grapesoda913's review against another edition
4.75
Freakin devastating. I wish I weren't such an unattractive cryer
kaulyjo's review
5.0
I picked this book up from one of the bargain carts at Barnes & Noble, and those have a tendency to linger on my shelf, unread for long periods of time. Some are still there. This one intrigued me, and after finishing the current best seller I picked up at the same time, I dove right into "Five Days Left."
I won't give too much away, but both of the stories, only minorly interwoven, were wonderful. When I switched perspective with a new chapter it was always with excitement that I picked up Mara or Scott's story and vice versa.
The end was satisfying, but left me wanting more. An epilogue beyond what was given would have been nice, but five days are five days, and in those five days there was so much to love, happy or sad.
I won't give too much away, but both of the stories, only minorly interwoven, were wonderful. When I switched perspective with a new chapter it was always with excitement that I picked up Mara or Scott's story and vice versa.
The end was satisfying, but left me wanting more. An epilogue beyond what was given would have been nice, but five days are five days, and in those five days there was so much to love, happy or sad.
karawhipple's review
2.0
This book is so insensitive and problematic, I couldn't stop reading it. It's a train wreck of terrible people and blatant racism.
livreads7's review against another edition
5.0
**4.5 stars.
I got to read this book through Penguin's First Reads program.
This book follows two characters' lives. One of the protagonists is a woman diagnosed with Huntington's disease and in her degenerate state she begins to think about suicide. There is talk about the people she knows and will miss, leaving them behind, as well as those she might not know so well but will still miss. I like how this book deals with that.
The other is a teacher who decides to foster a child. He grows very close to him, even when he finds out that his wife is pregnant and he can soon have his own family. I like how the novel also deals with the aspect of foster children and being a foster parent.
Some parts were very painful truths and I think it was important to include them because it gave a truer nature to the disease and how it not only affects the patient but her family as well.
I also think the females in this novel were a bit heavy in their personalities; they were a bit too strong. I don't think I would get along with them if they were real people (and in reality, we could all know one or more females who are like them).
The ending left me bittersweet, but I liked how both points of view ended. It was happy/sad yet satisfying in a way. I definitely recommend this book; it was quite good. I only took 0.5 stars because the female characters made me mad at their choices or outbursts but that's all.
I got to read this book through Penguin's First Reads program.
This book follows two characters' lives. One of the protagonists is a woman diagnosed with Huntington's disease and in her degenerate state she begins to think about suicide. There is talk about the people she knows and will miss, leaving them behind, as well as those she might not know so well but will still miss. I like how this book deals with that.
The other is a teacher who decides to foster a child. He grows very close to him, even when he finds out that his wife is pregnant and he can soon have his own family. I like how the novel also deals with the aspect of foster children and being a foster parent.
Some parts were very painful truths and I think it was important to include them because it gave a truer nature to the disease and how it not only affects the patient but her family as well.
I also think the females in this novel were a bit heavy in their personalities; they were a bit too strong. I don't think I would get along with them if they were real people (and in reality, we could all know one or more females who are like them).
The ending left me bittersweet, but I liked how both points of view ended. It was happy/sad yet satisfying in a way. I definitely recommend this book; it was quite good. I only took 0.5 stars because the female characters made me mad at their choices or outbursts but that's all.
lou_mac's review against another edition
4.0
This book has been on my shelf for years, and now I regret putting it off reading it for so long!
Following 2 separate characters it's about how you would plan the last 5 days of your life as your know it - with big decisions and changes ahead for both our leads they must decide what is important and how they want to spend their days.
It's made me cry quite a few times, and I'm definitely glad I read it at home rather than in public where everyone would see me weep. Not only is the story beautifully written, but it also is poignant and makes you think - rather than just being straight forwardly sad.
My only negative is I think the side characters seemed fairly 1 dimensional, I wonder if that is because both leads are going through such a lot it's sort of from their lens and they aren't seeing everything going on with the people around them - but I personally pculd have done with more, particularly from the lead man's wife - who I just read as quite flat and seems to do a complete 180 in the final pages.
Saying that, I definitely recommend this book and would probably revisit in the future.
Following 2 separate characters it's about how you would plan the last 5 days of your life as your know it - with big decisions and changes ahead for both our leads they must decide what is important and how they want to spend their days.
It's made me cry quite a few times, and I'm definitely glad I read it at home rather than in public where everyone would see me weep. Not only is the story beautifully written, but it also is poignant and makes you think - rather than just being straight forwardly sad.
My only negative is I think the side characters seemed fairly 1 dimensional, I wonder if that is because both leads are going through such a lot it's sort of from their lens and they aren't seeing everything going on with the people around them - but I personally pculd have done with more, particularly from the lead man's wife - who I just read as quite flat and seems to do a complete 180 in the final pages.
Saying that, I definitely recommend this book and would probably revisit in the future.
nbrickman's review against another edition
5.0
Very intense. I must say I really appreciated that the story had just two points of view and that (without revealing too much that would be a spoiler) these points of view brought some balance to my emotions at the end. I appreciate that there was both great joy and great sadness because isn't that true for life as well? Deeply felt and well written. I loved the characters and especially related to Scott as an educator with a savior complex myself!
I am definitely going to be reading more by this author as soon as she writes it!
I am definitely going to be reading more by this author as soon as she writes it!
raven18's review
5.0
[10 stars ⭐️.] This was such a beautiful book. I brought this like two years ago and for some reason I’d thought I’d never get to it, and a few days ago I picked it up and just started reading it and wow? I don’t really know what I expected but it was just a really beautifully written book even though third person isn’t my first choice. This was sad for a lot of reasons, but I’m actually glad I picked this up, intentional or not.
dl2000's review against another edition
4.0
A great debut novel for this author! Very thought provoking, and an extremely emotional touching story. The author did a great job of getting you into the character's heads - I felt for both main characters. The only reason I did not give a 5 star rating is because I was not so convinced by the way Scott's story ended - I felt it was settled too easily. However I would definitely highly recommend this book to anyone!
braniffleigh's review against another edition
2.0
WAY TOO SAD. Great writing, but I just couldn't handle how hard this character's life was becoming.