About The Book
From the author of Maybe in Another Life—named a People Magazine pick—comes a breathtaking new love story about a woman unexpectedly forced to choose between the husband she has long thought dead and the fiancé who has finally brought her back to life. Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly? Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying.
Buy The Book: https://amzn.to/3MZoR4H
My Rating
When I saw the trailer for the movie adaptation of this book, I knew I was not going to be able to wait and see how things were going to play out. I read the book in a day because I was very invested in the story. However, that isn’t to say that I enjoyed this book one bit. The story follows Emma, whose husband has passed away, but years later finds love again and is engaged. But, here’s the kicker; her husband is alive, and coming back to her.
This book was frustrating because the author took all of the guess work of who she was going to end up with out of the story. I knew where Emma’s heart lived, and I didn’t agree with it. And, the way she went about things in this book was just not right. If you have read this book you know what mean. Let’s just say cheating was a thing in this book, but I’m not even sure it can be called cheating. It was very confusing.
The whole situation was a mess. Because Emma loved her husband but so much time had past that she was an entirely different person than she when they were married. But, could she really marry her fiancé knowing she had been given a second chance with her not-so-departed husband?
“Just because something isn’t meant to last a lifetime doesn’t mean it wasn’t meant to be.”
The book does take the second chance romance trope and flip it on its head. Because, Emma has a second chance not only with her husband, but her new fiancé happens to be an old friend that asked her out back in high school. So, what do you do when you get two second chances at love? Who do you belong with? For me it’s not even a question, but it’s a unique situation one that I can happily say I’ve never been in.
The thing this book had going for it wasn’t the plot, the characters, or even the romance – it was the writing. Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing style is very easy to read, bordering on addictive. I can see why so many people adore this author. I am interested in picking up some more of her more popular books, since I’m sure they are just as well written. And, hopefully the plots of those books are more up my alley.
Overall, this book is a super quick one day romance read that deals with grief, second chances, and PTSD. Also, be aware that you might be able to predict the ending early on as I did but I know that doesn’t bother some readers. As for me, I probably won’t be watching the movie adaptation, and I think that kind of says it all.
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Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny
The Violent Season by Sara Walters: I was lucky enough to get approved for an audiobook ARC copy from Netgalley. Unfortunately, I got 30% of the way through it and had to DNF the book. There wasn’t anything particularly horrible about the plot or characters. But the whole time I was listening to it I could only imagine it as a film. The plot was a bit all over the place, so I think seeing it would have been easier seeing the story play out on screen.
Wilder Girls by Rory Power: This is a feminist retelling of ‘Lord Of The Flies’ by William Golding. It is a sapphic horror that is said to be pretty dark at times. The plot follows a group of girls that must quarantine inside their school due to a deadly toxicson. This straight up seems like a thriller film. It’s like ‘The Faculty’ meets the Hulu Original series ‘Freakish’. I would totally watch this movie, but I’m not necessarily inclined to read the book.
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson: I can already see these books as Netflix original movies. I started the first book, but put it down before even making a dent in the story. The pacing was slow and didn’t grip me. I think that if these books were films or a mini series the drawn-out plot wouldn’t be so bad. Granted I didn’t get very far into story before setting it aside, so it could get better. However, I still think the this book series would be perfect to adapt for film or TV.
Title: Dash and Lily