CHOOSING THE RIGHT PARTNER FOR LIFE

Booton’s slim compendium of marriage advice offers a series of criteria to help readers assess a potential spouse.

This self-help guide sets its sights on a perennially difficult subject: How do you know if you’ve chosen the right life partner? Booton provides a litany of questions to help determine if you’ve found the one, ranging from big questions (“Is This Person Your Soul Mate?”) to smaller, mundane matters (“Does He/She Like Sports?”). Booton’s advice often looks beyond the altar to advise readers on how various issues will play out down the line, such as a hypothetical situation from the section titled “Is He/She Intelligent?” in which one half of a couple goes back to school: “The one with the college degree may feel they have outgrown the other person.” But too many of the questions cover similar ground for such a short book, leaving many sections feeling redundant. Still, the short, snappy sections make for a quick read, and the book has occasional nuggets of wisdom. Some major relationship issues go largely unaddressed, however, such as finances and parenting styles. The book also assumes that most of the couples in question consist of a man and woman, and some advice feels decidedly retrograde; for instance, in a section titled “Do You Like the Way Her Mother Looks?,” Booton offers this tip: “If you are a guy, take a good look at the mother! You are highly likely to have a wife that will look and act the same way as she ages.” Other complex issues are handled with a lack of nuance that could alienate readers, as in the assertion that “Drug usage is usually a choice.” In addition, the author doesn’t give readers insight into their own romantic experience, which, coupled with the use of stock images, makes the advice feel impersonal at times. Overall, readers won’t gain much knowledge that they can’t find elsewhere.

A brisk relationship self-help guide that’s too broad and underdeveloped to stand out in a crowded field.