Jennifer is sitting at her doctor’s office and he’s just told her she has a rare blood disorder which is aggressive and untreatable. She was completely unprepared for the news given that she is only 43 years old and was only just feeling bloated and tired. Surely it could be some other diagnosis but there it is, she now has three months left to live.

Stunned, she leaves the doctors office and rather than thinking of a bucket list of things she needs to do before the end, she decides to instead write three very honest and heartfelt letters to the people that have hurt her the most. Her sister, her ex-husband and her ex-boyfriend.

Yes, there are scenes where Jennifer is crying and bemoaning her fate and but many others where she decides to throw caution to the wind and have some fun. She has a wonderful best friend who is there to rally around her and it seems her letters have some very positive consequences.

Really liked Jennifer and could understand why she dealt with some of the people in her life the way she did. What I had a hard time with was her accepting her fate without more questions but then again, I guess then we wouldn’t have a story. So, you do have to gloss over that aspect and enjoy the story-telling.

Jennifer Cole was informed that she only has three months to live. The book felt slow in the beginning and I struggled to stay focused, but eventually the plot captured my attention and it was a more interesting read. This is a story of what Jennifer will do with the three months she has left. She pursues closure for the relationships left in the air where she felt she didn't express herself as she would have preferred; her ex husband, her ex lover, and her sister. Olivia, Jennifer's best-friend, plays a huge part in Jennifer's story and is a reminder that facing difficult seasons in our lives is best handled when faced by someone close that loves and cares for us. Jennifer discovers that although she is dying, the remaining three months she is living out she's lived fully and unapologetically.

Thank you publisher and netgalley for the early copy!

I could not connect with the writing style and decided to put it down.

Even though the subject of the book was dark, I found the tone to be rather upbeat. Each chapter is a countdown in relation to how many days the protaganist has left to live. The author walked a fine line between maintaining an equalibrium between dark and light and sometimes she struggled. The secondary characters were a bit unlikeable making me question the main character's judgement.

This was... something. The concept was there! 90 days to live, incurable condition, what are all the things you would do if you knew that your time was super, super limited? I liked that part. But Jennifer sucked. I don't even have another word for it, she was just so annoying that it brought the whole story down for me. I also felt like the ending was not great.

Jennifer has an ordinary life . She is single and has a good job in HR. She finds out she has a blood disorder and is during. She is only forty three years old.

An interesting premise (woman is mistakenly given the diagnosis of terminal illness), but the novel fell flat due to unlikeable characters and a writing style that was distracting in its too-frequent slips into melodrama. Too often, the writer tells rather than shows action and emotion and overly relies on cliched language ("sharp intake of breath," "steely gaze," "she nodded sagely"). More importantly, I didn't believe the sisters' reconciliation; it seemed to come too easily after years of poisonous jealously and competition.

I just didn't like anyone in this book. The premise could be good but I didn't have sympathy for anyone which really undercut the topic which was dealing with a terminal disease. I just didn't care.

Sometimes persistence pays off. This book was pitched to me at least four times for review and each time I passed. Not because I didn’t want to read it, I just didn’t think I could fit it in anywhere close to the review date.

It wasn’t until the book physically arrived at my house that I took some real stock of my review calendar to see if I could accommodate this book. The publicist for this book raved about it with such passion that I felt compelled to work it in. I hate missing out on great books simply for calendar purposes so I made it happen.

I snuck in little bits of this book here and there each day and before I knew it, I was completely invested in this book and quickly saw what the big fuss was all about!

Summary

There’s nothing like being told that in three months you’ll be dead to make you think about what you really want in life

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 (summary from Goodreads).

Review

So the first line of the summary already makes this book sound depressing: There’s nothing like being told that in three months you’ll be dead to make you think about what you really want in life. But don’t let that fool you, this book tackles the taboo and difficult topic of death with classic British dark humor. To be honest, given that this is such a heavy topic, I was surprised that the terminal illness part wasn’t really the focus of the book but rather the character sharing her grievances.

This book inevitably makes the reader think about what they would do if they only had a few months to live. I know that I, like many readers, pondered this question throughout the novel and in all honesty, I have no idea what I would do but I appreciated that Jennifer was open and honest about how she was feeling toward the people in her life and I felt like her letters reflected honest feelings and thoughts from her character.

I think one of the hardest things for be about this book was that Jennifer at times was a doormat and I had a hard time relating to that aspect of her character, but the way she evolves was interesting and honest. I personally wouldn’t care about any of my ex’s if I had a terminal illness but to each their own. Some people still harbor complex feelings about former lovers and if that’s what Jennifer felt like she needed to do to resolve her feelings then to each their own.

I was surprised by how fulfilled I was once I finished this book. It was unexpected and welcome. While there were some things about this book that didn’t always work for me, in the end I enjoyed it and felt content once I was finished.

Book Info and Rating

Hardcover, 352 pages
Published July 9th 2019 by Pamela Dorman Books
ISBN 0525562117 (ISBN13: 9780525562115)
Free review copy provided by publisher, Pamela Dorman Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: women’s fiction

3.5 stars rounded up
This is a light, sweet novel with a great deal to say about living life on your own terms, not what everyone expects from you or bound by fear and insecurity.
I really appreciated Jennifer's journey when she is told that she has three months to live. She made some surprising choices, but overall they make for an engaging story that kept me turning pages to discover what would happen next.
In a way, I felt like I came into this book in the middle of a story--Jen has all sorts of friends/relationships/etc. and it takes a while to figure out who is who and how things fit together. This made it a bit more difficult to get into the book than I would have liked, but by the end it did all make sense.
I particularly liked Jennifer and her sister's relationship. It was realistic and heartwarming at the same time, I liked that they confronted their pasts and found that their individual views of how they were raised had shaped much of their behavior. It was very meaningful and inspired me to have some more in-depth conversations with my friends and family.
Recommended for those who like drama and humorous stories. Small warning: language for those who might be sensitive.

This is my first book from Miss Cantor and I found myself relating so heavily with the heroine.

While I might not be dying, I have been on the receiving end of that fate. Being told that a loved only has days to live, is a frightening feeling.

What would you do if you were told you have approximately 90 days to live?

With Jennifer’s decision to write letters to the people who from her past helps with the burden she’s been carrying.

With friends supporting her, she ultimately finds a way to not to be angry about her future. But the story isn’t so cut and dry. There’s some twists in there.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would!

ARC generously provided by Netgalley, publisher and author!

I'm the wrong kind of person for books like this. It was too hokey and too syrupy for me.

Jennifer Cole is dying in three months. She spends time writing letters to people in her past. She then basically goes Girls Gone Wild in a chick -lit sort of way.

I feel like it was trying to pull at heartstrings and I guess mine are a little tough.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I had no idea what to expect with this book, and I was pleasantly surprised. So many things happened and I genuinely liked walking along with Jennifer in her story. I thought it was well done how the stages of grief were talked about and fleshed out. I also liked the message that life is too short to be ruled by fear, but to take chances, live a little!
Trigger Warning: There was a sex scene (that I had to skip over), some language, discussion about suicide and impending death.

What would you do if you were told you have approximately 90 days to live? Jennifer, after making one bad decision and having sex with a man she meets on the heath, decides to write letters to several people who are important to her. She unburdens herself on her ex-husband, an ex-lover, and most importantly her sister and, as a result, is able to resuscitate the relationships. Her pal Olivia, a terrific friend, is along for the ride, supporting her all the way. Her friend Anna Marie, on the other hand, takes her for a reiki- what a great description of the experience! There's also a great scene in the bathroom of the Wolseley. Cantor has thrown in a twist I didn't see going but should have and then more twists after that. No spoilers but this does have a happy ending. Thanks to the publisher for he ARC. it's a quick read because Cantor's an excellent storyteller. It might also make you think about who you would write to and what you would say in these circumstances.

I sadly didn't like this book. I ended up DNF'ing at the 30% mark. Hopefully it finds the right readers who will appreciate the story and writing. But this one wasn't for me and I've learned that its okay!!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

this was such an up and down book for me. it was hopeful and depressing, happy and sad. i struggled a lot with the main character and some of her actions. i mean, who knows how i would act given the same news, but eh. just didn't work for me especially.

Wow. This book ended up not working for me at all. Probably because the initial premise (Jennifer Cole) being diagnosed with an incurable condition giving her months to live didn't really get focused on too much. Instead we focused on Jennifer writing letters to her ex-husband, her ex's current wife, her ex-lover, her ex-childhood friend, and her sister. Yeah these are all people that Jennifer had or has issues with and who she wants to clear things off her chest. It could have been done in a funny way, but it didn't work for me. Don't get me started on how the big suddenly changes mid-stream into Jennifer becoming obsessed with her ex, then a lie, another lie, and then the book tries to jump to some chick lit ending. That is not to disparage chick lit by the way, it just didn't fit with the initial parts of the book at all.

"Death and Other Happy Endings" has just been told she has 90 days before she will die. After telling her best friend and crying (I would be too) her friend encourages her to write letters to people she still has a lot of complicated feelings about. So she does. And then mayhem ensues. I won't get into everyone's response, but am going to say that Jennifer and her sister's relationship being changed was the only highlight in this story. After Jennifer reconnects with her ex it just becomes about him. And believe me if I got a deadly diagnosis I would not give two shits about any of my ex's. I would be trying to squeeze things in that I want to do and let the people I love know how much I love them. Anyway.

I didn't like Jennifer much. Her life seems really empty and her house is always cold and apparently dirty. It's like she gave up on anything before her diagnosis. It would have been wonderful to see her embrace life or something, but nope she's just obsessed about her ex.

Jennifer's sister is a mess. You read about their past relationship and I can see why they are not close. But them trying to be close had some laugh out loud moments which is why I gave this book two stars.

Jennifer's ex I think was named Harry. Harry sucks and the fact that Jennifer refused to see it was frustrating to read after a while.

Jennifer writing a letter to her ex's current wife was a bit much for me. It had been a decade I think in the book's timeline so her acting like a woman scorned and her saying what about the sisterhood didn't work for me.

Jennifer's ex was a wanker.

The writing felt choppy after a while. I got bored and then Cantor throws in a twist I saw coming. And then there's another twist I didn't see coming, but at that point I didn't care. The flow of the book was all messed up honestly. I don't know a way to fix it. I think trying to shoehorn everything into one book didn't work.

The book ends on what I think they see as a happy ending but I went oh boy that's going to be a mess eventually.

I just could not get into this book. The main character is given 90 days to live and she starts trying to say her goodbyes and make amends in her life. She focuses on three relationships in her past that she wishes had turned out differently. Nothing really compelled me to fall in love with this character and I just did not really care how her story turned out. I kept coming back to the book, but in the end, I was not even able to finish it. I was most turned off when she randomly had sex in the park with a complete stranger. The whole thing was just very weird and did not compel me to keep reading to see what would happen.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a Kindle ARC of Death and Other Happy Endings.

Jennifer Cole is a middle-aged woman who has just been given three months to live. As a result, she decides to write letters to a few people who have wronged her, including her brat of a sister, her dick of an ex, and her selfish boyfriend.

Naturally, when you realize you only live once, Jennifer finds herself acting out of character, causing a typical landslide of chick-lit events, which all come crashing down when she finds herself back in the doctor's office, but with a new lease on life.

The premise is nothing new; the main character discovers he or she has only X amount of time left on this mortal plane and either makes amends with people he or she has wronged or engages in YOLO behaviors that help her or him see life is worth living.

The thing is, I didn't like Jennifer. She had a wishy washy, doormat-y personality. It was hard to believe she was in her mid-forties; she whined and moaned about her exes like a 14 year old.

The writing was okay, but I didn't feel invested in the story or people and the ending was typical chick-lit happy-ever-after.

This book was not for me but others might like a feel good story with this kind of premise.

A different take on an old story line, with some twists, Jennifer is told she only has 90 days to live. Her friend Olivia convinces her to write letters to people in Jennifer’s past who she wants some closure with, expressing her feelings. As she proceeds, there are some very humorous moments. I liked the twists, no spoilers, thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.