Cover Image: Campaign Widows

Campaign Widows

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Member Reviews

I really enjoyed this book, and think the comparison to a cross between Sex and the City and West Wing is accurate. I like that the "campaign widows" become friends, and I enjoyed the variety of careers and roles in the campaign cycle each character had. I also have a deep love for Washington D.C., so I loved the setting of the book and could easily picture the scenes being described.

I first heard this book recommended by Annie B. Jones on either her Instagram stories or the podcast for her bookstore and knew right away that I needed to read this. I was not disappointed!

This fictionalized version of the 2016 election cycle felt endearing and humorous and tame compared to the way that election actually played out. Even the outrageous characterizations and claims made by candidates felt small by comparison! There were however some similarities that made it feel a little too close to how things actually played out.

I loved that some of the characters felt based on real people, and others just felt like friends I've known or acquaintances I have that live and work in the beltway. Cady is endearing and I want to be her friend. Birdie is a force to reckoned with. Reagan felt like so many of my friends and I loved her sharp sense of humor; add to that her role of speechwriter and she had the job I thought I wanted in college! Jay was willing to fight for what he believed in at work and Madison came across as a sincere and true friend, someone who unconventional, would make an amazing first lady, even if she didn't want the job. These characters were one of my favorite ensembles I've read about recently, and I genuinely enjoyed all of them!

If you enjoy books about friendship, complicated relationships, and that read like a great scripted show on HBO or the CW, then this is the book for you. Yes, politics is it's own character, but while it is the backdrop for this book, it isn't divisive or distracting.

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This was a really good story about how 3 people whose spouses or significant others get caught up in a Presidential campaign and how they cope with the absence of those people in their lives.

The friendships that developed in this book were great and I loved the different points of view and was imagining while reading just how I'd cope or not cope, as the case may be.

This is my first book by this author, but I'll definitely be looking for more by her. She told the "inside story" of how these people got pulled into the campaign and how the people at home also got pulled in and how they all coped. She did a great job not making it about politics, but keeping it about personalities, which I appreciated.

Check out this book. You won't be sorry! Thanks to the author, the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC.

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Campaign Widows
Aimee Agresti
Available: May 22, 2018

Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Political fluff!!! Even though American politics are a joke for either party these days, Campaign Widows is a light, romantic, funny romp through the election process through the eyes and minds of the people the people behind the candidates leave behind. Is it Primary Colors ? Thank heavens – no!
What I loved: Reagan was my favorite character out of the 5 “widows”. Her take on parenting mirrors my own and she seemed to have found a pretty good balance of work and family life. Her twins are hell on wheels and will someday be the strong women Reagan hopes them to be.
What I didn’t love: I was so confused on the different candidates – outside of Jay and Parker I couldn’t really keep the men straight in the book. I was also confused about Birdie’s role – is she a party planner extrodinaire? A fundraising machine? Some behind the scenes political dynamo?
What I learned: I need to go to the butterly exhibit in DC.
Overall Grade: B

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