Best Day Ever

Our Review

Best day Ever by Kaira Rouda only took me a day to read but has stayed with me longer than that, mostly because I am unsure what I think about it. I suppose you could say it made me feel unsettled.

Best Day Ever is the story of a married couple set over the course of a day, a study of a marriage. This is a book centred around a single character because he demands that attention and no other character really ever stands a chance of getting your attention.

The book begins with Paul and Mia about to set off for a weekend away at their second home by a beautiful lake.

Paul has carefully planned everything to the point where he has even created a playlist for them to listen to on the journey, a playlist of her favourite songs.

It quickly becomes apparent to the reader that Paul is the only one enjoying himself on ‘the best day ever’ and that all is not as it seems.

Initially, Kaira Rouda ensure that the scene is set for readers to imagine an idyllic scene of a loving couple taking a romantic weekend break away from their children and from the stresses of everyday life.

“I glance at my wife as she climbs into the passenger seat, sunlight bouncing off her shiny blond hair like sparklers lit for the fourth of July, and I am bursting with confidence. Everything as it should be.”

When I first began reading Best Day Ever I thought Mia was a whinging and slightly ungrateful character in the face of all her husband’s effort and that Paul was a misogynistic pig with an inflated sense of his own worth. Whilst my opinion of Mia changed, my opinion of Paul did not.

The first big clue that Paul is not the man he paints himself as if when he is musing about what his wife knows about his character.

“I wonder if Mia thinks I have a dark side. Most likely, as far as she knows, I am just her dear loving husband.”

Paul’s general attitude from the beginning was one that seemed designed by Kaira Rouda to be irritating to any female readers. For example, when talking about cooking:

“Sometimes I’ll help throw something together, but usually Mia is in charge of meals, truth be told. Obviously this makes sense: she is the housewife.”

His attitudes towards the roles of men and women with in a relationship are clearly ones that most people would consider outdated. I can’t remember the last time I read a book where I wanted to punch a fictional character so much.

“Mia, when we first met, may have considered herself above me. She was a copywriter on the creative team and I was just a client services guy. Now she knows what’s what. It didn’t take too long for me to teach her how the world works.”

He believes she has no value outside of that which he gives her.

“At home these days, I am king of our castle and my queen needs to fall back in line. It’s a bit late for Mia to be contemplating finding herself. What could she possibly find that I don’t already provide?”

Paul becomes more and more contemptible the further you delve into the book.

I guessed most of the major twists in Best Day Ever before they happened but that didn’t lesson my enjoyment of the book.

Best Day Ever was a thrilling read.

Our Final Rating...

Thu, 3rd August 2017