Frankly, her life was tough enough already. Two tricky teenagers, her mother’s constant complaints, friends who aren’t up to the job and a career which has been spiralling downwards since she won ‘Sunseeker Tour Rep of the Season’ twenty years ago.
And now this: a cheating husband and a death sentence.
Enough is enough. Jenny vows to keep both catastrophes a secret. She takes her life – and death – into her own hands and decides to live as she did when she was happiest… in 1996. She plans a spectacular 1990’s themed party in place of a wake that she herself will attend. But will she be able to keep her secrets for long enough to have the party of a lifetime? (Pub Date: Feb 23, 2018)
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Don't let my rating fool you, this was an enjoyable story of a woman figuring out how to live now she knows when she's going to die.
Jenny finds out her husband is cheating on her exactly when she's ready to tell him she has terminal cancer. Also, her relationship with her daughter isn't the best and her son depends on her since his father is never there for him. How can she let them go just like that? So she decides to postpone informing everyone and to fully live, like she did back when she met her husband. For that, what's better than a 1996-themed party?
I was expecting to laugh more, and while this was far from being a heavy read about a dying woman, this wasn't any sort of parody. In fact, the result was very interesting because of how well the author dosed between humor and seriousness; it's a different perspective. Because of this, the story isn't as predictable.
Then why just three stars? First, I still think the story was lukewarm, it could have made me feel more—although it did make me cry a little at times. Also, I'm not sure I enjoyed how Jenny found her peace of mind by the end (no, I don't mean dying, this is a spoiler-free review); I hoped for more retribution on characters who did her bad. You kind of expect feel-good literature like this one to be fairer where the real world isn't, and yet, she was almost apologetical toward those people. Why? Most of them deserved a kick on their bottoms, to be honest. So, yes, I expected this book to be smarter, since the plot itself is quite smart.
Still, this is a great read for everyone who thinks they have already peaked to think again. There are so many lessons to extract from Jenny's stories! Yes, it could have been better, but I think it's already entertained me quite well.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
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