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A review by beate251
Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Vanessa is a You Tube travel blogger, content creator and influencer and her next door neighbour Adrian is a criminal defense attorney. Both seem to have money coming out of their ears, which in Vanessa's case I simply don't understand - she makes a few videos and everyone throws money at her? Not believable. Anyway, she is looking after her tiny niece and after a 4am clash due to the crying baby they start spending all their time together until Adrian feels like a dad.
Abby Jimenez' books seem to have many similarities to each other. They all deal with difficult topics that are made worse by overuse of the miscommunication/ misunderstanding tropes, there is always a cute dog with a ridiculous name, a bearded man, the desire to have children, big feelings that border on obsession, and a couple of mentions of Nadia Cakes.
The characters are full of hangups about their families. Adrian hates his Mum's new husband who turns out to be his Dad, Vanessa's Dad is a hoarder, her brother a layabout and her sister a substance abuser. Her mother is dead and her other sister died from ALS. Vanessa thinks she has it too and thus she doesn't want Adrian to be more than a friend, which stands in direct contravention to her motto of not stressing about things until they are happening.
So in the first book we had "I can't be with him because I can't have kids", in the second it was "I can't be with him because he's famous" and now it's "I can't be with him because I'm dying". I mean, at least it's original.
I didn't like how the book essentially hammered home how Vanessa would die within a year and Adrian still didn't get it until very late because he didn't watch her videos, then he flipped out and demanded to have a say in how she dealt with it. It was all "I need, I need, I need." Totally selfish and tone deaf.
Also, everyone's problems seemed to get solved a little too neatly and quickly at the end. Hoarding is a mental illness. You can't overcome it in a few weeks with the help of a life coach.
I loved the click-bait chapter headlines, they were very authentic and funny.
The book is eminently readable and the big feelings will have many readers swoon. I think it's the best in the trilogy, but for me it's not up there yet with Just For The Summer.
Abby Jimenez' books seem to have many similarities to each other. They all deal with difficult topics that are made worse by overuse of the miscommunication/ misunderstanding tropes, there is always a cute dog with a ridiculous name, a bearded man, the desire to have children, big feelings that border on obsession, and a couple of mentions of Nadia Cakes.
The characters are full of hangups about their families. Adrian hates his Mum's new husband who turns out to be his Dad, Vanessa's Dad is a hoarder, her brother a layabout and her sister a substance abuser. Her mother is dead and her other sister died from ALS. Vanessa thinks she has it too and thus she doesn't want Adrian to be more than a friend, which stands in direct contravention to her motto of not stressing about things until they are happening.
So in the first book we had "I can't be with him because I can't have kids", in the second it was "I can't be with him because he's famous" and now it's "I can't be with him because I'm dying". I mean, at least it's original.
I didn't like how the book essentially hammered home how Vanessa would die within a year and Adrian still didn't get it until very late because he didn't watch her videos, then he flipped out and demanded to have a say in how she dealt with it. It was all "I need, I need, I need." Totally selfish and tone deaf.
Also, everyone's problems seemed to get solved a little too neatly and quickly at the end. Hoarding is a mental illness. You can't overcome it in a few weeks with the help of a life coach.
I loved the click-bait chapter headlines, they were very authentic and funny.
The book is eminently readable and the big feelings will have many readers swoon. I think it's the best in the trilogy, but for me it's not up there yet with Just For The Summer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Chronic illness
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Ableism