Customer Reviews

Divorce Sucks: What to do when irreconcilable differences, lawyer fees, and your ex's Hollywood wife make you miserable

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Instead of a trashy tell-all, the author has written a very good, witty guide to getting through the 'divorce cruise' intact, and starting life on the other side. There are a few snippets about Tori Spelling, but she has definitely taken the high road in this book.
Mary Jo has proven herself a class act.

Would suggest this for anyone going through a divorce.

I will admit that my interest in this book was triggered by the gossipy stories written about the author's husband and Tori Spelling, as well as the short story that Mary Jo Eustace wrote in "The Other Woman." Yes, you'll get some scoop about what happened - from the wronged party this time - but the book is much more than that. This is really a self-help book that is intertwined with a thoughtful, candid and sometimes gut-wrenching memoir about the author's journey through her own experience of divorce and recovery. She handles the topic with grace and humor, at times baring her soul about some of the worst moments she endured and how she found the strength to pick herself up and move on to a better life. Topics such as what to think about when choosing an attorney, how to handle the disclosures to your own children, navigate the waters with your ex-spouse (and, if it applies, your "replacement") and move on with a man who may or may not have an ex and children of his own are all covered. Much of the advice is common sense, but as anyone who has gone through this process knows, common sense goes out the window when your emotions are in tatters, and hearing from someone who has been there, survived and thrived is really invaluable.

While the author was fairly classy and pretty restrained when discussing her ex, Dean McDermott, and Tori Spelling, you can't help but feel some level of disgust for both of them after reading this book, and it makes Tori Spelling's version of the story (if you've read it) seem pretty nauseating in contrast. I mean, what can you think about a man who introduces his child to his new girlfriend two weeks after abruptly leaving his wife, and then lies to his child about the nature of the relationship? But I digress...whether you have been through a divorce and are looking for inspiration or whether you are more interested in the individuals involved in this story, you will not be disappointed in this book and you will be very impressed with the amazing woman who wrote it.

I loved this book. OK, admittedly I've never been a fan of Tori Spelling, but any way you slice it, what she did to this woman and her family was wrong. This woman has a right to speak her mind and tell her side of things. The one I feel sorriest for is Mary Jo's& Dean's son. Spelling acts like he doesn't exist and that is perhaps her worst crime. For any woman who has ever been dumped for another woman, this book will speak to you. I highly recommend this book.

Fantastic book - I loved every page !!

I see there have been some complaints that it is not juicy enough and I for one respected the author even more for that.

This book is a real journey through divorce, beautifully written and extremely helpful and inspiring to anyone making serious life changes. She tells elements of her story with class and humor using her experiences to help and guide the reader through.

I am sure Ms. Eustace could have opted to dish and sling mud - but for readers of this book who will use it for years to come, we are grateful that she did not. Imagine someone taking the high road and not smearing her ex husband's name for perhaps the sake of her children - what nerve!!!

I would highly recommend Divorce Sucks as a self help book or an entertaining and fun read. To me it was the perfect combination of both!

I, too, thought this would be a tell-all about Tori Spelling and how she broke up Mary Jo's marriage. That is why I got the book, but instead it was about coping with divorce. So I thought, okay, I'll read about what to do should my marriage ever break up, but I was disappointed there too. Rather than a serious examination of what most women go through regarding the practicalities or emotional aspects of this devastating occurrence, she writes in this "cutsey" look-what-happened-to-me-isn't-it-funny, kind of style, which I found annoying. It almost seems as though divorce really isn't much of anything at all. In fact, at one point she advocates prowling the bars to find sleeping around partners as a lighthearted physical release. Doesn't she know that in 2010 with all the diseases and crazies out there how dangerous this could be???? As a woman with young children who may eventually read this trash, well, frankly I'm dismayed she would put this advice in black and white.

Other than that, the advice she gives are things that have probably been written about in every other "divorce manual" ever published. Advice such as taking time for yourself and finding a good attorney your own mother has already told you about anyway if you hadn't thought of it yourself, and other such obvious activities. So there really isn't anything new or fresh in this book.

Having said that, however, I love watching Mary Jo Eustace on the talk show circuit discussing infidelity. She is intelligent, articulate, and well spoken, not to mention very beautiful (I love that hair!!). I think that is why I was so disappointed in the book. Because this is a woman with such wonderful talent and capabilities, and who I'm sure will accomplish great things with her career, I thought the book would be a little more thought provoking.

Mary Jo Eustace's book was frighteningly realistic to me - it was as if she had been in my house as I went through every single aspect she described (and pretty much in the same order!). Her strength, humor and optimism helped me get through the shock, devastation, and rebuilding process. And it made no difference that a famous woman "stole" her husband, that was hardly part of the equation for me - she felt what I felt!!!

I have to be honest. I selected this book thinking that it was going to be Mary Jo Eustace's version of what happened during her infamous split from Dean McDermott, when he left her for Tori Spelling. Trashy, I know. But I thought maybe a light, gossipy book would be a nice change.

Divorce Sucks, despite it's somewhat lighthearted, joking (and yet all too true) title, is a tell-all but not of the gossipy variety. Instead, Ms. Eustace shares what it's like to be over 40 and facing an unexpected and sudden divorce. Add to that the celebrity factor (Ms. Eustace was somewhat of a local celebrity in her native Canada, along with ex-husband McDermott, with Tori Spelling bringing the tabloids and entertainment news into what should have been a very personal family matter), two children (one of whom was an infant that had been adopted a mere three weeks before McDermott left) and a very recent relocation to Los Angeles, where Ms. Eustace had no ties, no employment and no roots. Hmm, yes, I think the title might be fairly accurate.

I'll get this out of the way right now. I have watched Spelling and McDermott's reality television show. While I didn't and don't like how their relationship came about, I must admit that their program has been entertaining. Mary Jo Eustace, however, was somewhat of a mystery - - the "first wife", rarely mentioned in the media during the highly publicized split, other than in brief passing or reported as being McDermott's "older" former wife (a fact that Ms. Eustace jokes about during the course of her book). Divorce Sucks proved to me that Mary Jo Eustace has a wonderful personality and pokes fun at herself in order to provide somewhat of a "how to" survive divorce and come through it with your emotional and mental health intact.

Despite the book not being the gossipy froth I had originally thought, and not going through a divorce myself, I enjoyed the book. I found Mary Jo Eustace to be down to earth and relatable. She sells the book, thanks to her witty writing and ability to be humble. She admits to feeling sorry for herself and says "hey, it's okay". She admits to wearing the same shirt for months on end during her woe-is-me period. She admits to feeling uncomfortable and out of sorts at being the only single gal at get-togethers with couples and wonders who exactly gets custody of the joint friends when you and your husband split up. She talks about navigating the unknown waters of the dating pool as a single mother as well as going back to work to support herself and her children. While McDermott and Spelling are mentioned, Ms. Eustace stays away from the low-blows and name-calling and focuses instead on how to get over and get beyond.

Bottom line, even though I don't need the divorce advice for myself, I would enjoy sitting down over a glass of wine or a manicure to chat with Mary Jo Eustace. Any reader looking for advice on how to deal emotionally with a divorce will benefit from her book, just as any reader looking for a book written in a chatty, comfy BFF style will enjoy picking this one up.

I got married when I was 20 to a guy that I thought I knew. It turns out that the guy I was marrying and the guy I was married to were totally different people. Divorcing him was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. But, in the end, I wouldn't change it even if I could. I've learned that rough patches can be horrible but they also have the ability to change you for the better. I'm now married to a man who truly loves me and treats me right. I took what happened in my past and tried to make a better life for myself. So far, so good!

I found this book to be extremely helpful in processing emotions. Sometimes when you're down you don't realize that other people have felt the same way you do. It's nice to have a friend to turn to or in my case, a book to turn to.

This book is NOT a bitter tell-all. It is this woman's personal story of how she got through the crisis of the worst kind of betrayal a woman can experience. Very helpful advice given as a coach would give to an athlete to get them back in the game. She helps us to laugh at things that are painful in order to take a step back and look at the big picture so that we can move on. I liked it much more than I thought I would.

On the promise of a "tell-all" and an "inside look at one of today's most sensational breakups" the book delivers virtually nothing. Written in a bitterly-laughing-through-my-pain style that quickly becomes annoying, progresses to irritating, and ultimately is just boringly repetitive, it masquerades as a how-to on getting through the emotional turmoil of divorce by a woman so self-pitying and immature that the book is meaningless. Attempts at humor are uninspired and sometimes absurd - examples: chapter title "you're not alone - well, you kinda are"; in a list of ways how to tell if your friends are real: "She encourages you to try a diet of pork fat and boiled eggs", and "she can't explain why she almost ran over you the other day-she claims she thought you were an oversize squirrel." In a list of advice on how to move on: "stop calling your lawyer to find out if you were his prettiest client". Hilarious, huh? The text itself is poorly proofread and edited. In the hardcover edition, I spotted several typos and numerous instances of the word "then" used for the word "than" (as in "better safe then sorry"); in one sentence the author uses the word "anecdote" when the proper word is "antidote", so I was appalled to read at the end of the book where it states Ms. Eustace graduated from McGill University with an honors degree in English. "Divorce Sucks" is a misnomer; the truth is "This Book Sucks".