Review of Scandal, Heartbreak and Deceit: One Woman's Experience with Online Dating

[Oluwatosin Balogun]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Scandal, Heartbreak and Deceit: One Woman's Experience with Online Dating" by Elizabeth Mahoney.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Scandal, Heartbreak and Deceit: One woman's experience with online dating by Elizabeth Mahoney is a Non-fiction book that tells the raw, true and unfiltered story of Elizabeth's experience with marriage and online dating.

Following her divorce from her husband to whom she was married for 28 years, Elizabeth joined an online dating site on a quest to find love and trust. On this site, she came across numerous people, one of which was Shepard Willner, who quickly became the exact person she needed in her life at that moment. They connected on a deep emotional level, igniting a part of her she didn't think existed. All was going smoothly until Elizabeth discovered Shepard was not real. Who, in fact, was Shepard Willner? How dangerous is this dating site? Still vulnerable, how do you think a single parent working a full-time job like Elizabeth managed time for her work, children and dating life? Having her trust broken not once by the men she loved, how do you think she coped and healed? In this remarkable story of love, trust, heartbreak and deceit, Elizabeth boldly battled numerous societal dysfunctions facing the world of today through her experiences with marriage and on the online dating app.

I loved reading this book a lot, mostly because of the wealth of knowledge it has to offer. I read books because I like to learn about the world around me and understand people's perspectives apart from mine. This book provided me with this opportunity. Additionally, I loved reading every moment of Elizabeth's story, I experienced shock, felt anger, felt hurt and laughed at countless ridiculous situations. In a world where being scammed makes you easily judged as an ignorant person, I commend the author for taking the courage to tell her story in hopes of encouraging others.

This book battled many controversial topics ranging from victimization, romance Scams, intimate partner violence, negligence of online dating sites, infidelity in relationships, manipulation and narcissism, among many others. Elizabeth was my favourite character. I got to understand her and her choices and at some point, I became very protective of her. The author's narration style was explanatory and understandable. The book was well edited and there were almost no errors whatsoever. Appropriate words and languages were employed and there was no use of ambiguous words that could confuse the readers. Every strong vocabulary, strange phrase and spelling were duly explained.

Though I had a pleasant experience, I didn't like that there was a slow build-up to the story. It would have been great if her story was told first before stating articles and explanations.

I would rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars and this is because there was an overwhelming amount of referenced articles that made the book feel like I was reading a collection of the referenced articles. Also, the author dwelled too much on some topics. It felt like I was reading the subject all over again, and I got bored. Asides from these reasons, I loved reading this book.

I recommend this book to victims of scams, manipulation and infidelity and also, to people who, like me, love to learn about the society around them. I do not recommend this book for people who dislike lengthy books or get bored easily, and people who find controversial topics troubling.

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Scandal, Heartbreak and Deceit: One Woman's Experience with Online Dating
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[Atova]

I truly connect with Elizabeth. Doing multiple things at once isn't easy, and having your trust be broken by the same thing all over again can chew through you patience and morality. I really want to read it and see what happens next.

Great review.

[Bunmi27]

Being heartbroken can be depressing especially when you have invested so much in the relationship, or when you have high expectations from the relationship. I'll like to read this book to know how Elizabeth coped with the heartbeat and scam. This is a wonderful review by the way.

[Gnex_09]

It takes a great level of courage for someone to bring his funny past to the limelight and for that I must commend the writer.

[Elijah0007]

In a world where online fraud has become widespread, this might as well be a "right book at the right time" moment. I appreciate your candor in explaining the downsides as well as the positive aspects in this book.

[Oluwatosin Balogun]

I truly connect with Elizabeth. Doing multiple things at once isn't easy, and having your trust be broken by the same thing all over again can chew through you patience and morality. I really want to read it and see what happens next.

Great review.

I appreciate your comment

[Oluwatosin Balogun]

It takes a great level of courage for someone to bring his funny past to the limelight and for that I must commend the writer.

I agree. Thank you for your comment.

[Oluwatosin Balogun]

In a world where online fraud has become widespread, this might as well be a "right book at the right time" moment. I appreciate your candor in explaining the downsides as well as the positive aspects in this book.

I appreciate your comment.

[Abu Humairah]

Women are indeed great. I Salute Elizabeth for been able to joggle her kids, work, and dating after just getting divorced. Nice job on the review.

[Oluwatosin Balogun]

Women are indeed great. I Salute Elizabeth for been able to joggle her kids, work, and dating after just getting divorced. Nice job on the review.

Thank you so much for your comment. It is appreciated.