My Review of Save Your Marriage in Five Minutes a Day

Save Your Marriage in Five Minutes a Day by Bonnie Jacobson and Alexia Paul is a book that offers "simple strategies to transform your relationship." I have to say that I was disappointed with this book as a whole. When I received it for review, I was looking forward to reading it and seeing what ideas were offered. Sadly, I felt like the book was lacking in depth and was somewhat unrealistic. It seemed to me that while the concepts of the "Say This" sections of the book were well meaning, it seemed that the way it was worded was how you would speak to your child, not your spouse. While I get the idea of approaching your spouse without blaming or accusing, I think you can obviously adopt your own way of speaking to the concept and have a conversation with your spouse that is non threatening.
Additionally, there were suggestions in the book that went against my personal beliefs. In one of the early chapters, a marriage is described in which the wife has affair. She, of course, later regrets the affair, however, she feels that she learned from it. In my opinion, it seemed that the affair was excusable, even though she regretted it, because she had learned from it. I also disagreed with the idea of viewing pornography together with your spouse. I don't feel that this is ever acceptable.
That being said, I did feel that there were some positive ideas in the book. The author gives some practical ideas of ways to communicate love to your spouse. There are many illustrations in the book of how couples have put the strategies to work and have seen success from them. The book is broken into helpful sections and addresses issues such as communication, children, physical and sexual relationships. I am not saying that every idea and suggestion in the book was a waste, I just didn't feel that there were any earth shattering revelations that we haven't all heard on any afternoon talk show. But admittedly, there were some practical thoughts. Having read many books on marriage and family, this one would not be at the top of my list. I would suggest anything by Dr. Kevin Leman or Dr. James Dobson. Overall, this book was not my favorite or one that I would ever suggest to anyone.
I was provided with a copy of this book from Book Sneeze in exchange for my review. I was not required to submit a positive review.