Wednesday Review: Mancode Exposed

I know, even the title is pretty catchy! I received a free PDF of this from the author via Goddess Fish Promotions for the specific purpose of reviewing it. My first question is: How can you expose the man code in a mere 46 pages?

Here's the blurb Rachel sent along with the book:

 I'm over forty. I don't have a blankie. I have vodka.
 I'm no 'ologist.' I don't give advice. If that's what you're looking for, go buy Dr. Somebody's book.
 I write about men, women, sex, & chocolate. My experiences, my truth, my martinis.
 *Note: Thompson employs hashtags (i.e., the # sign) in her work. Google it. These are not typos, people #deargod.


Here's my review:
Not exactly a book one reads from beginning to end, this read more like a series of one-liners. Funny, sometimes dead on one-liners, but not exactly a narrative. Wow, that sounds very librarian of me!


When I received this book, I figured it would be funny (it was!), snarky (oh definitely), and, based on the warning if nothing else interesting.

Mancode: Exposed has sex in it. If that offends you, move along. It’s sarcastic and snarky. If your sensibilities run toward the conservative, you might not want to read any farther. (Pssst: I also throw in the occasional well-placed curse word or two.)

As I read, I realized what the book reminded me of: a Twitter conversation. And one with her husband, though she did stress that in the beginning that this book was about her.

What this book is truly about: me, exposing my beliefs, experiences, and thoughts on men and women. Stripping off the pretense of stereotypes, undressing myself for your reading pleasure.

Now, was this intentional? Possible, it’s also possible Ms. Thompson thinks and speaks in one-liners, I don’t know.

That said, I admit to chuckling over certain aspects, as I, too, am a fan of the witty one-liner. And I adore Twitter, as anyone know knows me will attest. However, I found the random hashtags (#) mildly annoying and intrusive.

Half-way through the book, the stereotypes that annoyed me so and were seemingly prevalent throughout Mancode Exposed were really the surface and only by reading further and deeper into the words themselves, did you truly get the book. At least I hope that’s the case! If not…well, let’s not go there. But let’s hope all the surface snark was to show what truly lurked beneath.

All in all, 4 of 5 stars. I’m not sure how much man code exposure she did, but she had me chuckling and cringing throughout, and some of the topics she touched on were at the core of what marriage is really all about.