A review by clairebartholomew549
Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez

emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I bawled through this book. It might have been because I was on a plane (I read once that we're more likely to cry on planes - something about feeling detached from our normal lives and feeling kind of private and thoughtful) and because I was on the tail end of my period (lol that I treat Goodreads like my diary, oops), but every Abby book hits me hard. Abby always handles delicate subject matter with such deftness and compassion, and the way characters handle grief and dread and fear always feels grounded in reality and complicated in the way it would actually play out in life. I was initially wary of the way the characters were talking about pregnancy and addiction, but as usual Abby came through with her trademark empathy and introspection and made me feel so deeply for everyone involved. This book really got to me with its depictions of how families can always heal and figure out how to be there for each other, no matter how bad it's been for years and generations, and of how no day is guaranteed. I was obsessed with both Vanessa and Adrian and was really rooting for both of them, and the ending truly gave me chills. This was one of my favorites of Abby's for sure. 
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