This story is about a woman called Allie who is 32-years old. She is the mother of two young children whose solid husband has recently walked out on her for reasons that remain ill-defined throughout the story. Allie’s life has been greatly shaped by her own mother’s abandonment. When Allie was just four years old, her mother left and never came back. Her and her two brothers were raised by an emotionally absent and largely uncommunicative father.

The story moves back and forth between Allie’s college years with her tightknit group of female friends along with her relationship with her high school sweetheart cum husband Dana, and present day, the year 2000-2001 where Allie regularly journals to piece together the path her life has taken. Her friends are still very much in the picture and the story is about their lives as well. There are plenty of secrets and drama as the chapters ping back and forth to cover the lives of the four women and the men they love.

Themes such as long term relationships, marriage, friendship, infidelity, date-rape, and suicide are ambitiously covered, sometimes well, though there is a lot going on at once. The author did a good job of tying up the story for each of the women and not leaving loose ends however, the tidiness of the ending belies the chaotic nature of life. The novel struggles to find a place to settle. Overall, it is a quick and entertaining read, nothing that will leave a lasting impression but a decent choice for a lazy summer day.

BRB Rating: Read It.

Thank you to NetGalley, Karyn Bristol and AuthorBuzz for this ARC.

I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would. When I read the book description, I thought the story would focus more on Allie. The other three women should have been more background characters, and we should've learned more about Allie and Dana.

It was a decent enough story, but I thought it could've been better.

This is a story about four friends who met in college- learning to live life through the ups and downs. It's a story about relationships and new beginnings. The story is told through multiple points of view which is easy to follow and helps keep the story interesting. The characters are relatable as they go through different phases of their lives- college, break ups, marriages, babies and so on. It was a bit of a long story however, I felt like it could keep going and we could learn a little bit more about each of the characters. Thank you to Netgalley and AuthorBuzz for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book by #Netgalley for an honest review. I don't normally read women's fiction, and even though the beginning I'd somewhat found it confusing but the more I read the better it became. But it wasn't one of those books you can't put down. By the end of this book I felt like it would never end. This story follows four women that bonded in college and go thru the changes of life together. It covers a rape,an abortion, drugs, life alternating as they go thru relationship. I would not recommend this book to anyone that doesn't like women's fiction

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book follows four college friends through life and relationships. It was slow for me. Plus, I kind of felt like I was only getting part of the story. I don't really feel like I got connected to the characters. It could be just a relatable thing, and others may find themselves engrossed in this story. I believe it can find an audience.

This is a story about four friends view of living life. Allie is plagued with the disappearance of her mother years ago and as a result lived life as one big party although they have changed as has her life. It centers around the drama of these friends and how they overcome them with good-fellowship. I voluntarily agreed to receive an ARC of this book for an honest review.

Interesting and insightful story about four friends and relationships. It was very entertaining and I was glad to be introduced to this author.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

⭐️Book Review ⭐️
The Truth is a Theory by Karyn Bristol
4/5 Stars

**I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

Love a book with different points of view. Easy to follow and keeps it interesting. Touches on how past can shape us, perception, married life and friendship. It will have you laughing, crying and wanting more.

Allie, Meghan , Tess and Zoe went to school together. They meet in the fall of 1986 at Erickson College their Freshman year. The ‘real story’ begins fifteen years later. The storyline then follows them from them through mid-adult years.

We have journaling Allie (we are told her life in 3rd person), sincere Meghan, timid Tess, and outgoing Zoe. It navigates the twists, turns of life, love and friendship for each of them. We follow romance and some interesting suspense along the way as well. The story touches on the awkward frat parties, college dating and early years of marriage. It also hits the more serious illnesses and long friendship conversations.

It’s a perfect beach or vacation read.

So good! This isn't just a book about four friends. It is a book about relationships - relationships with friends, parents, spouses and friend's spouses. It's about truth - what is truth? Why is my truth so different than my friend's or partner's truth? It's about the ups and downs, hurt and forgiveness, grief and elation of childhood, marriage, friendships and life. It's about being vulnerable within relationships.

At moments the switching of time periods confused me; when that happens, just keep reading as the author will brilliantly drop in a detail that identifies the time period and brings it all back into focus.

I read this while on a fantastic active vacation yet I always looked forward to getting back to my book. It reminded me a bit of Thomas Wolfe's books.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an early release in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I received a ARC through NetGalley after publication. It was listed as 'Read Now'. I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. I loved the fact that it was about college friendship. However, the chapters were too long, and I found myself losing interest often.

The Truth is a Theory…
…Life is a theory. That’s what I kept thinking, in the moments after this compelling book ended and I tried to leave its haunting pages and get back to my real life. Author Karyn Bristol has written a provocative, and evocative book. Other reviewers have also used the word “introspective” to describe the story. This book makes you think, ponder and look at life from the inside-out.

“It’s a rare thing to truly understand another person’s experience.”

And even our own stories are hard to understand and process, aren’t they? “We alone decide their significance. Is it a paragraph or the whole story?”

This book tells us the stories of four young women who meet their first week of college and become friends. Their stories begin September 1986: Erikson College, Freshman Year.

The book actually begins fifteen years after that first week, with Allie’s Journal Entry #1 Saturday Night, June 10, 2000. Allie’s husband Dana has left her and their two children.

Allie looks at her life through periodic journal entries, and we are told her current life in the third-person. We also follow her and her friends through third-person flashbacks that progress from the 1970’s and ‘80’s to 2001. I had no problem following all the storylines.

The four friends are like the friends we all had in college or when we first married, there’s sincere Meghan, shy Tess, and the exotic and larger-than life Zoe. Allie seems straight-forward until we learn about her childhood. Do you remember the ups and downs of college and dating, the early years of marriage and young children? Did you feel awkward at frat parties, or did you hit the bars every night after work? What about your family? Were you from an All-American family or a family that struggled with issues? Did you and your spouse change after marriage? Was life challenging , did you have to face serious problems such as illness? And if you can relate to these scenarios, did you also need your friends to discuss life with, long conversations to help you anchor yourself? That’s what this book is about.

“She was a failure: a wretched daughter, a witch of a mother.”

“He had been so careless with her, with the one person in his life who didn’t expect him to be anything other than who he was.

Journal Entry #13, July 11, 2001 is Allie’s last entry of the book. The friends have gathered for a vacation. Fifteen years have passed and there have been enough stories now to form a foundation for their lives. I wonder if the author ended the book so close to September 11, 2001, to show us that sometimes are own stories are swept away by a life-changing story.

I highly recommend this book. If you can’t wait to call your friends and talk, if you lay awake at night and think about your life- that’s what this book is about.

Thanks to Net Galley and AuthorBuzz for a digital review copy. This is my honest review.

Publisher's Description: How do you define the truth? Is it what you see? Is it what you are told by a beloved partner, a best friend, a trusted parent? Is it the whispers you hear in the halls of your life?

Allie, Megan, Zoe, and Tess have the kind of life-long friendship that can handle the rapid-fire banter of dates and deadlines, and the slow-motion tears of heartbreak. Even so, they have secrets. And parts of their lives that even they don’t want to think about.

Allie is a master at shutting out parts of her life. She’s had a lot of practice; her mother walked out on her when she was four and was never heard from again. Allie survived by becoming the toast of the party--any party--and never looking back. But as a thirty-two-year-old mother of two, parties have morphed into playdates and the closest she gets to Dom Pérignon is watered-down Mott’s. When her husband storms out, growling “figure out what you want”, she realizes she has no idea. And she knows that she can’t move forward until she pries open the lid on her past, on the truth about what happened to her mother.

As Allie tries to piece her life together, her crutch is her treasured circle of friends. Until their own lives begin to fracture with the heartbreak of date rape, alcoholism, and infidelity.

As all four women struggle with what life has thrown at them, they wonder, if you ever find the truth, does it heal or destroy you?
**********
Allie Sexton is the central character in Karyn Bristol's "The Truth is a Theory." I expected the book to center more around Allie and Dana because it begins with Dana walking out and Allie's first journal entry. Each chapter then unfolds with a journal entry told in the first person by Allie, which morphs into stories from her past (starting from college) told in the third person and including pieces of the lives of her three best friends Megan, Zoe, and Tess. Through the course of the book, which covers a 10-year time span, we really learn all of their stories -- the things they share with each other as well as the things they choose not to share.

What I liked most about the book: I liked the way the stories of the four women stayed linked, regardless of where they were in their lives. I was able to appreciate the ways their relationships developed and unfolded and the way all of them, especially Allie, come to realize that two people living the same truth might still experience it differently. I especially liked the way the book came full circle. We meet all of them in college at the beginning, and the book ends with all of them in a nice wrap-up.

What I didn't like (and what knocked down a star): This was a long period of time to cover for four people. There were a lot of holes that weren't filled in. They didn't detract from the story development. There are just things I would have liked to know -- how Dana and Allie got together in the first place, what was their breaking point. We got a lot of information on all of the characters, but by necessity, there was a lot that had to be left out. The other thing that brought it down is that as I neared the end of the book, I was really afraid that it was going to end on a really sour note. Relationships are hard. Life is hard. And we were experiencing the hardships of four women over a long period of time. It got depressing at times, and it was hard for me to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm truly glad that I wasn't throwing my Kindle at the wall at the end, but I still feel like it took a really emotional toll.

Pick this one up, but understand going in that you'll want to be emotionally ready for something that can be really heartbreaking at times.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I admire the skill it takes to tell a story from multiple viewpoints with shifting time frames over a span of 20 years and I loved the nostalgia factor. “The Truth is a Theory” is a story of lifelong female friendships (and in some cases, frenemyships), growing up and all of the joys, sorrows and imperfections of life.
I would recommend this book.

Karyn Bristol's writing is nothing short of brilliant. It has been a while since I've read a book where I've so frequently stopped, re-read the paragraph, and reflected. The plot itself is lovely, heartbreaking, and interesting. I yearned to pick up my book each night and join the character's journey.

Four very different girls become women and navigate their friendships from childhood to adulthood in this novel. Each woman has her own secrets, Allie is the focus and is trying her best to navigate marriage and children. She has abandonment issues that stem from her childhood and, when her husband leaves her, she knows she has to face her truth and hope that she can depend on her 3 BFFs.
I enjoyed this book! I think all women will be able to see themselves in one of the characters which makes the read that much more engaging. Overall it was a great vacation book that I finished in a few days!
Thanks to Karyn Bristol, AuthorBuzz /Wooden Dock Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this enjoyable book!

The Truth is a Theory follows four women, from college on, as they figure out life's many stages. We have Allie, who is trying to navigate marriage with young children. Zoe, a perpetual bachelorette who can't seem to get over her college boyfriend, who is married to Tess. Tess is meek and a bit subservient, and we have Megan, who is at the beginning of a relationship that might go somewhere, yet she isn't sure.

I didn't feel that I got to know any of the characters particularly well outside of Allie. I had a sense that Megan shouldn't have gotten married because she was on the fence about it, but the next moment that time jumped, she was married and pregnant. Zoe seemed a bit conniving in her undercutting of Tess (even though Tess's relationship came about by less than stellar means). If I was underwhelmed by any character it was definitely Tess who didn't stand out at all (which was clearly where the author was going with her).

The Truth is a Theory felt like a typical "girlfriends" novel in portraying the various stages of relationships. It was well-written and easy to read. Bristol did a great job in portraying the roles the women were meant to have shown us. Well done.

Thank you netgalley for this arcThis is a story about four friends: their public personas and their private lives. I found it to be very interesting and entertaining. If you like Liane Moriarty’s writing style, I think you will enjoy this book. It kept me interested from the first chapter.

Title: The Truth is a Theory
Author: Karyn Bristol
Publisher: AuthorBuzz AuthorBuzz
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:

"The Truth is a Theory" by Karyn Bristol

My Rationalization:

I thought this was an interesting story of four young ladies meeting in college and this author presents the reader with a story of just goes all the way into there adulthood. Yes, I will say it will quite a ride as the reader will learn so much about there various issues that Allie, Megan, Zoe, and Tess lived there lives, loved and trusted each other. Seeing these friends intertwined with each other along with their husband, boyfriends and lovers was quite an interesting read. Be ready for a little bit of it all from 'secrets, multiple relationships, friendships, laughter, tears, betrayal, rape, deceit, heartache, reconciliations, to redemption.'

This author did a good job of letting the reader see the realities of what marriage truly was all about and definitely showing how important communication was indeed needed. It was beautiful seeing the growth and strength that each one of the characters processed by the end of the story and definitely seeing 'The Truth is a Theory' as it was for these friends.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. It seemed all over the place. I love books about friends. I was just so confused.

The complexity of the story and the psychological implications of friendship was beautifully written and holds true. In each character, a reader could certainly identify with the struggles and emotions of holding it together even when relationships and children are taxing. I really enjoyed the container theory. Very well done.