I'm Fine and Neither Are You

Author: Camille Pagan
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Type: e-book
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
First Published: April 1, 2019
Opening Lines: "Mistakes were made. The first wasn't even something I did; it was only a germ of an idea, fleeting but infectious."

Book Description from GoodReads: Honesty is the best policy…except maybe when it comes to marriage in this brilliant novel about the high price of perfection from bestselling author Camille Pagán.

Wife. Mother. Breadwinner. Penelope Ruiz-Kar is doing it all—and barely keeping it together. Meanwhile, her best friend, Jenny Sweet, appears to be sailing through life. As close as the two women are, Jenny’s passionate marriage, pristine house, and ultra-polite child stand in stark contrast to Penelope’s underemployed husband, Sanjay, their unruly brood, and the daily grind she calls a career.

Then a shocking tragedy reveals that Jenny’s life is far from perfect. Reeling, Penelope vows to stop keeping the peace and finally deal with the issues in her relationship. So she and Sanjay agree to a radical proposal: both will write a list of changes they want each other to make—then commit to complete and total honesty.

What seems like a smart idea quickly spirals out of control, revealing new rifts and even deeper secrets. As Penelope stares down the possible implosion of her marriage, she must ask herself: When it comes to love, is honesty really the best policy?

My Rating: 3 stars

My Review: This book's clever title drew my attention and but its blurb describing a story about a woman who struggles with secrets, loss and how to get her life back on track is what sold it to me. 

The book starts out strong and had me giggling in the first scene. A good sign. The book remains a fairly light read even though it handles some darker issues involving family, life lessons and a few side stories. Unfortunately, these issues are only touched on and readers aren't given enough time to get to know the characters in any depth. We really only get Penny's take and she's a very hard gal to like. While she has some good quips, she comes off as a whiney martyr who is hard to please and instead of clicking with her, I ended up feeling bad for her husband. 

Overall, I'm Fine and Neither Are You started off stronger than it ended and while it didn't quite hit the mark for me, I applaud the author for taking on the underlying theme of honesty -- with ourselves and those around us -- as we try to shed the masks we wear in order to appear that we have all aspects of our lives in perfect order. 

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.