I started reading Strangers from Belle Burden because I like messy relationship and family dynamic stories and somehow ended up thinking about my own relationship way more than I planned to.
Something about the idea of spending years with someone and still not fully knowing who they’d become under pressure or during conflict stuck with me way more than I expected. It brought up conversations between me and my partner that we’d avoided for a while around money long term security and how much people can change over time.
I used to think topics like that meant something was wrong in the relationship or that people were secretly expecting things to fail but now I’m not so sure anymore. I think sometimes being realistic about life and people changing is different from being pessimistic.
Still feels emotionally weird though because nobody grows up dreaming about having practical conversations alongside romantic ones. Part of me misses when love felt simpler before real life started attaching practical decisions to it.
by Melodic-Tear3421
6 Comments
the family dynamics were just as stressful to me as the romance parts
You are reading trash.
I went into this expecting drama and somehow ended up feeling emotionally stressed out instead lol.
ngl this book gave me that weird feeling where you finish reading but your brain keeps replaying certain conversations afterward.
The book is amazing but the facts around their divorce is almost comically cliché. I’m worried that women are reading this book thinking “god what a terrible man!” without realizing that this kind of thing happens all the time to people who aren’t NYC royalty and therefore won’t get book deals to talk about it.
We can talk as much as we want with a partner and live wuth them for years before 1 situation shows how each really reacts.