Roz and Vin can’t look each other in the eyes anymore, let alone share a bed. It’s been a year since they survived a traumatic car accident and their marriage hasn’t been the same. But Roz has held out hope they can fix things…until she discovers Vin signed a new lease. So she does what any soon-to-be-divorced-Brooklynite would do: sign up for figure drawing class.
Between her determined attempts to improve her skills in class every Friday and adventures with her best friend Raffi, she can almost ignore Vin’s impending move out date and his footsteps in their previously unoccupied guest room. But it would all be a lot easier if Vin wasn’t Raffi’s older brother, and she didn’t still find him incredibly, debilitatingly attractive and kind.
So kind, in fact, that he offers to let Roz draw him. What is she supposed to say? It’s probably better than her original plan of finding some random male model online, and she needs all the practice she can get. Plus, that’s sure to make a separation easier right? Focus on every detail of your estranged spouse’s body while drawing them in the nude. But after the year they have spent avoiding each other and their struggles in the aftermath of the accident, it feels good to see and be seen by one another again.
As Roz works to better herself as an artist and capture the wholeness of the person she fell in love with, will they both be able to draw upon the feelings they buried deep inside to finally heal together? (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)
No Matter What provided an honest look into the breakdown that can happen when a traumatic event occurs within a marriage. I’ve heard it said (and have witnessed it myself) that sometimes, relationships can’t survive the trauma. And when Vin puts the lease on the fridge for all to see, Roz is convinced that there is no coming back.
The way the story unfolds happens in a way that feels as though you’re talking with a good friend. I like the author’s writing style–the way the reader really gets to see the root of each character, often by way of dialogue and thought process. Roz comes off as tough and no nonsense, with a soft inner to her that only Vin seems to really get and understand. She knows that Vin can’t seem to communicate well, but the little he says speaks volumes. They’ve been able to get by that way for the entirety of their relationship, until the tragic events of last year forces them to really look at everything in a whole new way.
Without meaning to, Raffi has become the center of their relationship, and what they’ve focused on for so long. Vin doesn’t know how to express his loneliness and need for his wife, and Roz doesn’t know he’s lonely. At the start of everything, Roz seeks a way to become more than the small circle of her husband and brother-in-law, coincidentally taking a figure drawing class in a space inhabiting the building where Vin plans to move to. It becomes a much-needed distraction for her in a time of pain and uncertainty. She expresses it in real-time, without a lot of flowery words and descriptions. Maybe some of it is to show Vin that she can move on, too. That as much as it kills her, that she will ultimately survive the change.
Maybe things aren’t really as they seem, as Roz soon learns. And Vin never had a chance where his communication skills are concerned–but he’s trying, with chapters dedicated to the proof of that. It was nice to see the change in both characters, who aren’t perfect at all, but together they are perfect for each other. I rooted for them, but I loved that Roz ventured out and tried to make the best of a potentially terrible situation. It was a sweet, heartbreaking, humorous, and hopeful experience.
Thanks to Random House for the book in exchange for an honest review.
Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.
Listen to this book on Speechify!
No comments:
Post a Comment