Book Review: The Social Affair

THE SOCIAL AFFAIR | Britney King
01.18.2018 | Hot Banana Press
Rating: 4/5 stars

Izzy Lewis is blown away when the perfect couple walks through the doors of the coffee shop where she works. Instantly she needs to know more about this couple and naturally Googles them and begins stalking the wife, Josie Dunn, on Instalook. Josie is not only one half of a perfect couple, but also lives the perfect life. Her photos show a woman who is clearly adored by her husband, glamorous outfits, exciting get togethers with friends, wonderful children, and all the things that could make an average person jealous. Izzy is unable to look away and focusing on this couple is just what she needs to lift up her depressing life that has taken a toward spiral after the death of her husband, Joshua.

I read a quote once that said…a true mark of maturity is when someone hurts you, and you try to understand their situation instead of trying to hurt them back. This seems idealistic now. I wish someone had warned me. Enough of that kind of thinking will get you killed.

Josie Dunn lives the life you want, just ask her social media presence! She is the face of perfection and her family are the poster children for a new church known as New Hope. The congregation of New Hope was founded by the Dunn family and their close friends as a place where religion leads the guidelines of life. As the guidelines have become stricter over time the group has started to be perceived as radical and cult-like. Is gaining the life Josie has really worth losing who you are as a person in order to fit the picturesque mold of New Hope?

It’s interesting; you don’t realize how you’ll miss stability, predictability even, until the rug is pulled out from under you.

THE SOCIAL AFFAIR is an addictive read straight into the minds of two women and the tangled webs they weave, which bring their lives closer and closer together. King alternates chapters between Izzy and Josie narrating, so that the reader is able to see the multiple sides of the story that is unfolding. At points you want to cheer for everyone, but in the end I was left wondering if I truly liked any of the characters. At some moment you learn that these characters all have wildly unlikeable characteristics about them, but you can’t tear your eyes away from the car crash that is life happening in front of your eyes. I was instantly immersed and invested in THE SOCIAL AFFAIR to the point where I was pages away from finishing the book after a flight (darn you pesky guy in the seat next to me for wanting to chat!). I’m eager to check out King’s latest novel, THE REPLACEMENT WIFE, as it focuses on characters you meet in THE SOCIAL AFFAIR, but from a fresh storyline and more emphasis on the New Hope cult.

There’s a difference in thinking of doing something terrible and actually doing it. But as it turns out, it’s a very think line indeed. What I’m in the process of deciding is at what point you go from one side to the other. Is it possible to cross it before you realize? At which point can you still turn back?