"Someone Else's Bucket List" is a bittersweet book. It explores grief and continuing on for those left behind when a loved one dies. At times, it was heartbreaking but overall, it left me feeling optimistic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Someone Else's Bucket List by Amy T. Matthews is such a great book. I loved the concept behind this book so I was excited to read it. The execution of this book completely lived up to the concept that drew me in. Sisters, cancer, an unfinished bucket list—- so much to love in this book. Readers of women’s fiction or romance will love this book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

This book is so good that I do. not even know how to describe it. There is so much sorrow and so much hope in Someone Else's Bucket List.

When Jodie Boyd's sister Bree dies, she wants her sister to finish her bucket list. Bree, a social media influencer, set up a plan that would allow her sponsors to help pay off the crippling medical debt if Jodie completes her bucket list. Sounds like a great plan except Jodie stays out of the spotlight and Bree's bucket list is very public. Bree may have a plan to help with more than the medical debt too.

I love that we get to know Bree in the first part of the book as it allows us to feel a connection with her throughout. Amy Matthews describes her characters pain and exhaustion so well that you can feel it coming off the pages. As the story progresses you can also feel the hope in every word.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Books, and Amy Matthews for a chance to read and review this novel early.

A very hard to read, very good, very emotional story for those with siblings. I found it to be a hard read, but for all the right reasons. I am hopeful that this can be the norm as opposed to the 'Me Before You' and 'P.S. I Love You' trend. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity with this title.

Jodie Byers has always felt out of place next to her vivacious beautiful older sister, Bree— Prom queen, homecoming queen, and successful travel instagram influencer. At 26, Bree is diagnosed and dies of leukemia. She leaves behind a bucket list for Jodie to complete.. If she completes it and retains followers, a sponsor will pay off all of Bree’s staggering medical debt. Some of the challenges are easy (plant a tree), while some are daunting (have a cameo on a Broadway play), and still others seem impossible (fall in love).

<b>I loved this book.</b> The story was well told, with 3 dimensional characters. We get a delightful cast of characters who I wish we saw more, especially Jodie’s dad and Kelly’s mom.

I laughed; I wanted to cry; I did cry.

It was authentic in the treatment of grief. Jodie and her family are deeply entrenched in grief and stress about paying off the medical debt. Jodie just goes through the motions of work, school, home every day. Her mom hyper-fixates on Bree, while her dad seems to have fully retracted into himself.

The bucket list challenge breaks some of this routine and gives them something else to think about. I thoroughly enjoyed going on adventures with Jodie and “Marketing Barbie” Cheryl.

Planned release: May 17, 2023

Content warnings: death, cancer, cheating

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the complimentary copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "Someone Else's Bucket List" and all opinions expressed are my own. The book was okay. I didn't find that I was excited to read it each day. Made it to the end just to see what happened.

This book has every feel the reader might possibly want to feel. Sadness, joy, anger, humorous delight, exasperation, and a few others thrown in for good measure. The term bucket list came into popularity because of a Morgan Freeman/Jack Nicholson movie of the same name. In the movie both men are dying from whatever malady that has attacked their bodies and they each make lists of things to do before they "kick the bucket." This book has a slight departure from that premise in that the bucket list was made by someone who already kicked the bucket, so to speak.

Bree Boyd is in the hospital for pneumonia when she finds out that her breathing troubles are not an infection, but actually leukemia. She has made a connection with a representative of Iris Airlines to help her sister, Jodie, fulfill her bucket list and for every item ticked off the list, a portion of her hospital bills will be paid off.

The list:
Plant a tree
Re-enact the deli scene from When Harry Met Sally at the same deli where it took place
Get a walk-on part in a Broadway play
Find Mr. Wong and take the piano lessons she ditched as a child but her parents paid for
Fly Over Antarctica
Fall in love
Cheryl, the airline rep, takes on the list by coordinating all the moving pieces, and, in the process, steamrolls Jodie into doing things her way instead of letting Jodie find her own way through the tangle of emotions and fears. Each item that gets crossed off the list is another portion of Bree's hospital bill paid.

One of the laugh-out-loud comedic moments in this novel is when Mrs. Wong tells Jodie that she had told Mr. Wong if he died first, she'd make his after-life miserable. Cheryl has arranged for Jodie's classmate/high school crush who is also Mr. Wong's son to give her the piano lessons. Mrs. Wong remembers Jodie's tortured piano lessons and tells her there is no better revenge than to have her destroy another piece of music on Mr. Wong's prized Steinway. (I just googled Steinway pianos to find that they range in price from low five figures to low-to-mid six figures--well beyond my budget).

At first Cheryl is pretty driven to see the bucket list through and doesn't mind pushing Jodie far beyond Jodie's own boundaries. And it's not hard to be angry with her for that, but then Maya, the CEO's assistant, gets involved and makes the whole situation a three ring circus much to the chagrin of even--the CEO. It takes a lot of feather-smoothing to get Jodie back on track, because Maya is an habitual boundary-stomper. By the end of the book, Cheryl has become a friend. It was gratifying to see.

Amy T Matthews has done a great job at pulling the emotions out of her readers in this book. Even though the book is billed as a rom-com, it has more drama than actual comedy in it, and even in some places, tragedy. And the romance is well under-stated. Never-the-less, it is a good four stars.

This book was amazing. It will break you down and rebuild you. It is sweet and so sad. Hopefully and heart in the basement also.

Someone Else's Bucket List by Amy T Matthews is a poignant, beautiful story about sisterly love, grief, and ultimately acceptance and personal growth. In turns heart wrenching and heart warming, the story takes you through the main character Jodie's crushing grief on the loss of her sister Bree, her determination to fulfil her sister's final wishes by completing her bucket list, and her personal epiphany regarding how she sees herself versus how others see her.
Someone Else's Bucket List is ultimately a story of love - love between sisters, both of the blood and the chosen type, love between children and parents, romantic love, love between friends, and even the simulated love found through the internet's like buttons. It is a story of personal growth, of overcoming both physical and emotional challenges, and of how hard one ailing sister went to ensure that the other sister would be able to work through her grief and thrive.
I absolutely loved this novel, even the emotionally difficult to read parts. It brought tears to my eyes more than once, and made me laugh as often. Reading this should be on everyone's bucket list!
Thank you to #NetGalley and #KensingtonBooks for the ARC of #SomeoneElsesBucketList.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Someone Else’s Bucket List releases May 23, 2023
This heartbreakingly beautiful story centers around the relationship of 2 sisters and how Jodie finds herself again after losing her beloved sister Bree to leukemia.
Bree had a huge following on social media and centered her whole life around being an influencer, with special focus on finishing her bucketlist. Due to her unexpected illness she never got the chance to cross off all her goals and left her family with a huge amount of medical dept.However Bree has a back up plan and unexpected events ensue a year after her passing……..

This was such a unique story. Following Bree’s last days was so raw,emotional and gripping that I just couldn’t get away from the story. I expected a serious and deep sister relationship drama but the course of the story changed abruptly and turned into a second chance romance trope which made me detach from the story.

All in all, a very original novel, with witty banter that will put a smile on your face.

3 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: ebook
#Bookstagram #Books #BooksBooksBooks #Contemporary #FastReads #NetGalley #ARC

TW: cancer, death of a loved one, grief

“Someone else’s bucket list”, as the title indicates, brings us the story of a character that has to fulfill another character’s bucket list. Jodie’s sister, Bree, dies of leukemia at the young age of 26, failing to fulfill her childhood 100 itens bucket list, leaving to her sister the remaining 6 itens.

This book is an amazing journey of grief and love, showing that life is never black and white. We can be extremely sad, grieving a loved one, while at the same time experiencing moments of joy. The two feelings are not mutually exclusive!

For starters, I felt the author tackled really well the disease and grieving part, with the first 30% of the book being extremely heavy on these issues, so be aware of TWs for this one. I didn’t feel it to be too romanticized, which I must admit I haven’t expect, but quiet like in the sense that brought more realism to the narrative. Additionally, the extremely high costs of cancer treatment in the US are present throughout the book, which I felt that, once again, brought realism to the story and awareness of the families’ difficulties in paying, especially if after everything their loved ones don’t make it.

There were parts of the book I had issues with. Bree was an influencer, so the whole fulfilling of the list is shown on her instagram and sometimes Jodie was too discomforted with some decisions being made, felt they were more for marketing purposes than to honor her sister. I had issues with the whole marketing thing, I came to understand where it was coming from, but maybe it should have been explained earlier on, as some attitudes of certain characters are not right. I don’t want to give too much of the book away, so I leave it like this.

Jodie has an amazing growth, which was very nice to see and experience. My heart was with her the whole time. A sibling is a bigger part of our lives than people without siblings might consider, specially if he/she is older, as was the case. The grandmother was gold! So ahead of her time in certain issues, really loved her! I’m only sad she was only a side character, I felt she deserved more time.

I thank NetGalley, the author, the publisher and everyone involved in allowing me early access to this book.
This review will also be available on my Goodreads profile and later on, on my Instagram account - @cat.literary.world

My first 5-star read of 2023! I got this as an ARC from NetGalley, and I’m so excited for it to be released in May 🥳

I had a feeling this would be a fun read based on the description because it’s such a unique concept - a girl completing her sister’s final bucket list items after the latter passes away from leukemia. I got what I wanted and so much more. I’m not joking when I say I laughed out loud and cried real sad tears at several points in this book. The female lead was only annoying like once or twice but fully redeemed herself! There were so many underlying make-you-think moments and quite a few twists I didn’t see coming. THIS is what I’ve been waiting for with every review I’ve written about books feeling rushed or like they didn’t go deep enough into the details. I’d recommend it to my friends who like cutesy romance just as much as the ones who like a deeper read. Pre-order this or request your own ARC ASAP - you won’t regret it.

Someone Else's Bucket List turned out to be a lot more of a romance book than I expected. I think it was a second chance trope and it wasn't really my thing.

I love books about sisters and I was expecting something serious and Lenni and Margot-ish. That wasn't at all what this was.

Also, I REALLY didn't like Jodie. Are there actually women in their mid-twenties that spend all night kissing in bed? It felt too unbelievably innocent. I also felt like the author wasn't comfortable writing sex scenes, which made them feel cringey.

If you're looking for a serious women's fiction book, skip this. If you're looking for a superficial, uncomfortable romance, this is for you. 🙄

2.5⭐ rounded up for Goodreads and NetGalley.

I received an ARC from Kensington Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was beautiful!
I first came across Amy Matthews writing when she was my lecturer in University. Since then, I've always jumped at the chance to read her work, and this was no exception. Her style of writing always leaves the reader engaged and wanting to know more. She also always finds the best ways to end her work, leaving the reader satisfied and fulfilled.

It is an emotional book which tugs at the heartstrings and leaves you wanting to know more about the characters. Not only has Amy captured the real feeling of grief and loss, she has also captured the essence of love, family, strength, growth and stepping out of your comfort zone.
I dove right into the story and felt as though I was there with the characters, experiencing the scenes with them.

Although it was a great read and I loved it very much, I did struggle with the first couple of chapters, but once I made my way through, I was enthralled.

I would highly recommend!

Cancer was expensive..Bree dont want to being aburden even after she died. So, with her one million followers, she set a plan to make sponsor to fulfill the last six of her bucket list. Each bucket list completed, her sponsor willing to paid her medical debt. Who gonna finish this list? Jodie, her sister.

Jodie journey to finish the list was fun and challenging. It is not easy being famous, people want to know what she up to, zero privasi. And there are Kelly Wong, her old flame. The boy she got crush but miscomunication happend, their reconcile make Jodie happier than ever. Ofcourse there are another drama lol. Salute for Bree to prepare and plan everything!!

Thank you to NetGalley for provide this book, it is pleasure to review this book.

#SomeoneElsesBucketList #AmyTMatthews #KensingtonPublishing #NetGalley #ARC

I received an advanced copy of this book, courtesy of NetGalley and Kensington Books. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Jodie Boyd's sister, Bree, a hugely successful influencer, dies of leukemia at 26. Their family is left grieving and with crippling medical debt until scheduled videos of Bree pop up on her instagram, and she posthumously reveals that, if Jodie completes her bucket list, a corporate sponsor will pay off the debt, and if Jodie manages to keep Bree's followers and grow the number, more benefits are to come.

For what it's worth, I thought the start was alright. The sisterly love, jealousy and grief in general were handled well and I loved how Jodie and Claudia's relationship without Bree was starting out.

Then, the bucket list came. It had been some time between me reading the description and actually starting this book, and I must have glossed over the premise, because it was the most bleak, harrowing, ghoulish thing that I couldn't figure out if it was genius commentary on late stage capitalism and the commodification of human life or simply a symptom of it. It's hard enough to believe that Bree didn't have some form of health insurance and that, as a 26 year old influencer with over a million followers, she didn't have enough money to pay enough towards the debt so that her family wouldn't be on the brink of ruin. It's even harder to believe that there was absolutely no outrage when Bree's very public video revealed that the overwhelming debt will be paid bit by bit for every item Jodie, very publically, completes from her bucket list, all while keeping up her dead sister's social media so that the billionaire owned airline company can profit from it. I kept waiting for this to be addressed somehow, for some boundaries to be set, for someone to question if dragging a dead woman's sister into a marketing campaign so that the corporation can keep the dead woman's followers maybe isn't a good look.

Well, it was addressed. At 70%. Some sort of boundaries were set at 85% and from there it turned into a convoluted mess in which the billionaire somehow seemed to be the most rational person.

I wish I DNF-ed.

“Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC version of this novel”

When Bree is diagnosed with cancer; she knows that her adventures around the world are over. She no longer can travel to the highest of peaks or entertain her millions of followers on her social media page.

Bree is left with the idea to have her younger sister, Jodie complete her bucket list with her sponsors.

In this sweet novel, we see Jodie struggle with the rise of fame her older sister has gotten all while trying to honor her late sister’s life and pay back her debt.

If you love sweet little romances, adventure and love sisterly bonds; this novel is perfect for you.

The premise of this book sounded great - adventurous world traveler Instagram influencer Bree Boyd finds out she is dying of leukemia before she gets to finish the last few items on her bucket list. After her death, a video pops up on her IG feed asking her sister Jodie to complete her list for her. This sad-but-sweet story is easy to read and fast to get through and Jodie is a beautifully flawed, really likeable protagonist, but there was a big issue with the storyline that I couldn’t get past. This isn’t a spoiler because it’s in the description of the book - Bree left behind a huge amount of debt from her medical bills and part of her reason for wanting Jodie to complete her bucket list was to unburden her family from the debt. Jodie’s completion of the bucket list would be sponsored. I don’t know a lot about the influencer world, but I do know that influencers like Bree who have a million followers are significantly monetized, so it seemed totally implausible that Bree didn’t have health insurance because she definitely would have been able to afford it and she didn’t seem like the type of person who wouldn’t realize that she needed it. Bree says to her family, “I know the medical bills are insane. And that’s my fault, because I never got a proper job and I never had any insurance.” Sorry, that just made no sense to me at all and my rating for the book would have been higher if there was a believable reason for why a very successful 26 year-old influencer never got health insurance. Thanks to #netgalley and #kensingtonbooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fine but not particularly engaging. I wanted to see what happened enough to finish it, but it was seemingly extreme and unrealistic.

This one was so incredibly good. Will not be surprised to see this for book clubs in May! I think everyone will love this story.