This was so fun and really amazing. I really enjoyed this title. The story was interesting and I learnt a lot from reading this story.

While I liked the set up and interesting format of this story, the actual plot fell a bit flat for me.

I loved the use of lists as a form of telling a story. As a perpetual list-maker myself, I like to think that the lists I keep say a lot about my life at any given time. At first, I wasn't sure I'd be able to totally connect with the story in this form, but I was wrong. There were a few moments where I wasn't completely able to follow why a particular list was included, but for the most part it did well to drive the plot along. There were also a lot of little phrases or lines that I related to so well, I wanted to add them to my own list of quotes.

Still, I didn't find the plot itself to be as interesting as it could have been. It seemed like nothing (but a lot of complaining and hiding) happened for the first two-thirds of the book and then the "major" event was dealt with in just a few pages. I wanted either more action or a deeper study of the characters. I wasn't sure if the protagonist was supposed to be as unlikeable as he was, because it seemed like he was supposed to be "redeemed" somehow, but I didn't feel invested enough to really care.

Twenty-One Truths about Love by Matthew Dicks. A new to me author. I didn't know what I would think of this book before starting it. A book done in Lists. It was a different way of reading a book but interesting. At times it was dragging but still a enjoyable book.

No. Just no. I didn't find the endless list fascinating or original. To me it was boring, tedious. By the middle of the book I just wanted it to be over. Great premise til you actually had to read it.

Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for providing me with the digital galley of this book, in exchange for my honest feedback!

When I read about Twenty-One Truths About Love, I was completely intrigued. An entire novel written completely in lists?? How can you do that? Well, Matthew Dicks did it, and it is incredible how he accomplished it. Initially, I was not sure I liked it... I have never read any book like it, and it was a little hard for me to understand where he was going at first. However, I am so glad I continued to read it. This is a creative, incredible, laugh out loud, fun page turner about the trials, tribulations and joys of Daniel Mayrock (who goes by Dan, not Danny - unless you are his father or his new friend Bill). Dan finds himself in a quandary, having quit his teaching job to open a book store, that is not making the money it needs to, for him to support himself and his wife. He also does not want to tell her, so he begins to think about creative ways to get more money. Very creative and sometimes crazy ways. In between working these ideas out, Dan reports on his day to day life in the form of lists, which was something he started when he was in therapy, as it was easier than journaling, but could then not stop. His lists encompass things like: "Comments made by Kimberly," one of his employees who he would like to fire, but cannot seem to get himself to do; "Problems with being the boss"; "Dan's Law's of the Universe"; "Jill's sentences before falling to sleep" (Jill is Dan's wife); and many many many more.... The lists build on themselves throughout the novel, so you see them change and develop as his life goes on over an 8 months period.

Through out my reading the novel (over the course of 3 days), I kept reading things out loud to my husband, who occasionally could see the humor and occasionally looked at me like I was crazy.... so I guess you need to read the book to understand just how funny and creative it is. This is a work of art, that will touch your heart, your funny bone, and your fascination with Dan's journey. I have never read anything by Matthew Dicks, but I will have to read the rest of his books, as he is truly brilliant!

What an incredibly unique format for a book.
The entire book is written as lists but it absolutely works.

Here’s my little list to describe the plot:
1) Daniel loves his wife more than anything
2) Daniel is not making enough money at his book shop
3) Daniel hasn’t told his wife Jill about the money problems yet
4) Daniel is reluctant to have a baby because he worries about the money
5) Daniel is reluctant to have a baby because his father left when he was a kid and it hurt him and makes him feel like he doesn’t know how to be a dad.
6) Jill just found out she was pregnant.
7) Jill was a widow when she met Daniel.
8) Daniel loves Jill so much that he worries that he could never be as good as her first husband.

How refreshing to read a book about a married couple that just really love each other. I feel like that’s a rare thing in a book these days. Their only real drama is that Daniel worries he’s not good enough for Jill and that leads to him keeping secrets about their money problems.

I enjoyed most of the lists.
I didn’t much enjoy a part of the story about how Daniel planned to make some fast money. That took away from my overall enjoyment cause it really was a very enjoyable story.

Also, I read an early edition from NetGalley. If the author or anyone in editing happens to read my notes, there’s an issue with the timeline and Daniel’s age. I’m not great at math but the birthdate, date the story is taking place in, and age of the character don’t align.
I’m assuming this will be worked out before this book is released. So my note is entirely on the early edition I read. I only mention it with the hope that it can be fixed.

It’s also worth noting that this book actually made me laugh out loud and tear up.

This book is all lists and I found it fascinating.

I found the way Daniel's mind worked in making lists of everything he could think of fascinating. When I started this book, I could not imagine where it was going and how the author would be able to tell a story through lists. But they did. Daniel grew as a person and you can see it in his lists. The plot unfolded through the lists. This was THE MOST UNIQUE BOOK I HAVE EVER READ and I loved it!!

I enjoy novels written using journal or diary entries which is what piqued my interest for Twenty-one Truths About Love. Author Matthew Dicks adds a new spin to this format using lists that the main character writes to himself instead and it worked well. This humorous novel follows Dan, who quit his job as a teacher to open a book store owner. However, the book store has not been profitable and by his calculations he and his wife will run out of money in nine months. To make matters worse, his wife doesn't know it. Rather than tell her, Dan comes up with an off-the-wall and risky scheme to gain quick money rather than tell his wife. What follows is an inside look at his insecurities about his looks, his intelligence, his leadership, ALL of his decisions, and his competition with his brother (who's alive) and his wife's first husband (who's not). All of these insecurities affect his decision making and as time is running out, he must gain confidence to pull off the scheme. The book keeps you guessing and on your toes wondering will he or won't he.

The book was a very easy read because of the list format. Because his list went from the mundane--monthly bills and shopping lists-- to the complex--Dan's Laws of the Universe, you really got to see an inside view of what makes him tick. You even got to hear from other characters through his lists when Dan would write down text messages received or comments other characters made during conversation.

Although I enjoyed the book, for some reason I never connected with the character. I didn't necessarily care about his outcome. In fact, as I was reading the book, I was okay with however the author decided to end it. Generally, being able to connect to a character, whether it is feeling empathy for them, despising them, or being elated about their happiness, is important to me. Yet, my not being able to connect with Dan did not take away from my enjoyment of the novel.

Lastly, one bonus I gained was unrelated to the story line which was the list Dan would include each month for suggested book picks for his book store customers. This gave me a list of several books I want to add to my reading list.

I recommend Twenty-one Truths About Love if you are looking for a lighthearted and humorous look into the complexities of one's mind.

When I started reading Twenty-one Truths about Love, I wasn’t a massive fan of it. I mean, a book that is told through lists. I was expecting to DNF it after the first chapter. Then a funny thing happened. I started to get involved with the book. I began to care about Dan. I wanted to know if he was going to carry out his crazy plan. I wanted to see if he would ever contact his father.

I liked Dan. He had his quirks (don’t we all) and was trying to do his best. He also had an excellent sense of humor. But, he was also insecure. He was jealous of his wife’s first husband, who seemed to be a saint. He felt that he couldn’t live up to his brother’s success. He was also the most affected by his mother’s affair, the divorce, and his father not contacting them again.

I laughed my butt off at his plan to get more money. It wasn’t what he was going to do. But it was how he went about doing it. I liked that he turned that episode into something he learned from.

The end of Twenty-one Truths About Love was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. I had a huge smile when the book ended. The book that I was sure I wouldn’t like ended up being a fantastic book!!

I would give Twenty-one Truths About Love an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I am on the fence if I would reread Twenty-one Truths About Love. I am on the fence if I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

I have enjoyed the other Matthew Dicks books I've read. I started this one and realized that without any descriptions I was having a hard time getting a sense of the characters. Characters are what appeals to me when I read and the same is true of many of my patrons. I do not recommend this book.

I enjoy good lists and think the idea of writing a book made up entirely of lists is genius. The author did a great job of creating well defined characters as well as suggesting a plot. The book fell short for me because I did not like most of the characters and also because it is short--a novella in lists instead of a novel. Did I like it? Mostly. Would I recommend it? Sparingly.

It’s hard to resist writing a review in the form of a list. This the earnest internal monologue of a man in crisis—Dan's quit his teaching job and opened a bookstore but it’s not doing well and he’s afraid to tell his wife. He’s insecure, has regrets, is counting down to financial ruin and Jill wants to have kids. Everything comes to a head as Jill becomes pregnant. You find out all of this through his lists—lists of things he hates, life lessons, books of the month, financial woes, and more. I went in to this with doubts about how it could work but the humor pulled me right in and the story emerged beautifully.

I thought it was an interesting idea, but it started to get boring. It was funny and first but it should have cut shorter in my opinion.

I have never read a book written in list format before. I was intrigued, and looking forward to it. It was a little disjointed at times, and a little disappointing as the main character, Daniel, was hard to love. I wanted to, I really did, but I think the list format hindered a connection with him - for me anyway.
This was a quick read, and enjoyable, but not anything deep. I took away a couple good quotes and enjoyed the pace, just would have liked a little more.
Thank you for the ARC

I got a kick out of this clever novel told in the form of lists. I got a good sense of the story and the voice of the main character even though there was little to no prose. There were times when I craved seeing more of the side characters and their point of view, but the entire story comes through the list-maker. But I still found this a really fun and original read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks. This is a book about Dan Mayrock’s life told in lists. Dan is married to Jill, who was married to Peter before, but he died. Dan has not talked to his father since his parents got divorced when he was a kid. And Dan makes lists; lists of truths, lists of goals, list of thoughts on certain events. He also keeps his own list of Laws of the Universe and monthly book picks for his book store A New Chapter.

It took a little bit to get used to just reading lists, but after reading through a few days it became easier. And by the end of the book, I thought it was a great way to write a book. There is no narrative, just the lists, but you really connect with Dan and what is going on in his life. I really enjoyed this book and the lists made it a quick read. Try it for something new and different and a cute story.

This book is an interesting concept as the entire book is made up of different lists. Somehow in that format we really do learn a lot about Dan’s life and the people in it. Unfortunately I found the book to be wildly inconsistent. At different points I found it laugh out loud funny but at others I wondered why the editor had fallen asleep on the job. There were far too many repetitive observations and paragraphs that we had seen before. These would be separate from the repetitive jokes that worked because it was part of a running commentary. Another big issue was Dan. As the star of the novel he needed to keep the reader engaged with his story but his narration swung too far to extremes. Dan was at his best when he was self-deprecating and allowing the reader to glimpse his funny observations of the world around him. Unfortunately far too often we were left with a holier than thou Dan which was out of place with his otherwise self-doubting and self-conscious self. I am assuming the author could not manage to leave out his own personal views and put in the rants against Christianity. The criticisms of Judaism felt good natured, mostly focused on foods, but the attack on Christianity felt unnecessarily angry. I found Dan funny when he contemplated ways out of his troubles but I found crossing that line, and finding it exhilarating, to be unpalatable. There is some wit and charm to be found here but it’s also weighed down with inconsistent and repetitive writing. Do not expect this too be lighthearted, in many ways there’s a lot of heavy stuff in this novel.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Dan is feeling inadequate in his life.. he feels like he isn't good enough for his wife, whom is still not completely over her widowed husband. Dan gave up his teaching job to pursue his life goal of owning a bookstore. He's running out of money, and his wife wants a child.. now. He begins writing lists to handle his life and stress.

Dan feels inadequate. He married a widow who treasures the memory of her first husband, He quit teaching to realize his dream of owning a bookstore. His father who abandoned him is trying to make contact. His wife wants a child; he doesn’t. He is running out of money. Life is swallowing him up. To survive and solve his dilemma, he turns to making lists which he hopes will allow him to vent and analyze his situation. His epistolary style invites the reader to share his hidden thoughts and desires. We accept his invitation and cringe and cheer each revelation. Matthew Dicks introduces us to a witty, self-deprecating character who realizes the importance of family and friends.

This is one of those books that you pick up, read a couple pages and go back to reading the meaty, full-length novel you recently got. The author has a wickedly keen sense of humor who lovingly jabs at his perfectionist wife. While being kind of funny at first; it rapidly gets old.
Long story short, this book nibbled on in small chunks is a delightful, off the wall, read. Read all at once not so good. I wish that a 2.5 star rating was possible.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.