Title: Love, Life, and the List
Author: Kasie West
Year Published: 2017
Format: Hardcover, 384 pp
Summary: 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.
My Summary: I usually enjoy Kasie West books, but this one found me pleasantly surprised. 4 stars.
My Thoughts: I think that perhaps I enjoyed that this book falls more into a contemporary category than a contemporary romance. I really enjoyed the theme of facing one’s fears (à la carpe diem), and I appreciated that multiple characters carried this theme forward.
“Parents are the enemy” is one of my pet peeves in YA books, so I always appreciate when an author includes family in the life of a main character. I appreciated that while Abby’s parents (and grandparent) weren’t perfect and had their own issues and struggles, they were presented with love and the theme of facing one’s fears was carried through to them as well.
I also very much appreciated the lack of insta-love. Insta-love is in fact, insta-attraction that may or may not end up suggesting a foundation on which to build.
I also liked that Abby was generally well-reasoned, but was still learning and figuring her life out. I liked that even though she was justifiably angry with her loved ones, she also recognized their love for her and was able to work through her anger to continue growing in her relationships.
Overall, I thought it was a sweet book.
Caryn Considers 