About Us by Sinéad Moriarty Book Review

'Three Couples. Three Love stories. One Couch'

Today is my day for the About Us by Sinéad Moriarty bookstagram tour. I was very kindly sent a copy by Penguin Books Ireland and decided to share my review on here as well as on Instagram.

About Us follows 3 different couples:

•Ann and Ken are in their 60s and Ann is feeling lost now that all her kids are grown up

•Alice is struggling as a stay at home mother to 4 kids while her husband Niall is resentful that she no longer has the time or energy for him

•Orla is a young teacher in her 20s who is falling hard for one of her pupil’s dad but she is unsure if her past relationship fails means she is unable to be intimate

They each end up on the couch of Maggie, a sex and relationship therapist. Can each couple work through their problems and discover what’s best for them as individuals too?

This book sucked me in, I devoured it in a day or two! I was completely wrapped up in all the stories. Each couple is at a different stage in their lives, all with different relatable sex and relationship problems. It felt balanced, every character has flaws. Mostly told from the women’s point of view (it changed every chapter), we sometimes see it from the men’s point of view too which helped ensure it wasn’t all one sided

I liked how with one couple it was the woman who suggested the therapy but with another couple it was the man, it gave a sense of balance and realism. The progress the characters make in therapy isn’t linear, they hit bumps in the road which is realistic to real life therapy. You can tell it was well researched by the author

Throughout the story, one of the main feelings is hope. You’ll be rooting for the characters to do what’s best for them and find their happiness! The lives of all the characters also slightly overlap outside the therapist’s office which is sometimes I love in novels. For example Orla lives with Ann’s daughter and while they don’t have many scenes together, the scenes they do have are sweet

If you like stories about the complexities of relationships, this is the perfect read to immerse yourself into this summer!

Release date 15th July

This book was sent to me by Penguin Books Ireland for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own