Selina

It's a bit of a cheat to say I finished this book - I had to put it down towards the end. One of the first in my attempt to read more nonfiction, one recommended by a friend.

I found the first two chapters informative and interesting, packed with reviews of (albeit sometimes questionable) studies and interviews. One such part discussed how birthrates have oscillated throughout history.

Towards the middle of the book and to the point where I gave in, the writing becomes focused on anecdotes of people who have decided not to have kids and why and how they still somehow manage to find fulfilment without children in their lives (shock horror! who knew such a thing was possible).

At this point, the value I was gaining from the book swiftly vanished. If you are someone who doesn't want kids, I think you may find a form of validation in this.

As that is not my case and I was more-so reading to gain new perspective, I found it self-gratifying to a grating extent. I think it would be equally distasteful to read of people talking about their reasons for having kids. Simply put, I don't care.

This is the first book in a while that has made me want to write down a review though (even if it is just me complaining)- so that's something.

To start I have to say that I did not manage to finish this book, I probably went through the first two or three chapters and then just couldn't continue. It's not the usual thing I read, whereas younger me who lived her life on wattpad would've probably loved it, i received it as a gift and felt like I had to give it a shot.

To put it simply, the reason I did not like this book is that I could not stand any of the main characters, and I've read books with unlikeable protagonists before. In E&P there just wasn't anything compelling me to read on. It's that one book you have to put down because you simply could not care less about the story or the characters.

The writing is easy and enjoyable to read, I'll give it that. To me it seems more like something that belongs on wattpad. (No offence to wattpad writers- I've read some great books on there)

Anyways that's my 2 cents