Book Review / Love, Life and the List by Kasie West

Seventeen-year-old Abby Turner’s summer isn’t going the way she’d planned. She has a not-so-secret but definitely unrequited crush on her best friend, Cooper. She hasn’t been able to manage her mother’s growing issues with anxiety. And now she’s been rejected from an art show because her work “has no heart.” So when she gets another opportunity to show her paintings Abby isn’t going to take any chances.

Which is where the list comes in.

Abby gives herself one month to do ten things, ranging from face a fear (#3) to learn a stranger’s story (#5) to fall in love (#8). She knows that if she can complete the list she’ll become the kind of artist she’s always dreamed of being. But as the deadline approaches, Abby realizes that getting through the list isn’t as straightforward as it seems… and that maybe—just maybe—she can’t change her art if she isn’t first willing to change herself.

This is the first in a set of three standalone books with crossover characters.

Published:     26th December 2017
Publisher:  Harper Teen
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand Alone
Source:  Library

MY REVIEW

Whenever I am in the mood for a light easy and fun read, I always look to Kasie West and have not been disappointed before.  Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this story as much as I have done her previous novels.  Yes, it was fun and light hearted but I did have a few issues with the plot line.

In this story, we story we follow Abby who has a very hard home life.  Her father is serving abroad and her mother suffers from what I believe to be either extreme anxiety or agoraphobia.  Abby's best friend Lacey is going away for the summer with her parents where they have banned all communication devices, so Abby turns to Connor to hang out with over the summer.  She makes a list of things that she wants to accomplish over the summer. 

First of all, I wasn't really comfortable with the message of this book.  To be able to get ahead in anything, you have to change who you are.  You have Abby who does not do well at an art show because it shows no heart so she things that  if she changes who she is she will get better.  This is just my opinion, but no one should change who they are to be able to achieve success in whatever they want to achieve.  I believe that you just need to learn more about yourself and apply that to whatever you do.  Being yourself is the best thing you have to offer anything or anyone and  you should not have to change yourself to make things better.  Maybe improve your skills or learn more or experience more but never change yourself.  Now, this may have been a misread statement by me, but that is just the impression I got from this story and that point really stuck to me throughout reading this book.

Also, this book was very predictable.  I would have loved to have seen a bit more surprising twists and turns but everything I had already anticipated and I was just watching the events play out.  Honestly, if I had read this book 10 years ago when I was a lot younger than I am now I think I would have loved this book more than I have now.

This was a fun read but I had quite a few problems with the story.