The Theory of Opposites by Allison Winn Scotch

            Do we chart our own destinies or are we resigned to a life controlled by fate?  Willa’s Chandler-Golden’s father thinks he knows.  He has written a monumental bestseller called Is It Really Your Choice?  Why Your Entire Life Might Be Out of Your Control.  And Willa has always subconsciously lived by this code.  Life is simpler believing that the events that happen to you are predetermined, that you will end up in exactly the place that you were meant to be, and that choice is nearly irrelevant.

            Willa s married to a solid, stable man and has a great job.  The only messy thing in her life is her family.  Her author father is nearly as famous for his work as he is for throwing a fit when he lost the Nobel.  Her brother is off with a yogi, who has millions of fans and a devoted celebrity clientele.  Her other family members have their own issues as well.   But she can always count on her eggs-every-Sunday husband Shawn to be the rock that she needs—until he isn’t.

            When Willa loses her job at an advertising firm after being unable to come up with a winning adult diaper ad campaign, she is surprised to find out that her husband wants a break from marriage and is taking a job in another state.  Along with these issues, add to this her friend’s harebrained scheme to break Willa out of her rut.  The plan is to deliberately debunk Willa’s father’s theory about fate and see what happens when you take life by the horns and make deliberate decisions that counteract your natural desire to do nothing.             

            The Theory of Opposites was a fun book to read with a great message.  I loved the characters in the book.  They were well drawn and entertaining.  It was fascinating to watch Willa’s reluctant trip into taking responsibility for her own life.  When her first love reappears (despite Willa’s technically still married status), she struggles to decide what to do, and I was rooting her on to make a decision in line with who she wanted to be.  

            The plot flowed smoothly, but my one quibble is that I felt like I was constantly hit over the head with repetition about how Willa was living an inert life and how her father’s theories contributed to this.  Honestly, it felt like I was reminded of this on nearly every other page.  Those frequent references slogged down the story a bit for me and made the book less enjoyable.  I wished that an editor had pointed this out.

            As a chick lit book, The Theory of Opposites was fun with a great message.  While it would not make a list of my favorites and I think it could use some editing, it was an enjoyable read.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  Regina