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Who & How We Love is Complicated

Polywise: A Deeper Dive into Navigating Open Relationships by Jessica Fern with David Cooley 
non-fiction 
Thornapple Press, August 25, 2023 

Polywise encourages readers to embark on a journey of personal excavation of entrenched beliefs and default assumptions about themselves, their families, their romantic and sexual relationships, friendships, and hidden emotional tripwires, too. 

In addition to a personable back-and-forth (used sparingly) between the author and the contributor, this text offers exercises, questions, and prompts to engage readers to explore and pursue intentional conscious recognition of who they are as individuals, what they need and want, and why, as well as healthy ways to attain them--or let them go if necessary. 

Consensual Nonmonogomay (CNM) is the initial hook while tools and strategies for understanding the facets, layers, and impacts of nonmonogamy as orientation and/or lifestyle choice establish a unifying through line. 

from the introduction: 
Whatever your personal version of polywise may look like, my hope is that this book is a resource for helping you get there. 
... So while this book is intended for a CNM audience, a significant amount of what is covered in the following chapters offers helpful material for anyone in any relationship structure.  

Polywise also acknowledges that neither monogamy nor CNM works for everyone. It focuses on transitions, relationship fluidity, and relational conflict within the context of experiences occurring along a very broad spectrum. 

A foreword, introduction, seven chapters, plus a substantive conclusion, a particularly helpful glossary of terms, references, a list of other relevant books from the publisher, and an index make Polywise a text worth keeping on-hand for future referrals and refreshers on practical, effective reconciliation strategies for preventing and dealing with internal and external conflict. 


This Week's Reading Binge 


Happy Healthy Loving & Reading! 

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