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kelly_e's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Author: Abby Jimenez
Series: The Friend Zone #3
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: April 6, 2021
T H R E E • W O R D S
Witty • Tender • Wholesome
📖 S Y N O P S I S
When Vanessa Price quit her job to pursue her dream of traveling the globe, she wasn't expecting to gain millions of YouTube followers who shared her joy of seizing every moment. For her, living each day to its fullest isn't just a motto. Her mother and sister never saw the age of 30, and Vanessa doesn't want to take anything for granted.
But after her half sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in custody of her baby daughter, life goes from "daily adventure" to "next-level bad". The last person Vanessa expects to show up offering help is the hot lawyer next door, Adrian Copeland. After all, she barely knows him. No one warned her that he was the Secret Baby Tamer or that she'd be spending a whole lot of time with him and his geriatric Chihuahua.
Now she's feeling things she's vowed not to feel. Because the only thing worse than falling for Adrian is finding a little hope for a future she may never see.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Life's Too Short was the final book of Abby's repertoire on my TBR. The third installment in The Friend Zone companion series, I knew the major plot centered around ALS, and that there was a social media aspect as well. I knew very little more than that, which is exactly how I like to go into her books.
Another signature Abby tale with witty banter, complex characters and mental health representation. I really liked both Vanessa and Adrian, they each felt so wholesome. Getting both of their POVs allows for a more in depth look into their thoughts and actions. Their connection was believable very early on and felt genuine. Their ability to co-parent was organic and simply beautiful. Additionally, I loved getting to see Vanessa's relationship with her family and how each one dealt with the tragic losses in a different way. This really shows how grief is deeply personal.
For me, the first half was definitely stronger. The manner in which the whole medical aspect was handled didn't sit well with me. It became harder and harder to believe as the story progresses and at times felt dragged out. I understand Abby wanted to add depth, yet I think it could have easily been done in a different way and it would have worked better.
Life's Too Short was an enjoyable story with realistic and flawed characters, yet it was easily my least favourite of Abby's books (even though there were aspects I adored). Regardless, I have come to the end of Abby's backlist and will be impatiently waiting for her next release.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• modern families
• furry companions
• Abby Jimenez
⚠️ CW: mental illness, addiction, drug use, drug abuse, overdose, death, death of parent, sibling death, grief, car accident, terminal illness, chronic illness, abandonment, dementia, panic attacks/disorders, sexual content, cursing, medical content, pregnancy, hoarding, toxic relationship, infidelity
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"'Life is no excuse,' she said. "You should always have an adventure lined up. Having something to look forward to is tantamount to happiness.'"
"There are people you can know for a lifetime and they never get your heart. And then there are those who are already inside it, before you ever lay eyes on them."
Graphic: Terminal illness, Mental illness, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Grief, Sexual content, Drug use, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Death, and Car accident
Minor: Dementia, Cursing, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
overdose, sibling death, hoardingsgjohnson2001's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Abandonment
juanat77's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Addiction, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Excrement, Medical content, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Death of parent, Infidelity, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
amylferg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
You have beautiful, world travel-vlogger superstar, Vanessa Price who has returned home to help her sister with the birth of her new baby - only for her sister to drop off her baby and never come back. This is on par with her families regular antics which Vanessa pretty much single handedly deals with 24/7.
Cue her next door neighbour and the building owner, Adrian Copeland, who is woken up at 3am to the screaming baby next door. He decides to go check on them (to hopefully get some sleep) and finds a very worn out Vanessa in desperate need of a shower. After this random encounter, their friendship really blossoms into something beautiful.
They become each other’s biggest support systems - Vanessa’s contribution is more spiritual & emotional whereas Adrian is like Vanessa’s rock. She’s been strong on her own for so long, Adrian is just there to lend whatever hand he can.
Abby has a great talent in writing very emotional, deep stories and characters and this one was no exception. It covers very heavy and triggering topics such as addiction, terminal illness, child and familial abandonment, mental health struggles - to name a few. But the end result is wonderful story of a family overcoming copious amounts of struggles to become stronger both together and as individuals.
Graphic: Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Addiction
Moderate: Abandonment
sarahgee76's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Terminal illness and Mental illness
hopelessromanticbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Just WOW! I picked this book up hoping to get out of my reading slump and it was such an emotional rollercoaster.
This book follows a young woman called Vanessa who has the gene of ALS and has been passed down through the women of her family. She basically was living life to the fullest, travelling the world and filling up her travel vlog on YouTube…until a baby literally was left with her and halted all the plans. What’s even more annoying for Vanessa is she has a grumpy, sexy, ‘Jesus abs’ neighbour who wanted her to shut the baby up at 4am…it’s not like that’s what she had been trying to do 😅 before he started knocking on her door.
When reading this book (and unable to put it down), it had humour , moments that was so cute!, times I just wanted to bang the main characters heads together, heartbreak that left me calling them both idiots and of course an emotional and sweet ending.
I loved the emotional storyline that was beautifully represented. The characters were so diverse and had a mixture of real life problems, relationships & families
This book is a Grumpy/Sunshine & Friends to Lovers romance. It shows representation of the struggles with ALS, Drug Addict, Grief, Mental Health Issues & LGBTQ+ x
Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, Terminal illness, Death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, and Car accident
mels_reading_log's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dementia, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
lawoodworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Mental illness
cathyo_113's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
My other issue with Vanessa’s character is that she acted with what I perceive as cowardice toward the end of the book. Instead of having hard conversations or meeting the hard feelings head on, she runs. Literally escapes and leaves (almost) everyone.
Adrian Copeland - the MMC and cousin to Josh (from The Friend Zone) - needed therapy. And the author wrote that in at the last minute to lump in with the grand gesture at the end. But even with one month’s time of intensive therapy, such behavioral change may not always seem realistic. I also did not like the inclusion of the description of the benefits of psychotherapy in the epilogue. Should have been introduced sooner.
I felt that this book was slightly a redo of the Friend Zone, with a different major, life changing illness looming about the FMC’s head. Plus an MMC who was choosing to be with the FMC, in spite of it. I do think Adrian’s ultimatum was a dick move, but Vanessa withheld info and he could not act out a grand gesture and apologize.
I think I hate-read the remaining 75% because the 3rd act breakup was written in at that point. Why a 3rd break up at that point? It was so late in the story and took up space that could have better been used exploring therapy and other character development, as well as major declarations of love and support.
Also the ending in the epilogue only served to show that Vanessa should have seen a doctor sooner about her hand because it was serious, but not ALS.
I’m disappointed with this read because the last 40 pages gave me whiplash. I was only just processing Vanessa’s choice to leave when Adrian rushed in to make it an HEA.
Graphic: Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Addiction
Moderate: Mental illness
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
- contemporary fictional romcom & final installment
- first-person dual POV of love interests
- Friends-to-lovers, nextdoor-neighbor, opposites-attract, & mega strong messaging of be-grateful-for-your-life story set in Minnesota
- FMC travel YouTube blogger/influencer Vanessa
- MMC lawyer Adrian (went on a date with Sloan in the last book) // Vanessa is fostering her younger sister’s baby, since her younger sister Annabel is struggling with addiction
- Adrian knocks on her door to ask her to quiet the baby down but they end up becoming friends
- Adrian is dumped by his girlfriend of eight months, after telling him she was married
- Cameos from previous series characters, much to my chagrin because FOUR KIDS?! REALLY, FOUR KIDS?! WITH THAT MEDICAL HISTORY?! LITERALLY FORK OFF
- Really dislike the making fun of “micro penises” & “nothing is that deep” mentality in here 😭
- cw: terminal illness, chronic illness (ALS), addiction, drug abuse, abandonment, mental illness, panic attacks/disorders, hoarding
- steam 1/5
Graphic: Chronic illness, Addiction, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Sexual content