Book Review #50: Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks

Hello Dear Reader!

Welcome to my first book review in a while! I know I haven’t been that consistent in posting these since the start of this year, but I think I’m slowly getting into a rhythm. I’m really hoping to reach my twenty-book goal by the end of this year.

Anyway, I’ve got an amazing read by Nicholas Sparks this week, and let me tell you. The waterworks were real for this one. Two by Two follows the story of narrator Russel Green as he experiences a year full of lows and slowly increasing highs as his marriage and entire life is turned upside down and around. But before I get into that, here is the back-cover summary (from Goodreads):

At 32, Russell Green has it all: a stunning wife, a lovable six year-old daughter, a successful career as an advertising executive and an expansive home in Charlotte. He is living the dream, and his marriage to the bewitching Vivian is the center of that. But underneath the shiny surface of this perfect existence, fault lines are beginning to appear...and no one is more surprised than Russ when he finds every aspect of the life he took for granted turned upside down. In a matter of months, Russ finds himself without a job or wife, caring for his young daughter while struggling to adapt to a new and baffling reality. Throwing himself into the wilderness of single parenting, Russ embarks on a journey at once terrifying and rewarding—one that will test his abilities and his emotional resources beyond anything he ever imagined.

End synopsis! Time for the review!

Two by Two is a book that has a lot going on in it, and I can’t possibly address every single thing in detail that went on in the story, so I’ll keep everything fairly brief.

To start off, I’ll start with Russel Green, known affectionately as Russ. He’s a nice guy, and very much a people pleaser, something he’s very self-aware of. At times, he does not think these through, but his heart is usually in the right place and he never means anything if he does happen to make a mistake. In fact, he does his best to make up for it, even when he’s not sure how to. He’s also fairly good at making connections with people and being cordial with the people he doesn’t like and those who don’t like him. Overall, he’s a very realistic character, like a normal guy I’d expect to meet randomly at work or something.

At the start of the story, it’s very clear what the main issue is, and that is Russ’s deteriorating relationship with his wife, Vivian. Long story short, she falls out of love with him and falls in love with another man, and it suddenly becomes a battle of divorce and who is going to take custody of their precious six-year-old daughter, London. While all of this is going on, we get to meet a lovely cast of characters, including his queen of a sister Marge, her wife Liz, his parents, his college ex-girlfriend turned friend Emily, and a suite of minor characters he develops relationships with throughout the book. I found all of these characters likeable with the exception of Vivian, who I found to be quite irritating because she seemed really quick to anger with Russel whenever she didn’t get what she wanted. Still, by the end of the book, I thought she was okay.

Outside of the divorce, there are really three other main plotlines the story holds. The first is Russel’s experience being primary care-giver and essentially single father of his daughter. While he does make mistakes that would make people, especially parents, irritated, he does an overall great job of caring for his daughter and making her feel loved. The second is meeting his ex-girlfriend Emily and following their newfound friendship. The third is the most shocking one, and to avoid a full spoiler, it involves one of his family members having cancer. In all four of these main plotlines, I got to see a different side of Russel, and I got to see him develop in every role he’s presented to have. I’m happy to say he becomes more assertive and surer of his choices than when he was first introduced in the book.

The only thing I personally could nitpick about is that the story really starts feeling slow in the last 100 pages or so. It’s already a slow-paced story with the fluff that is mixed in with the scenes that dedicate to moving the plot forward, but those last 100 pages brought a new level of slow for some reason.

I will also say this book really does depend on personal preference. While I enjoyed it immensely, I can also see how other people will not. For example, I said earlier that Russel isn’t exactly the most interesting main character, and you may not like that. There’s also a lot of fluff that doesn’t move the story forward, and you may also not like that. If you’re a parent or someone who has taken care of children before, you’ll probably really hate Russel for some of the things he does while taking care of London. While they probably weren’t done intentionally, they could still serve to be pretty irritating.

The book is also most definitely on the slower side of pace and lulls at one level of “excitement” for most of the book, so if you like your stories a bit faster and not as full of fluff, this book may not be for you. Finally, if you or a loved one has experienced cancer, this book delves pretty deep into how cancer can emotionally affect family members, so it may be triggering for you.

So, Two by Two rating:

4.5/5 and emotionally tired because I found this book more relatable than I thought I would. If you’re down with stories that are slower-paced, full of fluff, and just feel… real, then I recommend this book.

Thanks for reading!