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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Barely any
Minimal violence — the novel is emotionally tense rather than physically threatening
Language
Barely any
Mild
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
Barely any
Mild — a party setting; social drinking
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The secrets — what each is hiding and what it would do to the other; the question of whether love justifies protecting someone from the truth
What this book is about
It is the day of Livia and Adam's twenty-fifth anniversary party — their daughter's surprise birthday party too. Both Adam and Livia are holding a secret that would devastate the other. Told in alternating perspectives, The Dilemma asks whether love can survive when truth is catastrophic. B.A. Paris's fourth novel — more emotionally focused than her thrillers; the suspense is in whether either will tell the truth.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Dual secrets — each spouse holds information that would destroy the other
A real-time party structure — everything happens in one day
The moral question — is withholding truth a form of love?
B.A. Paris's most emotionally complex novel
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