I found this to be very thought-provoking. I have gone back over it every 6 months to remind myself of techniques and continue my own personal improvement. I have also recommended it to several others. In fact, I've recommended it to young adults in the hopes of helping them have more meaningful relationships instead of just bouncing from one failed relationship to another. Those who have read it have contacted me again and we've continued to touch base, referring back to this book (and the app if they downloaded it) so that they can actively change how they communicate in the relationships that they value most. I definitely recommend this book.

The Balanced Relationship Barometer is just okay. I found it hard to follow, repetitive, and it makes a lot of references to the app that is available for this book. After searching for a while, I was able to find and download the app and found it actually more beneficial than the book. There are good guidelines at the end of each chapter in the book that I found helpful, but the main body of the book was not organized well. There are better relationship books out there, but the idea of "rating" your relationship has some pros and cons.

On one hand, I believe recording events that either bother you, or excite you, helps you better evaluate a relationship (especially if you can remember to catch the good as well as the bad...since we are more likely to focus on the bad events), however constantly "rating" your relationship could also become a little obsessive. Ultimately, I took a few things from the guidelines, and let the rest (including the app) go.