So It Wasn't As Depressing as I Thought

TITLE: Death and Other Happy Endings
AUTHOR: Melanie Cantor
PUBLISHER: Pamela Dorman Books
PUBLISHING DATE: July 9, 2019

FROM GOODREADS: Jennifer Cole has just been told that she has a terminal blood disorder and has just three months to live--ninety days to say goodbye to friends and family, and to put her affairs in order. Ninety days to come to terms with a diagnosis that is unfair, unexpected, and completely unpronounceable. Focusing on the positives (she won't have to go on in a world without Bowie or Maya Angelou; she won't get Alzheimer's or Parkinson's like her parents, or have teeth that flop out at the mere mention of the word apple), Jennifer realizes she only has one real regret: the relationships she's lost. 

Rather than running off to complete a frantic bucket list, Jennifer chooses to stay put and write a letter to the three most significant people in her life, to say the things she wished she'd said before but never dared: her overbearing, selfish sister, her jelly-spined, cheating ex-husband, and her charming, unreliable ex-boyfriend--and finally tell them the truth.

At first, Jennifer feels cleansed by her catharsis. Liberated, even. Her ex-boyfriend rushes to her side and she even starts to build bridges with her sister Isabelle (that is, once Isabelle's confirmed that Jennifer's condition isn't genetic). But once you start telling the truth, it's hard to stop. And as Jennifer soon discovers, the truth isn't always as straightforward as it seems, and death has a way of surprising you.... 

MY THOUGHTS: I remember seeing this book online somewhere, reading the title, and saying to myself "Yep, I have to read that one day."  So when I saw it at one of my local libraries it was no surprise it went home with me. What was a surprise was how much it interrupted my TBR because I picked it up on a whim one weekend and finished it rather quickly.

Jennifer has been feeling tired and rundown and like most of us, she put off going to the doctor.  When she finally did, she finds out that she has a terminal blood disorder and that she basically has 90 days to live.  She ends up writing letters to three people in her life she feels she has unsaid things to and over the course of the next few weeks, becomes quite shocked at their responses.  Thank heavens she has her best friend, who is getting married, to help her navigate everything as well as keep her mind off of things. 

So let me say first of all I kind of felt this book was pretty predictable. I knew where it was headed before we got there and although there was  slight curve ball thrown at the end, I was dead-on with where Cantor was headed.  Normally that might interfere with my enjoyment of a novel but once again SURPRISE!  It didn't.  I really liked Jennifer.  She was flawed and human and down-to-earth and I thoroughly enjoyed her out-of-character romp at the park.  She sometimes wallowed in her diagnosis, which was expected, but she also wanted to live life to its fullest.  I also enjoyed the relationships in the book. Jennifer's best friend is one we all wished we had and her sister is probably one some people actually ended up with. However, over the course of the novel, even the despicable characters showed growth and a few of the much-liked ones fell from grace.

I also have to note the author's formatting. Instead of chapters going up in number, as almost all seem to do, the ones in this book counted down the days Jennifer had left.  It was an interesting touch and really moved the progression of the book.

So overall picking up this book was the right choice.  It's a genre I don't read a lot of and I read it in the middle of my horror/monsterathon heyday so it must have been the break I needed.  It does have some British humor which sometimes is hard to immediately take to, but on the whole, I would recommend it, especially to people who enjoy books like Bridget Jones.  Which ironically enough, I did not enjoy.  Oh well, if you want to - read the book!

RATING: 4 PAWS