Scan barcode
A review by kayathebookworm
Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez
2.0
Well, what better way to celebrate meeting my 2023 reading goal than by leaving my first 2 star review? I have so much to say about this book but also not much besides that I kinda hated it.
First of all, I want to ask you a question. What do you think this book will be when you look at the cover? A cutesy, fun, lighthearted rom-com? Yeah, me too, so that makes us both wrong. This was absolutely none of that. It was too heavy and serious, in my opinion. I didn’t pick up a rom-com to read non-stop about diseases, dying, strained family relationships, etc. If I pick up a romance book it’s because I want to escape the real world and all of that stuff. I want to laugh, giggle, and kick my feet. I don’t think I did any of those things once while reading this book.
I also didn’t care for the author’s writing style. There was a lot of reading what the characters were thinking in their heads and not enough dialogue.
My biggest grievance, though, is of course the miscommunication. I don’t understand why they couldn’t literally just communicate. Vanessa: “Hey, I have a 50 percent chance of having a disease that could take my life in the next year but I have romantic feelings for you.” Adrian: “Okay, we can work through that together because I like you as more than just a friend too.” Problem solved.
And I HATE when people get all worked up over something they’re not even sure is actually a problem yet. Like, just take the freaking tests to get diagnosed. She didn’t even know she actually had the disease yet but she kept acting like she was going to die any minute. The whole thing could have been avoided if she had just gone to the doctor like she did at the end and found out that her hand thing wasn’t even ALS at all. Ugh.
Some other little things that bothered me: 1) The chapter titles. Super cringey. 2) When she was talking about her sister, Annabel, getting pregnant accidentally she says, “her body taken hostage by a baby she didn’t plan and didn’t want.” Wow. So, babies are captors now, then? 3) If I hear the phrase “staring at the sun” one more time I’m going to scream.
Honestly, something about this whole book just felt off. This was my first Abby Jimenez book and it’ll probably be a while before anyone can convince me to pick up another one. 2 stars.
First of all, I want to ask you a question. What do you think this book will be when you look at the cover? A cutesy, fun, lighthearted rom-com? Yeah, me too, so that makes us both wrong. This was absolutely none of that. It was too heavy and serious, in my opinion. I didn’t pick up a rom-com to read non-stop about diseases, dying, strained family relationships, etc. If I pick up a romance book it’s because I want to escape the real world and all of that stuff. I want to laugh, giggle, and kick my feet. I don’t think I did any of those things once while reading this book.
I also didn’t care for the author’s writing style. There was a lot of reading what the characters were thinking in their heads and not enough dialogue.
My biggest grievance, though, is of course the miscommunication. I don’t understand why they couldn’t literally just communicate. Vanessa: “Hey, I have a 50 percent chance of having a disease that could take my life in the next year but I have romantic feelings for you.” Adrian: “Okay, we can work through that together because I like you as more than just a friend too.” Problem solved.
And I HATE when people get all worked up over something they’re not even sure is actually a problem yet. Like, just take the freaking tests to get diagnosed. She didn’t even know she actually had the disease yet but she kept acting like she was going to die any minute. The whole thing could have been avoided if she had just gone to the doctor like she did at the end and found out that her hand thing wasn’t even ALS at all. Ugh.
Some other little things that bothered me: 1) The chapter titles. Super cringey. 2) When she was talking about her sister, Annabel, getting pregnant accidentally she says, “her body taken hostage by a baby she didn’t plan and didn’t want.” Wow. So, babies are captors now, then? 3) If I hear the phrase “staring at the sun” one more time I’m going to scream.
Honestly, something about this whole book just felt off. This was my first Abby Jimenez book and it’ll probably be a while before anyone can convince me to pick up another one. 2 stars.