Someone Else's Bucket List by Amy T. Matthews first drew me in with its intriguing title, and the promise of an unforgettable adventure. While it certainly delivers some bucket list moments, I found myself to be emotionally engaged with protagonist Jodie, whose courage in the face of unimaginable grief will have you rooting for this self-professed underdog.

Jodie has always felt a little adrift in life, and it doesn't help that her sister Bree is living out her dreams as a highly successful Instagram influencer. When the full of life Bree succumbs to leukemia, she leaves her unfinished bucket list for her sister to finish on her behalf. While it is a big ask, it might just be the push that Jodie needs to learn to live again, while at the same time honouring her beloved sibling.

This one certainly tugs at the heartstrings, and is sure to resonate with readers. I look forward to reading more from this author. 4.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an ARC.

This book has been difficult for me as I lost my best friend to the after affects of leukemia. At first it felt a little “simple” and like it could have gone more in depth on Bree’s life but I lost that feeling a little ways into the book. What a delightful story about someone’s memory living on after they have passed!

When Bree Boyd dies of leukemia she leaves a mountain of medical debt to her family. As they struggle through the grief and work towards paying it off they find she's left them one last surprise. She's left her bucket list and asked her sister Jodie to finish the last few things she didn't get to do.
This was a wonderfully written book about loss and how to carry on after. Bree spent her life fully immersed in living but sees her sister holds herself back and wants to make sure she comes back from what she knows will be a major loss. I loved that Bree, who saw herself as almost invincible, is able to pivot at the end of her life and make a plan to pull her family out of the hole of grief once she's gone. The love for family, blood or chosen, is highlighted through the plot in this book. This is such a unique story and I feel it will stick with me for a while. I was hooked from chapter one and stayed up well past my normal bedtime to finish this book in one sitting.

This was “PS, I Love You” between sisters.

I enjoyed the story of Jodie crawling out of her shell when she has to take on the challenge thrown in her lap by her glamorous, daring sister Bree, world traveler and social media “influencer”, who dies far too young of cancer.

Jodie has been coasting by in life, but the crippling debt of her sister’s care means she needs to shake things up and take on her sister’s social media “bucket list” challenge – in the hopes of digging her family out of debt.
The story lagged a bit in the middle, but once Jodie began tackling Bree’s bucket list, it hit its stride. I enjoy stories of women reevaluating their lives, and Jodie’s brush with (otherwise superficial influencer life) allows her to do just that.

As a reader, however, I was bothered by a big accuracy issue. I loved that Jodie was athletic and played boys’ baseball on her high school varsity team. Was a little taken aback to learn she was “the best” on the team, and assumed it was a small high school playing at a low level, so imagine my surprise when I learned two of her teammates were Division I recruits for college baseball. Worse, the two Division I recruits were favored by the coach even through Jodie “was the best” and was the one who should have been scouted by a Division I men’s college baseball team … had her coach not been “so sexist”. No. Sorry. Big plot hole here that one of the editors could have picked up on by speaking to absolutely anyone who knows anything about competitive college sports recruiting.

Despite this (glaring) research error, this was a fun novel, and worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy - all thoughts are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I really enjoyed this book! While the first few chapters were a bit slow and desperately sad, I couldn't tear myself away from this touching story. I was truly invested in all of the characters and enjoyed each one immensely. So much happened and I really enjoyed the adventure as well as the emotional journey. This is a laugh and cry book, depressing, uplifting, sugary sweet and just all around a good read.

TW: Cancer, death, anxiety, depression.

I requested to read “Someone Else's Bucket List” by Amy Matthews because I was intrigued about the concept of someone finding herself while working to complete someone else’s final wishes. Here, we meet Jodie who lost her sister, popular influencer, Bree. Bree’s final wish—she desired for her sister to complete her bucket list.

Jodie has always lived in Bree’s shadow. Bree, with more than a million followers, shared her adventures as she travels around the world. But living the charmed life does not protect Bree from getting cancer. After her death, a post on her sister’s Instagram feed stuns Jodie: she is given a set of challenges she must complete because her sister never got a chance to.

I thought the book achieved a good balance of allowing Jodie to grieve but during the process, discover who she is. Parts of the novel were slow, and I thought the romance was a little contrived, but overall, I enjoyed reading about Jodie’s journey.

Three and a half stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

Unfortunately I just could not get into this book. I gave it a few chapters and I wish I could pinpoint what the turnoff was but I just can't get there. For some reason I felt like I was forcing myself to read each page and really yearned for a book where I wanted to turn pages quickly

This is a beautiful story about love. Bree was the embodiment of pure and unadulterated joy. She was thrilled to live and live she did. It was certainly understandable why the color yellow followed her everywhere she went. In sharp contrast, Jodie chose to live her life as a grey, shapeless husk. In forgetting how to live, she couldn't find joy. Yet in performing the final items in Bree's bucket list to help her family and those in the ward, she felt magic come back into her life. Her life and those she met along the way just further enhanced it. She jumped off the cliff and in doing so, found true love in Kelly. There are no guarantees but not taking the rest is far worse than seeing if what you want could come true.

Get your tissues ready! This is a story of joy and sorrow, grief and celebration, living and dying, weakness and strength, fear and courage. I almost didn't read this one but I'm so glad I did. Jodie's sister Bree is dying of cancer. Her 100 item bucket list has 6 items left and if Jodie can complete them Iris Air, Bree's Instagram sponsor, will pay off all of her medical bills. The characters grip your imagination and you become a member of their family as they experience the ups and downs of this crazy life. By far, one of the best books I have read this year.
#SomeoneElse'sBucketList#NetGalley#KensingtonBooks

This was kind of a sad book. It mostly talked about how the main character was dying. I was hoping for less of that and seeing more of the bucket list. It was a good book besides for the 3rd person pov which is not my favorite point of view. Still a good story though.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher.

All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Amy T. Matthews brings the reader into the world of a grieving family after a beloved daughter dies suddenly from cancer. She masterfully portrays the difficulty of grief, while telling the uplifting story of a sister trying to complete her deceased sister's bucket list. Overall, this book was satisfying, if a little slow and predictable at times.

The book was bittersweet but more on a sweet side. For me sometimes too sweet. It is "P.S I Love You" but sister to sister. Did I like a book? I did but I don't think it was something extraordinary. It was kind of an american dream stroy recorded for an instagram. No exactly my cup of tea, but good book for an autumn evening.

I picked up this book because I thought the premise was good. A death sparks a surviving family member to complete the unfinished bucket list of the deceased.

I was not able to finish this book. Here are my thoughts on what I did read. The book summary says: "Someone Else's Bucket List follows shy Jodie Boyd after the untimely death of her outgoing, hugely successful Instagram influencer sister, Bree" And yet, the first 1/3 of the book was what focused on the last year of the dying sister from her hospital bed. You have to go through 33% of this book from the perspective of the dying sister and feel those emotions. This is not what I was expecting nor would I have chosen to read it had I known it was to be such a significant portion of the book.

But I got past that and read until I had to put it down midway through the book. Once we did get to the promised plotline- it felt shallow. There was no depth in the main character, Jodie. There was repetitiveness in the conveyance of grief, and I felt like I knew what was going to happen so early on and there would be no surprises. I was not intrigued enough to keep reading.

This was a sweet story, but unfortunately the writing fell flat for me. I thought the idea was original, but really struggled to get through the book because the of the writing style.

I just love this story!
Learning how to love, live and be happy (even out of your comfort zone) from your sister's bucket list is emotional, sad, happy and just enthralling! Wow!
Jodie and Bree are so very different and yet, had and still have that sisterly connection we all wish we had. Can Bree share with Jodie her hopes and dreams even if not here?

The story is well written, in great detail and perfectly done.
I loved both these women.
You will not go wrong cracking the pages of this novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Kensington Books for this Arc and allowing me to read and provide my own review.

Someone Else’s Bucket List is a bittersweet book about losing people who are important to you and making sure we live the life we have to its fullest. Sadly losing those important people can teach us the best lessons about being true to ourselves and believing in the big dreams - as impossible or difficult as that may sound.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this sweet ARC.

I was immediately drawn to the title of this novel, I am fascinated by bucket lists, those who have them, those who complete them, and those who wish they had them.

Someone Else's Bucket List follows shy Jodie Boyd after the untimely death of her outgoing, hugely successful Instagram influencer sister, Bree, and Bree’s last wish: that Jodie complete her bucket list.

My dying wish is for you to finish my bucket list. I refuse to die without knowing this list will be completed. And I refuse to die without knowing my family will be okay.

Jodie Boyd is a shy and anxious twenty-something, completely unsure what to do with her life. Her older sister, Bree, is an adventurous, globe-trotting, hugely successful Instagram influencer with more than a million followers. She’s the most alive person Jodie knows—up until Bree’s unfathomable, untimely death from Leukemia. The Boyds are devastated, not to mention overwhelmed with medical debt. But Bree thought of everything—and soon, Jodie is shocked by a new post on her sister’s Instagram feed.

The first of many Bree recorded in secret, the post foretells a jaw-dropping challenge for Jodie: to complete Bree’s very public bucket list. From “Fly over Antarctica,” to “Perform a walk-on cameo in a Broadway musical,” if Jodie does it—and keeps all Bree’s followers—a corporate sponsor will pay off the staggering medical debt. If she gains followers, the Boyds won’t be the only ones to benefit. It’s crazy. It’s terrifying. It’s impossible, immoral even, to refuse. So, despite the whole world watching, Jodie plunges in, never imagining that in death, her sister will teach her how to live, and that the last item on the list—“Fall in love”—may just prove to be the easiest.

This book was really good and I'm glad I picked it up. Not blessed with a family of my own, I soak up books featuring families and siblings, loving the dynamics.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

As badly as I wanted to finish this book j could not get past the flip between first person pov to narrator

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Kensington Books and #NetGalley. Thank you to the publishers, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

A lovely story with relatable characters.

this was a beautifully done story, it completed what I was hoping for from the description. I enjoyed everything that was going on and was invested in the storyline. The characters are what I was hoping for and I really felt for these characters. It was a beautifully done story about loss and I'm glad I was able to read this.

“You’re a brave woman, Boyd,” he said quietly. No, she really wasn’t. A brave woman wouldn’t be lying here frozen, next to the man she’d once dreamed about. A brave woman would seize the moment . . . She was a coward."