This is such a beautifully written book. So emotional and sensitively handled. Lou is a wonderful character who lives on in the chapters and her challenge to the Joe and the family. It’s a reminder that despite all that life throws at you, family needs to remain at the heart of everything.

It may be emotional and an interesting subject matter but the manner in which it was written made it very hard going. I found it difficult to read and not a particular enjoyable book unfortunately.

Thank you NetGalley, author Lorraine Fouchet, and publisher for giving me a free arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
5 stars
This book was so heartbreakingly beautiful. A journey for those who are left behind when their loved one passes away.
This book follows Joe, a husband who's wife has recently passed. After the reading of the conditions of his wife's will, Joe is confused and angry with the stipulations his wife placed upon opening the bottle with the final messages from his wife. Lou's only wish is to have her estranged family reunited again as they once were in the early days of their marriage. As Joe goes about fulfilling the terms of the will, he is set on a journey of getting to know his grown children and what it means to heal the pains of the past. This story is told from the povs of Joe, Lou, and their children. Each character was well developed and had their own unique voice. The writing was beautiful and yet funny at times. I really enjoyed Apple, the feisty granddaughter. She was so spirited and went after what she wanted. I loved the messages of both family and grief. Grief is dealt with in different ways by the people within the family. These messages were woven expertly throughout this story that made for a very satisfying ending. Overall, I really enjoyed this story so much that it had to be completed in one day. I can't wait to read more books by this author in the future!

Joe doesn't know how he will reunite his fractured family as his beloved wife Lou wished but he'll try the list she left him. Set on the delgihgful island of Groix, this is a story about forgiveness and reconciliation. Everyone (including the now deceased Lou) has their say (which can be a bit much at times). Joe's son Cyrian has two daughters, Apple and Charlotte, who are key to the story. Sarah, his daughter, is trying to heal but chooses the wrong men. It's a good, emotional read that sees a family face the ways things have gone awry and addressing them. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Lou suffers from a rare type of dementia and dies in her fifties. She leaves behind a message in a bottle, charging her husband Joe a challenging task: he has two months to reunite their patchwork family who's members have fallen out with each other. Luckily for him, Lou has thought of everything to help him along, with a list of family activities and recipes.

What a beautifully written story this is. It starts with Lou's funeral, She leaves behind her husband Joe and their two adult children. She wants Joe to get her family talking again. The story is told from multiple points of view. The book is filled with drama and love. It's both heart-warming and heart-breaking. Emotions run wild. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #HodderStoughton and the author #LorraineFouchet for my ARC of #ABucketListToDieFor in exchange for an honest review.

Heartwarming and beautiful. I loved the idea of the bucket list and how it was exected. Although the narrative was a bit too jumpy for my own reading tastes, the text reads easily and feels so warm with the family story unravelling. I loved how grief and family dinamics were depicted in this book.❤

What a tear jerker!!
This was a very emotional read and a beautiful story.
First time I've read a book by this author but will definitely be seeing what else is available on Amazon

Good. Shows the effect of grief on a family and how it can affect people in different ways. Also it shows how we go to any lengths to make sure that a dieing person's last wish is granted. This book is also a rollercoaster of emotions.

I’m so sorry but I couldn’t get into this book, it was jumping around quite a bit and I don’t know if it was the translation that was just not right but I didn’t get very far through ....... I may try again in the future.

A beautifully written, heartwarming story of a recently widowed husband trying to restore harmony in his family, with the help and direction from his decreased wife. Life is short, family is important, don't sweat the small stuff-some of the lessons repeated in this story. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for a honest review

Oh man, where do sad hearts go? I felt like this book tore my heart and tried to mend it again because wow! Thank you Hodder & Stoughton for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.. This is heartbreaking tugs at the heart story about a man trying to get his family back together, following the devastating death of his wife.. Brilliantly written and very moving. I highly recommend it. Read it with a box of tissues nearby because it's amazing and I promise you will also laugh sometimes

What a beautiful read about a kind man trying to hold his family together after the death of his beloved wife. Lou and Joe were a match made in heaven and they enjoyed a simple life on the island of Groix. This story told through various viewpoints of different characters helps move the story month through month. I adored Joe's spunky grandaughter who really led the charge through most of the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what a beautiful, beautiful book!
It shreds your heart to pieces and then it puts them back, but in a better order than before.
The first scene, when Joe (with a turquoise "joseph" on his shoulders) speaks to Lou, is heartbreaking, as is the one when Joe and Sara dance together to no music.
This book manages to be tears jerking and funny at the same time. Wonderfully written!! Multiple narrators, so many I lost counts, but so well written that it not confusing at all.
Definitely recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once I had got used to the writing style (story told from multi narrators) I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Lou is married to Joe and has a dysfunctional family. When she is diagnosed with a rare form of dementia and dies aged only 56 she leaves Joe a task of reuniting the family which must be done within 2 months.
The story is told with very deep meaning and emotions running wild. It is a story which is heartbreaking but also beautiful at the same time.
Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book in advance and it is one I would thoroughly recommend.

This is an emotional story with grief, love, family, dysfunction, death and reconnection.
Lou has a terminal illness and as she slowly fades away, she has left a list to be completed after she is gone.
Lou has has given Joe, her husband, the task of accomplishing her goals of reconciling their children, spouses and grandchildren. They are a tough group and there is a time limit!
This is definitely not an easy task and in the book, Lou interjects her opinion of Joe's progress with this chore, which I truly enjoyed.
The story was a quick read for me. I needed to find out if Lou's wishes were granted.
Well done!

When Lou's grieving widow Joe is called in to see her solicitor, he learns that she has set him a challenge. He must help their fractured family to re-unite and help each other, including him. The various characters are vividly and poignantly portrayed, especially his two granddaughters whose relationship proves so important. to the plot. The setting on Breton island of Groix, where many families have lived for generations and everyone knows everyone else is an integral feature of the story. The author has a fluid style that works well with the multiple perspectives. Don't miss the recipes and fascinating 'Afterword'.

The storyline will weave you through highs & lows, family dramas & the emotions of life and death! It’s heartwarming, heartbreaking and makes you think!

‘I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own’.

An emotional read which I thoroughly enjoyed. A poignant tale exploring the upheaval of a disjointed family after the death with dementia of a grandmother who was pivotal in keeping them all together. I found I got totally immersed in the family's lives with their wonderfully depicted characters.. The book is written with several voices from within and outside the family and covers the aftermath of the death set in a few locations but mostly in the small island of Groix, which does exist off the Brittany coast from L'Orient. Despite the central sadness of the book there is plenty of feelgood warmth and even a touch of humour hidden in the pages. A delightful read and I look forward to reading more from this author, probably originally written in French as the author is French but flows well in English.

If the love of your life had died how would you cope?
Well this book explores this from multiple perspectives including the person who died, Lou. This isn't as spoiler as the death is in the title.
Though I found this book very interesting it didn't seem like a Bucket list and more like a request to die for. But the plot of the 'bucket list' helps tie in characters who have been affected by Lou's death together in ways which may not have transpired if Lou had not died.
This is the perfect book for a person who enjoys a Nicholas Sparks book but wants more plotlines as less romance. An exploration of sisters to friends and a husband and wife to lovers.
The inclusion of disability and how it is treated in the book is brilliant as most books include a disability as a characteristic and not as a life altering condition and how it can change a person's life. For this I congratulate Lorraine Fouchet on their writing.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you NetGalley, Lorraine Fouchet and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC of A Bucket List To Die For.
This is my personal review.
Lou is a loving mother and wife who is suffering from a rare type of dementia. She leaves her husband a message in a bottle that tells him he has two months to bring their family back together. The family has become estranged, and she wants them to be a family again. After her death she hopes the message in the bottle will make her family whole again.
Lou has left her husband a list of things to do to bring them family back together.
The story is written in such a way that the voices of many are heard as the family tries to reunite.
The author did a beautiful job of telling the story to make me feel a connection with everyone in the book.