HAPPILY EVER AFTER ... RIGHT NOW

A life and relationship guide for women.

In this manual for overhauling relationships, Hull draws on her own personal experience from emotionally unhealthy days past, when she felt “trapped in the perpetual drama of what now seems like an endless novel with me as the desperate heroine.” Hull combines those personal experiences with her wide reading in a half-dozen different fields (ranging from self-help books to evolutionary science texts) in order to provide her readers with a blueprint for revamping their personal relationships. “My utmost desire,” she writes, “is to support you in having a foundation for cracking your very own personal code to unravel the patterns, habits, and cycles that have held you captive and kept you from reaching your full and most optimal potential—your very best destiny in this life form.” Hull bases much of her approach on the assumption that many of her readers have fallen into the trap of exaggerated expectations. Such expectations, she believes, lead many to think the perfect lover is just another item on the checklist. The tone she adopts throughout is one of tough compassion, sternly but empathetically warning her readers against their own inner tendencies; she’s particularly convincing in excoriating the whole idea of the “longing monster”—the unrealistic yearning that can get in the way of letting people realize their own dreams. She’s uncompromising in calling out the overly romantic, but her sentiments are always laced with kindness. This essential kernel of personal optimism is the heart of the book and its greatest strength, giving heart to readers who may invest too much of their personal happiness in others. Hull is prone to florid overwriting, but this repeated note of solid encouragement will give many readers the boost they need to love themselves.

A readable, powerfully worded call for women to get in touch with their inner queens.