Babe wake up, the fourth wall just shattered.

At a crisp 213 pages, the entire book is the MFA thesis of protagonist Robbie who has an emotional... affair? fling? unrequited moment of desire? with her MFA advisor Simone, whose own husband had a very real affair with the English department secretary. Robbie plays the role of unreliable omniscient narrator, imagining the fallout of Simone and Ethan's respective marital indiscretions as she figures out her own role in their marriage story.

Seduction Theory is deeply self aware and has many moments of bright lucidity; Robbie articulates esoteric emotions with such precision, you can't help but feel things you've likely never felt as vividly as if they were your own memories.

We get entire passages of Robbie editing her own manuscript on-page, showing us what she hoped would happen vs what actually did. As the line between fiction and memoir blurs we're forced to ask the age old question: is fiction sometimes more true than real life?

I adored this journey and am so impressed by this author's command of narration and emotionality. By far the most clever book I've had the pleasure of reading all year. Big fat five stars.

An approachable and practical guide that teaches you how to understand your anger and how you might use it for good in all relationships. I want to share this with everyone in my life immediately.

As someone who grew up socially conditioned to be a 'nice girl', it's been a rough few years figuring out that setting aside my perceivably negative feelings will not truly benefit me or my loved ones. I have had to spend time learning how to feel angry and not pushing aside this emotion that, as Lerner says, "is neither legitimate nor illegitimate, meaningful nor pointless. Anger simply is.". Isn't that a relief?

Each chapter examines common relationship patterns you may experience with partners, friends, parents, siblings and children, and I found myself starkly resonating with many examples Lerner provides. Each scenario is retold as if you're hearing a recorded psychotherapy session, with Lerner's experience interspersed to provide insightful commentary to how we might approach each conflict differently to our usual pattern. Lerner demonstrates how we can think about our self and our true desires, recognize what anger might be telling us, and how we can reframe our emotion and strive for a positive change in stuck patterns.

While directed at women, I strongly believe everyone will benefit from reading this book, to understand themselves and their own communication patterns better. I listened via audiobook, narrated by Lerner, which was great, but I can also see myself revisiting a physical copy over and over again throughout my life - re-reading sections for wisdom and practical guidance that will help me develop closer relationships with people I love throughout my life.