I had to stop reading because of the negative way the characters made me feel. They seemed to feel so trapped by their marriage and did not want to put forth any effort to love one another. Would not recommend.

This book was enjoyable. I thought it ended a bit abruptly. But overall it was a good summer read. It brought to light a lot of issues with marriages and as a newlywed myself I enjoyed reading a book about someone my age and where I am in life.

There was so much to relate to in reading this book and a lot I couldn’t, but I tried to just read it at face value, suspending my own notions of marriage, having been in one for a very long time. I actually wound up enjoying this one and although I didn’t always like the characters much and their secret keeping and human foibles, I ultimately did enjoy the story very much.

What an amazing book! Whether you're looking for a light read or something with a little more grit, you'll find it in this book!

It's a story of love, marriage, secrets, and even loss. It has everything contemporary literature should have to keep you happy.

The book is separated into three acts. Act One: Together Act, Two: Intermission, where all the extra juicy stuff happens, and finally, Act Three: After

As I started the last Act, I started to get nervous. Without giving any details, suffice it to say, it's a great book that won't leave you disappointed in the least.

No rating - DNF

Unfortunately I could not get into this book at all. I picked it up because the blurb reminded me of one of my favorite books—Taylor Jenkins Reid's After I Do. Sadly this book didn't grab my attention. I'm not sure if it's because the characters were unlikeable or because of how it just felt very slow moving which made it very boring. I would have liked to give this new to me author a try but perhaps another book of hers in the future.

In The Intermission, a young couple bored with the staleness of their marriage, decide to temporarily separate in order to take a step back and reevaluate their relationship.
Cass, who is the one that proposes the time apart, casually labeled as The Intermission, knows that her husband Jonathan is still as much in love with her as ever, but is aware that she doesn't feel the same about him. For Jonathan, Cass' quirks and domestic shortcomings are part of what comes with marriage, but not a deal breaker.
After deciding to split for six months with shared custody of their dog, they both will learn that they've been hiding secrets from each other that have slowly eroded at their marriage. When all is said and done, Cass and Jonathan face the real possibility that their relationship will be forever changed.
With The Intermission, Friedland has cleverly and humorously turned a marriage inside out and spilled its contents for readers to peer inside and see if anything has remained.

The Intermission is classic women’s fiction - a genre where you can just sit back, relax and enjoy the drama. This story centers around Jonathan and Cass, who have been married for 5 years and like many couples have found their relationship waning. Friedland paints a realistic portrait of marriage, and of course includes a twist. That twist, that of an intermission, or a break in the the marriage. My issue is that I didn't find Cass or Jonathan or any of the supporting characters relatable. I think that all people in relationships dream of running away or a break (at least at some point) but not everyone does. I would have liked more about the SPOILER reconciliation, and a bit less about the intermission.

The Intermission was such a unique story for me - first, the characters were close in age to me and living in New York City and dining at some of my own choice restaurants and frequenting similar places - immediately I was drawn in by my ability to relate! It seems marriage "breaks" have been somewhat of a theme as of late, a la - The Arrangement, The Ever After - but what set this one aside from the others for me was that this was a child free couple - they didn't feel bogged down by life and overwhelmed by caring for others, and that is what made them unique to me and stand out. I really enjoyed the story of Cass and Jonathan and how secrets ate away at them over time. I really recommend this 4.5 star read!

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. Thank you for the book, which is now out.

I read this coming off another book with a very similar premise (Marriage Vacation) so I found myself getting the stories confused in my head. This one is told from both spouses’ perspectives and I found Cass to be very hard to relate to. That made this book hard for me. I think all married people fantasize about taking a break and running away but I wanted to know more about the coming back together part rather than just the being separated part. It was a fine read and well written but nothing that I’ll hold onto after doing this review.

"The Intermission" has a great premise. Jonathan and Cass Coyne have been happily married for 5 years and together for 6. They're at the top of their game professionally and are preparing to start a family.

However, they both have secrets from one another. Cass decides she can't go forward with having a baby unless she admits some long held secrets to Jonathan. She declares that they need an "intermission" - essentially a 6 month separation to figure out if they're really meant to be together.

This book really annoyed me. I wasn't huge fans of either character in the first place. I really wasn't rooting for their relationship regardless of what happened at the end. Also, the biggest "secret" of their relationship did not justify the intermission, so the whole plot was meaningless to me. 

Essentially, Jonathan believes their relationship was serendipitous: they spent one night bonding in college, which ended with a kiss, and then met years later on the street in Manhattan. However, he never realized that Cass carefully orchestrated both of those occasions after following him in college and after graduating carefully.

This doesn't seem like that big of a deal in the least, certainly not a reason to abandon your marriage. 

Anyway, Cass and Jonathan build separates lives on opposite coasts and learn new things about themselves and each other that will ultimately help them decide whether or not they should resume their marriage. 

I found this book slow, with unlikable characters and a far fetched premise.

This book was page turning, addictive, and difficult to put down. And yet, most of the time, I despised the two protagonists, a husband and wife who take a break from their marriage to see if they really belong together. What I realize now after the book ended is that the true antagonist in this book doesn’t seem to be each other, but marriage itself!

Casa and Jonathan have been married for about six years and realize that they are both harboring secrets from each other. In my opinion the secrets that they have been keeping from each other aren’t really earth shattering ones that should break up a marriage or cause so much strife. But for them, they cause an enormous amount of guilt and make them question whether they truly know each other or themselves.

So they take an intermission (an ode to the theater world because Cass works as a marketing expert for Broadway shows). Things spiral down from there, with both of them exploring other opportunities, and in some ways moving deeper into their lies and farther away from each other.

I won’t give away the ending. But I will let you know that it was satisfying in many respects.

The writing is very good. The story is raw, edgy, and modern. And yet, I know some people won’t like this book because marriage doesn’t come out looking very good at all. In fact, I sat there after finishing the book trying to think of one marriage in the book that is portrayed in a positive light and I couldn’t. Not one!

But despite that negative stance, this book is really damn good. It is a very tight story about two people and whether they are willing to take off their masks and truly see and love each other for who they are.

A good, light summer read exploring one couple's marriage. The Intermission is a clever title for the premise and the nod to Cass's Broadway career - and inherently implying the happy ending, a second act.

Barely 3 stars.

Meh! I started off quite liking The Intermission. But I quickly found myself scratching my head. Cass and Jonathan have been married for five years. They live in New York, are both having work troubles and wondering whether it’s time to have a baby. Then Cass panics and decides it’s time to have a relationship “intermission”. She moves to Los Angeles and he stays in New York. They meet every few weeks as they trade their dog back and forth. The story is told from their alternating points of view. There is a bit of a Sophie Kinsella feel to Friedland’s writing. I have room for lighter rom com type fiction every now and then, but this one didn’t really work for me. I found myself intensely disliking Cass. I could not figure out what was motivating her decisions and what type of person she was meant to be. There is one decision she makes that was particularly unappealing and cringe making. Jonathan didn’t make much more sense to me. And it felt so long... I’m sure there’s an audience for this lighthearted look at the vicissitudes of early married life, but I wish I had given it a pass. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

Why do all of the relationships I’ve been reading about lately involve two horrible people who deserve each other?

Cass and Jonathan have been together for 6 years and married for 5. They are just about to start trying for a baby, when Cass decides that she wants to take a break from their marriage. She is hiding a part of herself and feels as though her relationship with Jonathan has not been a truthful one. As a product of divorce, she deicdes that she would like to figure out their marriage and whether or not it will succeed before bringing children into the equation. Cass ends up moving to LA during their intermission, while Jonathan stays in New York, only meeting to exchange their dog cross-country.

First and foremost, Cass is a horrible person and I don’t know what Jonathan sees in her. She has major issues from her past, she is manipulative, controlling, a liar, and self-centered. While Jonathan isn’t exactly a 10/10 himself, he at least seems to be a slightly better person than Cass. At least, initially.

Cass’s biggest issue and reason for wanting an intermission is that Jonathan thinks that they were brought together by fate, when in reality she stalked him and planted herself exactly where he was going to be so that they could meet. Every time they celebrate their anniversary and he mentions fate bringing them together, she feels terrible for the lie their relationship is built on. In addition to that, she feels bored with her life and basically wants to feel desirable to men other than Jonathan, even if she won’t come flat out and say that.

Look, I get that she’s going through a bit of a mid-life crisis. Her boss/mentor has died recently, leaving her out of a job and a role model, and she’s about to change her life forever by starting a family. I understand her wanting to take an intermission to make sure that her marriage is what she wants it to be before bringing children into it. But she’s not being honest with herself about why she wants the intermission.

Cass and Jonathan also talk throughout their entire break. Like, she texts him about little things throughout the day. I’m sorry, but if you really want to figure out whether or not your life is better without the other one, you need to cut yourself off completely. I mean, they’re meeting once a month already to exchange their dog. They don’t need the daily texts.

The saving grace of this novel is the writing. It was an easy read and I did find myself wanting to read and find out what was going to happen to Cass and Jonathan. Even though I didn’t like either of them, I was invested. It’s not necessarily a page turner, but it is a good book that you can read continually but put down at any moment, making it a good beach read just like I thought it would be.

This book isn’t bad. The story is interesting and I think it would make a fun book club read. Not only to discuss the itnricies of relationships, but also prompt a lot of discussion about the dislike of the characters and their immaturities. Unfortunately, Taylor Jenkins Reid has a similar book, After I Do, that I feel plays out their type of storyline much better. If you like a little bit more grittiness and unlikeable characters, I would recommend reading The Intermission. If you prefer a more likeable story and characters, I would recommend After I Do instead.

I liked the premise of the book and did end up finishing the novel though I found the story line dragged. The beginning and ending were fine but the inbetween was a slog. Both characters were unlikable for me and the "secrets" that were being kept by Cass and Johnathan were a bit lame in my opinion. Unfortunately, I don't think I'd read another Elyssa Freidland novel. Thank you for the advanced reader copy.

The idea of this book is so good, but the actuality is that I didn't even finish this book because I got bored super quick. I believe I get to the second part before I put it down for good. There was nothing to this book, everything that was said in the first part was filler, and then all of a sudden Cass wanted to separate for some random reason. Just not into this book, which is disappointing.

I did not finish this book. It wasn't working for me for a number of reasons.

1. Overuse of simile. Sometimes more than one a page. It started to feel like those old school pulpy noir novels but that's certainly the wrong tone for this content.
2. Telling instead of showing. Where I like the idea of alternating pov chapters for the two people in the marriage, the first section had the feeling of two unlikable people (more on that later) giving monologues on how they've been wronged. Never their fault, always a lot to say about it.
3. Showing thought processes of mundane thoughts but major events come out of left field without any warning to the reader. Rather than spur me onward, I found this so annoying. When she just decides to separate and we haven't seen any evidence that she's even thinking about that, yet we've had to endure pages and pages of her thoughts about babies and varicose veins ... I felt like I was missing all the good stuff.
4. Both protagonists - so unlikeable.

Some of these protests are the novel not working for me, while others I feel are universal problems with the writing.

The Intermission has a very interesting concept for a book. Cass and Jon have been married for five years and at this point they each have a growing pile of grievances against each other, basically things that people who are married for the long haul end up overlooking. Cass decides that they need to take a break, or rather an intermission to see where they stand.
I found Cass rather annoying. What was she thinking her marriage vows meant when she gets upset about the way Jon loads the dishwasher?
That being said, I still enjoyed the light, easy style of this book.
I received an Advance Review Copy. All opinions are my own.

I like the idea of this book. The idea that marriage can get hum-drum boring is not a new idea. I am happily married and there are times that we have to shake it up some. That is what Cass wants to do. She needs to make sure that she is happy with her life before starting a family and committing to the rest of her life with Jonathan. Do I agree with her way? Nope, not even a little but I respect that she doesn’t want to start a family and then tear it apart if she is that unhappy that she cannot stay with her husband.

The book is divided into three parts with alternating chapters between Cass and Jonathan. There were quite a bit of repetitive thoughts, a lot of talking about what might happen, what could happen, what should happen but yet not much happen. I struggle to connect with anyone in the story. Cass seemed to want the separation but then didn’t want Jonathan to find any happiness without her. Jonathan was a pushover. He couldn’t make Cass stay but yet gave in to every request she made without pushing for what he wanted.

The premise of the story was interesting and the ending was predictable. I couldn’t not finish the book once I started reading because I had to know if Cass and Jonathan actually ended up together but it was slow reading for me.

Taking a Break from Marriage

Cass and Jonathan appear to have everything in a marriage: good jobs, financial security, and a lovely New York apartment. They’ve been married five years and are discussing whether to have children, but Cass isn’t so sure they’re ready. Her childhood, divorced parents and financial insecurity, have something to do with it. She suggests a six month separation to test their commitment.

Jonathan is surprised. Cass can be irritating, but he loves her. His wealthy family has given him more security, but in the end he agrees with Cass. She takes a job in Los Angeles. This puts them a continent apart the only real contact when they fly their dog back and forth for joint custody.

I wasn’t impressed with either Cass or Jonathan. I thought she was selfish. Marriage isn’t easy. You have to try to communicate. Putting distance between you and your partner only leads to more problems. I liked Jonathan better. He seemed the more balanced of the two. His marriage wasn’t perfect, but he felt comfortable and didn’t want to change things. Both partners made regrettable choices when they were apart.

Their story is told in alternating points of view which gives insight into each partner’s good and bad qualities. The novel is character driven with a thin plot. However, it’s a fast read and would make a good book to take on a vacation.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.