A Story of Why We Can’t Love by Tango Ross (Review by Tamara Ward)

Rating:  3/5

The plot concerning four friends and their individual struggles is not a new one, but it tends to work because the friendship concept is a timeless one that can be explored in many different ways. When I first started the book, I was interested in how the author would be exploring the friendships of these women. Unfortunately, I was too distracted by the many inconsistencies in the writing format, as well as the character development. Some chapters jumped from first person to third person, and at times the author would talk directly to the reader in a somewhat defensive manner as if assuming the reader didn’t like something they were reading. At times I felt as if I was reading women’s fiction and then it would jump to erotic fiction out of nowhere. There is a certain underlying tone to erotic fiction that is evident from the very start of a novel of that genre. Explicit sex scenes out of nowhere with just one couple simply didn’t fit in the story.

I also had a hard time believing friends that have been close since they were in school would do some of the things they did to one another. Seducing a friend’s husband simply because she doesn’t like that you got back with an abusive ex and tells the other friends, doesn’t even make sense. None of them seemed to really trust or respect each other completely, and while it explained some of their behavior, it was difficult as the reader to know what character to cheer for. The main narrator, a psychiatrist, seemed to be incapable of helping her friends or herself. Knowing this was written by a man, I was concerned what his perception of women was at the time he wrote it.

Review by Tamara Ward