starting to have misgivings about his decision to divorce Kim. Since this is first pov from Kim, it's hard to really get a feel for Jay, it honestly came off to me that he'd had his fun, slept around, and realized how supportive Kim was and wanted that easy comfort back. With twenty pages to go, Jay makes his big move, right when Kim and Joshua are getting extremely close, and Kim has to make the decision of what she really wants out of life. She does show some growth and strength, taking a stance on things she now expects out of life, but I think she also went back to the easier answer, because there is comfort in the known. It felt disappointing because the journey I went on with Kim, mostly, ended up feeling wasted.
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