Review: Stepmonster

Stepmonster by Wednesday Martin, Ph.D

Genre: Self-help, memoir, non-fiction

Rating: 3/5

Wednesday Martin has created a handbook for stepmoms. This book is packed with useful (and at times painful) information—the stories that our “evil stepmother” images come from, explaining the conflicts between stepmother and stepchild, how to get the husband to help with the mother-child relationship, and perspectives on relationships from husbands, wives, and even grandparents.

However much I’d like to recommend this book, I can not say that this is the best book for stepparents. I’d have to recommend the Bible first and foremost, because God’s way of life is the only holy and perfect one. A relationship cannot exist between two people who do not work at it, and the only thing that can change the heart of an individual and make them work at it is God. The Bible shows us and targets what the source of the problems in second marriage really is: sin. The Bible also shows that stepparents are a gift, that children are expected to honor them, and that God wants (and helps) all sides of the multi-person relationship to work it out. Only with His help can a strong stepparent-stepchild relationship or second marriage be built.

With that in mind, I can say that this book is a good secondary source, or great for someone who does not lean on the Bible. It explains the psychology behind what goes on in all sides of the triangle’s heads: the new wife, the husband, and the children. I also have to say that Martin is a very good writer, and I was drawn into what she had to say.

Recommendation: I do recommend this book to anyone who wants down-to-earth modern-day insight to understanding the problems in their second marriage.

 

**Thank you to FSB Associates for my review copy!**

~Haleyknitz