Reviews with content warning for Death - Life's Too Short

The last 1/3 of this book was ROUGH (emotionally). I stopped believing there would be a HEA and it was making me sad. But I kept repeating HEA HEA HEA and it came though only at the very end.

Jimenez is a new author to me and so far she’s got a real knack for smart dialogue and fun MC.

It is rare that a romance is a heart clutching tear jerker for me (and I’m fine with that! It’s a lot!). But this one was and it’s good to know that my heart is still capable of spasming in pain because of a book. ❤️‍🩹

I will note that this is a pretty tame romance s@x-wise. Almost a closed door romance, which is usually not my thing. But my tears were so distracting I didn’t even notice until the book was over (I’ve read 2 Jimenez books so far and both have been witty and funny but the s@x has been kind of bland).

Content Warnings

jillkaarlela's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Taylor Swift songs: “New Year’s Day”

Age rating: 15+ (extremely brief and vague steamy scene, 0.5/5🌶️)

CHECK TW!!

This book, as well as all of the other books in this interconnected stand alone series, deals will a difficult subject: terminal illness. The fmc believes she has ALS, as it runs on her family and she has a 50% chance of getting it and passing before she turns 30. So, she doesn’t seek relationships because she doesn’t think it’s fair to the other person if she thinks she will pass before she’s 30. This journey of accepting and giving true unconditional love, in sickness and in health, for no matter how long the other shall live will break your heart and put it back together again. This is definitely one of her novels you should read with care.

Again, Abby Jimenez draws inspiration from real life stories this book was inspired by a real person, Claire wineland, who was an activist and social media influenced with cystic fibrosis, who tragically died at 21 after complications after a lung transplant.

Overall, this was emotional and moving. It was not my favorite of Abby Jimenez’s books, but it was still good.

TW: terminal illness (ALS), she is forced to take care of her infant niece, abandonment of parent, parent death, OCD that manifests as hoarding, and drug addiction

Content Warnings

jg34's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5

Love Abby Jimenez but didn’t love the premise of this one

Content Warnings

danniandcolour's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I really liked this book and found myself tearing up at times. I think it was nice that we don’t find out right away what illness/disease the main character is worried about.

I loved the two main characters and getting to watch the relationship go from friends, to best friends, to taking a chance and being a couple. Those are the types of relationships I like to see. They have so much chemistry and I loved how they helped each other work through their family issues/ emotional trauma from family issues.

I like the message of not waiting or being a “one day” type of person. But I think there was too much going on to focus on the main topic, like the hoarding, the baby, and drug addiction, etc.

overall there was just something missing for me. I’m back and forth on rating.

Content Warnings

kennedyhubbard's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

annabananadel's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

“Like my life was a stuffy room, and you’re the breeze that came in when the window opened.”

First of all, why have I never read the synopsis of a book? I asked my cousin to pick a book I should read next amongst all other books in my TBR pile and she picked this one. Covered it up in a plastic, grabbed tabs, highlighters and pens, and put it in my book bag so I could easily grab everything later on during my flight to Fukuoka, Japan. Little did I know that I was in for a ride (and not just because of the turbulence on that plane ride lol). Second of all, I brought so many swoon-worthy and romance related tabs when in fact, I should have brought loads of quotes and sad tabs! I barely passed a third of the book and I was already out of it. Vanessa really do be out there being wise and giving so many quotable lines ugh. Good thing Japan is full of tabs I could buy for emergencies! Third and last of all, I loved it so much. My first Abby Jimenez book and I was not disappointed. I had to download an ebook so I could read them throughout the train rides or anywhere else since I can’t just sit down and read-underline-highlight a book. I had to transfer all those from my phone to my physical copy. I just can’t not read it. I had to know what will happened between Vanessa and Adrian. So thank you, Abby. I’ll definitely be recommending this book to my friends.

Enough about my experience though but more of about my thoughts about this book:

As I’ve said, I love this book not just because of the swoon-worthy (kilig) scenes but also because of it’s life lesson. Given the fact that Vanessa has an illness, she had to look NOT at the sun but basically look ay what’s in front of her - life. Life’s too short so go enjoy it. I’ve been looking too much into the future and too afraid of failing that I never enjoyed the present as much as I could have wanted to. I love how Vanessa had been the balance Adrian needed although it had been the same the other way around. Vanessa needed an Adrian (or maybe Jesus’ abs). That’s what’s so great about this couple, they compliment one another. I love how even though it’s a slow burn and my impatient ass can’t wait for them to be together, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I was smiling through it all out (with a little bit of sadness here and there). My relatives even noticed how big I was smiling because they’re just so cute! They’re the perfect pairing. An easy 5 🌟 even before the ending. I hope I could be like Vanessa. I aspire to be her when life hits me with a big problem such as hers (but hopefully not since I’m too scared). This book is a gem and the fact that the book community isn’t boasting about this is such a bummer.

Content Warnings

offtheraels's review

Go to review page

1.5

Content Warnings

More...