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there_will_be_spoilers 's review for:
The Life List
by Lori Nelson Spielman
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Not what I was expecting at all.
Romance.io heat rating- glimpses & kisses (with some touching)
Oshe had tried to please her father and realised it would never be enough,it mentions an emotional wound that her father said she wouldn't be a Broadway star ,so she gave up what she loved,her boyfriend being similar to her dad. She tries stand up comedy and it's humiliating as she fails,but obtains a letter from her mother as a result.
She has to go teach a little kid that sounds like a little psychopath,who's dad is out of the picture & who enjoys bullying & inflicting emotional pain while being charming to get his way.Mini Hannibal Lector is what she references him as.There are some small fights with the boyfriend.It does reflect on her loneliness and her biological clock ticking and feeling old that all the good men are already married & on some of her friend's problems like becoming a stay at home mom & leaving her job as a speech therapist finding it boring and the mommy groups unintelligent while she feels like a bad mother.She breaks up with the boyfriend,feeling unloveable.One of her friends immediately after she's broken up with the shallow boyfriend,starts dating him.
The animal rescue makes it weird when she says she wants a mutt,as if pedigrees don't have massive health problems due to breeding for characteristics.
Bit boring at times,slice of life sometimes.She finds her father,but feels rejected he makes excuses about her half-sister being ill so they can't meet.Her now that she knows half siblings aren't too happy she is living in their mother's house.
Things start to get a bit disturbing with a horror story about Sanquita,her mother a drug addict didn't hear her child scream when he caught on fire as the stove had been left on,he died,his brother saw him die,his mother blamed his brother for killing him and then the troubled boy dropped out of school and shot himself to death.
This poor girl wants to name her baby after the brother that shot himself but the doctor is saying her life is at risk and the baby has a 30% chance of survival,so is advising an abortion,the poor child hid her mother's drugs fearing they would end up in foster care. We get a minor description of there being blood as Brett had a false pregnancy.We see a bit more about the little psychopath she teaches acting out & throwing her books in slush..
Things improve on New Year's Eve a little before more drama with girls fighting at the home and Sanquita is bleeding & has to go to the hospital.
Less cosy than expected.
I really liked the novelty of the Life list,but it does have a dark side,the mother keeping secrets for her daughter to find out after she’s dead,some things being unclear such as why the mother chose Brad to read the letters aloud. It’s also weird that ,Brad would try to seduce her knowing that they would most likely need to have contact for the rest of the 12 months deadline. Such a deadline for an inheritance is cruel & it being based on a teenager’s life goals is also unrealistic & ridiculous ,we also have the need for there to be marriage & a child for her to be happy. I can understand the mother meaning well & wanting a push for her to grow & embrace real things to make her happy but the lack of flexibility is not realistic and rather cruel & unaccommodating. On the other hand having this list did help me stay interested in what would be accomplished next & how... A mother thinking she would know everything that would make her daughter happy would be at best an educated guess and usually require lived experience of trial & error as 1 size does not fit all.
Her father's younger child is hospitalised with pneumonia,discharged & re-admitted.
Her brother who had to do nothing to get his inheritance is cruel & judgemental.The new love interest Herbert seems a bit like a twat,he calls himself by his title Dr. when he has a doctorate of history ,doesn't correct people who think that he is a medical doctor.
More family secrets are unearthed as she goes to see her bio dad & sister with down-syndrome ,it was obvious that the wife had had an affair as the husband had a vasectomy ,he threatened if she left she would never see her sons again that her lover would be declared a drug addict because of his marijuana use and that she was a slut. We see why Brett could never please her non-biological father. There are 2 semi-cosy scenes but they're sandwiched between darker secrets,ranch dressing flying all over the place is not hilarious.
There's added fillers which after a while just gets annoying, "i was 12 minutes early" " I hear footsteps approaching.. & then he speaks"
Pregnant teen Sanquita is in a bad state due to her health issues after giving birth,her potassium is too high,we do get a description of her puffy face & blackened eyelids.The person who runs the women's shelter makes a racist assumption that Brett wouldn't want a mixed race baby.Sanquita dies days later,nothing graphic skips to funeral.The baby lives but boy is it sad,Sanquita's drunk mother comes to the hospital,gets taken away by security,she wants the baby because she'll be paid benefits then. Brett stands up to her brother about wanting to keep the baby and then goes to the social worker trying to plead her case of keeping the baby,queue unpleasant court case with fatphobic small description.It's very rushed and unsatisfying that they magically find a piece of paper signed stating Sanquita wants Brett to have the baby.The letters from her mother start to get weird,her mother somehow knew it would be a girl child.Brett doesn't feel she's in love calls off the wedding.The man in the coat is her psychologist colleague & they get married & start a house for women named after Sanquita.Epilogue is too short. We never find out the full story behind Sanquita.The horse she pays part of her retirement money for the special needs kids horse-riding program.
There are quite a few characters.I read the beginning & the rest later on,probably forgetting quite a bit which made there being so many characters that much more confusing,would not recommend this approach.
I had to take regular breaks because of the drama and needing something more cheerful than somebody else dying etc... on death #5 now about 3/4 of the way through.I didn't really like Brett being a doormat & then worshipping her boyfriend sort of admiring him for being "extraordinary" because the guy could have empathy that she was going to see a potentially dying mother that was her student giving birth...
I didn't care for her ruminations on being single & alone,although I could empathise with her problems & her grief.For most people there is no way to emotionally prepare for a parent dying of cancer,those claiming it exists should write a manual with multiple options for multiple situations including being neurodivergent instead of writing reviews that "she should have seen it coming & not been so emotional" granted this is a fictional character but people's parents do die of cancer all the time & people with different trauma/emotional sensitivity react differently. Get pissed off at how many times the character cries & feels angst & questions what her mother wants,skip ahead multiple times if you need to,just remember the real non fictional people have actual real feelings & "get over it & you should be over it now" are not cures especially for prolonged complicated grief/ traumatic grief.
I don't understand how people could call this Hallmark like,usually in Hallmark movies you don't have kids committing suicide or being burnt alive.
I only decided to finish this book to provide in depth content warnings and plot summary for those that do need those to make an informed decision and slightly because I wanted to see how she got the horse & the last few things on the list. I don't really care for Brett all that much. I don't think she grows as much as I'd have liked either.I feel like what could have made it super cosy or (saccharine to my liking ) have been removed/excluded.Glad I never bought this book.
There is no specific religion mentioned that I noticed,just prayer & miracles & Heaven mentioned multiple times.
Content Warnings
Romance.io heat rating- glimpses & kisses (with some touching)
O
She has to go teach a little kid that sounds like a little psychopath,who's dad is out of the picture & who enjoys bullying & inflicting emotional pain while being charming to get his way.Mini Hannibal Lector is what she references him as.There are some small fights with the boyfriend.It does reflect on her loneliness and her biological clock ticking and feeling old that all the good men are already married & on some of her friend's problems like becoming a stay at home mom & leaving her job as a speech therapist finding it boring and the mommy groups unintelligent while she feels like a bad mother.She breaks up with the boyfriend,feeling unloveable.One of her friends immediately after she's broken up with the shallow boyfriend,starts dating him.
The animal rescue makes it weird when she says she wants a mutt,as if pedigrees don't have massive health problems due to breeding for characteristics.
Bit boring at times,slice of life sometimes.She finds her father,but feels rejected he makes excuses about her half-sister being ill so they can't meet.Her now that she knows half siblings aren't too happy she is living in their mother's house.
Things start to get a bit disturbing with a horror story about Sanquita,her mother a drug addict didn't hear her child scream when he caught on fire as the stove had been left on,he died,his brother saw him die,his mother blamed his brother for killing him and then the troubled boy dropped out of school and shot himself to death.
This poor girl wants to name her baby after the brother that shot himself but the doctor is saying her life is at risk and the baby has a 30% chance of survival,so is advising an abortion,the poor child hid her mother's drugs fearing they would end up in foster care. We get a minor description of there being blood as Brett had a false pregnancy.We see a bit more about the little psychopath she teaches acting out & throwing her books in slush..
Things improve on New Year's Eve a little before more drama with girls fighting at the home and Sanquita is bleeding & has to go to the hospital.
Less cosy than expected.
I really liked the novelty of the Life list,but it does have a dark side,the mother keeping secrets for her daughter to find out after she’s dead,some things being unclear such as why the mother chose Brad to read the letters aloud. It’s also weird that ,Brad would try to seduce her knowing that they would most likely need to have contact for the rest of the 12 months deadline. Such a deadline for an inheritance is cruel & it being based on a teenager’s life goals is also unrealistic & ridiculous ,we also have the need for there to be marriage & a child for her to be happy. I can understand the mother meaning well & wanting a push for her to grow & embrace real things to make her happy but the lack of flexibility is not realistic and rather cruel & unaccommodating. On the other hand having this list did help me stay interested in what would be accomplished next & how... A mother thinking she would know everything that would make her daughter happy would be at best an educated guess and usually require lived experience of trial & error as 1 size does not fit all.
Her father's younger child is hospitalised with pneumonia,discharged & re-admitted.
Her brother who had to do nothing to get his inheritance is cruel & judgemental.The new love interest Herbert seems a bit like a twat,he calls himself by his title Dr. when he has a doctorate of history ,doesn't correct people who think that he is a medical doctor.
More family secrets are unearthed as she goes to see her bio dad & sister with down-syndrome ,it was obvious that the wife had had an affair as the husband had a vasectomy ,he threatened if she left she would never see her sons again that her lover would be declared a drug addict because of his marijuana use and that she was a slut. We see why Brett could never please her non-biological father. There are 2 semi-cosy scenes but they're sandwiched between darker secrets,ranch dressing flying all over the place is not hilarious.
There's added fillers which after a while just gets annoying, "i was 12 minutes early" " I hear footsteps approaching.. & then he speaks"
Pregnant teen Sanquita is in a bad state due to her health issues after giving birth,her potassium is too high,we do get a description of her puffy face & blackened eyelids.The person who runs the women's shelter makes a racist assumption that Brett wouldn't want a mixed race baby.Sanquita dies days later,nothing graphic skips to funeral.The baby lives but boy is it sad,Sanquita's drunk mother comes to the hospital,gets taken away by security,she wants the baby because she'll be paid benefits then. Brett stands up to her brother about wanting to keep the baby and then goes to the social worker trying to plead her case of keeping the baby,queue unpleasant court case with fatphobic small description.It's very rushed and unsatisfying that they magically find a piece of paper signed stating Sanquita wants Brett to have the baby.The letters from her mother start to get weird,her mother somehow knew it would be a girl child.Brett doesn't feel she's in love calls off the wedding.The man in the coat is her psychologist colleague & they get married & start a house for women named after Sanquita.Epilogue is too short. We never find out the full story behind Sanquita.The horse she pays part of her retirement money for the special needs kids horse-riding program.
There are quite a few characters.I read the beginning & the rest later on,probably forgetting quite a bit which made there being so many characters that much more confusing,would not recommend this approach.
I had to take regular breaks because of the drama and needing something more cheerful than somebody else dying etc... on death #5 now about 3/4 of the way through.I didn't really like Brett being a doormat & then worshipping her boyfriend sort of admiring him for being "extraordinary" because the guy could have empathy that she was going to see a potentially dying mother that was her student giving birth...
I didn't care for her ruminations on being single & alone,although I could empathise with her problems & her grief.For most people there is no way to emotionally prepare for a parent dying of cancer,those claiming it exists should write a manual with multiple options for multiple situations including being neurodivergent instead of writing reviews that "she should have seen it coming & not been so emotional" granted this is a fictional character but people's parents do die of cancer all the time & people with different trauma/emotional sensitivity react differently. Get pissed off at how many times the character cries & feels angst & questions what her mother wants,skip ahead multiple times if you need to,just remember the real non fictional people have actual real feelings & "get over it & you should be over it now" are not cures especially for prolonged complicated grief/ traumatic grief.
I don't understand how people could call this Hallmark like,usually in Hallmark movies you don't have kids committing suicide or being burnt alive.
I only decided to finish this book to provide in depth content warnings and plot summary for those that do need those to make an informed decision and slightly because I wanted to see how she got the horse & the last few things on the list. I don't really care for Brett all that much. I don't think she grows as much as I'd have liked either.I feel like what could have made it super cosy or (saccharine to my liking ) have been removed/excluded.Glad I never bought this book.
There is no specific religion mentioned that I noticed,just prayer & miracles & Heaven mentioned multiple times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
minor: divorce ,homelessness ,death of brother & child neglect,pneumonia
♿[Read this on Edge browser (text to speech) for desktop on Linux (2025) and most of the text was transcribed and pronounced well with some exceptions,on the specific scanned book I borrowed using my Internet Archive print disability account.]
My Rating System
1⭐-1.5 extremely triggering/very bad plot/writing/too much filler content or descriptions,boring, too much conflict or drama to be relaxing
2⭐⭐ too sad/too many triggers/not funny/not relaxing enough,romance/friendship underdeveloped, too much conflict or drama to be relaxing,had a few good moments but easily forgettable
2.5 ⭐⭐ ⯪ 🌗 meh writing/relaxing but with quite a lot of triggers,forgettable
2.75
3⭐⭐⭐ relaxing but with quite a few triggers/unpleasant parts,memorable and a bit cosy
3.5 moderately funny/ a few triggers/unpleasant parts
4⭐⭐⭐⭐
5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ hilarious/extremely relaxing/soothing with the least triggers & a good plot/short storyline
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
minor: divorce ,homelessness ,death of brother & child neglect,pneumonia