A wonderful tale - very well written and very plausible. Three sisters, no longer on speaking terms, but forced to meet regularly to fulfil the requirements of their mother's will, have the reader in fits of laughter at times and close to tears at other times as well. A story to which I am sure a lot of readers could well say " sounds familiar", I shall certainly be recommending this to many of my friends

Easy to read book about family, love and loss. It is a light hearted and sometimes funny look at life that tries to deal with some of the sadder and harsher facts of life as well.

An enjoyable read which was involving with well drawn characters.

I was looking forward to reading this as it was slightly different from what I usually read. Three sisters all of whom are different are brought together at the will reading for their Mum. Dee, Rose and Fleur haven't spoken for many years and as they sit in the solicitors office they think that they can go another few years without speaking to each other once the will is read. However, their Mum has other ideas and has made it a condition of the will that before they are eligible for their inheritance they must complete a series of tasks over the coming year.

Initially it took me a while to get into the story and at times it was a little slow going. However Dee seemed to be the main character written about even though we see the POV chapters from all three sisters as the story continues. I liked the 3 sisters but not overwhelmingly so! For some reason I didn't feel like I could really connect with any of them and wished I could. The tasks see them meeting up every two months and this element of the story was fun, but not fun enough. For me there was a sense of too much gloom and to be honest it just depressed me a little bit.

Some moments in the book were sad, and we saw a lot of the sisters bickering but there wasn't enough laughter and too few light up moments. That aside the writing was great and the story flowed well. By the last quarter of the book I had warmed up more and felt like the sisters were really bonding and the moments when you saw them stick up for each other were lovely but there were just too few of those for my liking. I think maybe I would love other books by this author in the future as there was nothing wrong with this book, but for me I just didn't connect enough with the characters and was hoping for a little more humour and fun within its pages.

It was with a contented sigh that I finished The Kicking The Bucket List by Cathy Hopkins.
I was going to say a “happy sigh” because I enjoyed it so much but, while the story has a fitting ending, there is a tinge of sadness to it so that word didn’t seem right.
The book is a lovely, warm read with a lot of heart and it flows so easily even though it tackles some huge subjects such as love, relationships and possibly the biggest, death.
Afterwards I felt like I learned a lot of things about mindfullness, meditation and life lessons in general but never that I was being taught, it was all cleverly weaved into the plot.
Here’s the blurb.

The Kicking the Bucket List
‘Oh, I wish I could see your faces now. How are you going to refuse the last wish of your dead mother?’
Meet the daughters of Iris Parker. Dee; sensitive and big-hearted; Rose uptight and controlled and Fleur the reckless free spirit.
At the reading of their mother’s will, the three estranged sisters discover that their inheritance comes with very tricky strings attached. If they are to inherit her wealth, they must spend a series of weekends together over the course of a year and carry out their mother’s ‘bucket list’.
But one year doesn’t seem like nearly enough time for them to move past the decades-old squabbles and misunderstandings. Can they grow up for once and see that Iris’s bucket list is about so much more than any of them realise…

I only have a brother and I have no idea what growing up with sisters is like but I imagine it the way Cathy, who herself has brothers and no sisters, describes.
Along with the happy memories and family jokes there are old hurts stacked up along with new arguments and bouts of jealousy to contend with.
Luckily Iris has a plan to mend those fences and along with her two friends comes up with tasks to turn her single flowers back into a bouquet.
It’s Daisy/Dee who tells us the majority of the story but there is input from Fleur and Rose too, which helps to carry the tale along nicely.
This is Cathy’s first book for the adult market – not that you can tell – and I’m already looking forward to the next one.

Format: Kindle.
Price: £3.99.
My rating: Four stars.

With thanks to Harper Collins UK (via NetGalley) for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I've just finished this book and I was completely charmed by it, it's a simple story about a mothers love, trying to reconnect her daughters love for one another from beyond the grave, Rose, Dee and Fleur have lost their way somewhere as they've grown up and the sisters are no longer close as they once were, so when their mother has passed away they find that to inherit their mothers estate they have to complete their mothers kicking the bucket list, a list of challenges to help them reconnect and find each other again, it is very reminiscent of PS I love you, in the fact that it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you think, but most of all it will make you realise that life is short, you never know when your time is up so enjoy the simple things, grab the opportunities as they come your way and most of all cherish the people you love. All in all a great read.

My review as posted on Goodreads:

This is not typical of the books which I choose to read. Being honest, I nearly gave up. However, once I got into it, I found I liked it quite a lot.

The character of Iris, the dead mother and her friends kept the story flowing. what a novel idea for a novel.

Much of the story is written through the eyes of Dee, the middle daughter. I liked the way other parts of the story were written in the same style, but through the eyes of Rose and Fleur, the other daughters.

Together referred to as 'The Dollies'. I found some of the humour in the writing highly entertaining.

The book has some very poignant moments and is both touching and entertaining.

On balance, I liked it enough to rate it with four stars.

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for a copy in exchange for this review.

The concept at the centre of this story really struck a chord. It is so easy for siblings to drift apart as they grow older and their families and relationships become their focus rather than their parent's family. It certainly resonated with me. Iris came across as lovely, fun and down to earth whereas Daisy was more of a dreamer. Each of the women (mother and 3 daughters) had their own character traits which were described and reasoned. The impact of Daniel on the lives of them all gave another facet to the story. All in all an interesting book which I found difficult to put down.

This is a great read. The characters are sympathetically and warmly described, we get to know them as friends, and they each have their own distinct personalities. The 'self help book' words of wisdom don't irritate but add depth to the story. I recommend this book. It will make you appreciate your family.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book, some laugh out loud moments and some sad ones. Characters were believable, would recommend

Three very different women, sisters yes but not friends. The death of their mother brought them together again but not in the most conventional way
This was a great read, moments of hilarity that made me laugh loudly and moments where I could barely read through tears....it really made me think. How lucky we really are, not because of what we have in possessions but in what we have in love
Highly recommended

It's a long time since I read a book that made me laugh so much, while also being meaningful and inspiring.
This is a wonderful story about three sisters and their lives and relationship, and their wonderful mother, who has left them a list of activities that are to be done in the year after her death.
It is a book that will make the reader laugh and cry, with wonderful characters and situations.
This book would make a wonderful film or drama, I can just see some of the wonderful actresses who would act out the scenes of Iris and her friends in their various costumes for the videos they made for the sisters! I sincerely hope that the BBC gets a hold of this book someday.
A fantastic book, I was so sorry to finish it.

I really enjoyed this book, I found it to be light and funny despite having quite a heavy storyline.
I could relate to all the characters and enjoyed the dynamics of the family. I would recommend this book to friends.

I almost didn't carry on reading this - having reached 5%, 10% then 20% I was going to stop, shamefacedly confess to not liking any of the characters (except for Iris) and start reading something else.

But suddenly something clicked and I'm really glad I carried on. Having lost my mother fairly recently, I found Iris' videos and messages very moving and the rebuilding of the sisters' relationships realistic and unschmaltzy. I raced to the end, having a wee sob along the way. Recommended.

[I read an advance review copy from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family. Three sisters, Rose, Daisy, and Fleur must learn to deal with one another after the death of their mother, Iris. Their inheritance depends on it. Iris has concocted a plan where her three long estranged daughters must spend a weekend together every other month for a year doing things Iris plans out for them in an effort to make them see that family is everything and to find true happiness in life.
But, like of times happens, plans don't always work out the way they are intended.
There is a great deal of hurt and jealousy among the sisters and they have not spoken nor seen each other in 3 years, something their mother deplores. With the help of her nursing home friends, she makes several videos that force the sisters to spend time together doing things of Iris' choosing. Her ultimate goal is to get them involved in one another's lives again. The tasks she sets out for them to accomplish every other month are arbitrary and slightly looney, but if the sisters don't do as she asks, their inheritance will be null and void.
Hopkins delves into each sister's reasons for not wanting to partake in the challenge and there are a great many secrets that get told throughout the story that let the reader understand why the rift occurred. Old hurts. childhood mental traumas, and just plain old sister-stuff issues are revealed from each sister's viewpoint.
Through the use of an intermediary, Daniel ( a man I loathed from the first time I met him..just saying) the sisters are forced to face their pasts and their uncertain futures.
I found the "challenges" or tasks, Iris devised for her girls a little odd, but within the context of the storyline, they played out well. The majority of the story is told from Daisy's viewpoint, but Fleur and Rose do have their own sections as well.
All in all, a good read.

Cathy Hopkins - the kicking the bucket list was a real joy to read. It also took me on an emotional rollercoaster, one minute laughs the other tears. It is a lovely story and the cover doesn't do the beautiful story inside its pages justice.
The story of 3 sisters who 3 years ago fell out after a massive argument, no longer in contact let alone talking, the sisters are brought together at the will reading of their mother iris. Hoping to inherit then be on their separate ways again the girls (daisy, fleur and rose) are shocked to discover that mother has laid out a plan called the kicking the bucket list. All the girls must complete it together over the course of several weekends for a year if they are to receive their inheritance. This wonderful story takes you on the girls journey of self evaluation, self discovery and understanding what really matters.
It's a beautiful tale and even though at first I had trouble connecting with the characters by the end of the book I didn't want to leave them. A great read and would thoroughly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book. This was an easy read with not too much detail. I liked the idea of Irish being aware that here 3 daughters weren't getting on. I have a feeling that there will be a sequel and if that was the case would definitely look out for it.

I loved the cover of the book and the title. That's what grabbed my attention first. It's easy reading, the words flowing with no difficulty and not overly descriptive which I find drowns a book.

The idea of Iris knowing her daughters were at odds and wanting to fix it was beautiful. With her trusty sidekicks you can imagine the days and nights of planning and the distraction it must have gave Iris.
I found it odd not having a character to emotionally connect with. I thought the three sisters to be a bit cold and harsh. I wanted to care about them and be cheering from the sidelines for them to get on. But it didn't happen. I thought there behaviour to be immature at times. They annoyed me. I loved Anna. She had the right attitude. The situation with Rose hit me like a brick. It was very heavy and ever so drastic. It took death to make some sort of resolution. Also I don't think it needed the cursing. It gave it a harshness that wasn't needed and it would hinder who I could suggest the book too. Over all I liked the book. I did enjoy it. I wanted to know what happened with Dee's house. It had been a integral part of the plot. So could there be a sequel? If there was I would definitely buy it. I loved the mindfulness parts and it made me want to look more into that.

Overall a good book with a very important message.