Friday, August 23, 2024

Beginning ~ at the end

Beginning

The last months of Bree's life were, absurdly, full of hope.  Hope like a burst of yellow; the vivid dash of goldenrod, daffodils, yarrow; a sudden splash of spring color in the monochrome of the wintery cancer ward.

Someone Else's Bucket List
~ by Amy T. Matthews, 2023, fiction, 387 pages

Jodie Boyd is a shy and anxious twenty-something, completely unsure what to do with her life.  Her older sister, Bree, is an adventurous, globe-trotting, hugely successful Instagram influencer with more than a million followers.  She’s the most alive person Jodie knows — up until Bree’s unfathomable, untimely death from Leukemia.  The Boyds are devastated, not to mention overwhelmed with medical debt.  But Bree thought of everything — and soon, Jodie is shocked by a new post on her sister’s Instagram feed.

The first of many Bree recorded in secret, the post foretells a jaw-dropping challenge for Jodie:  to complete Bree’s very public bucket list.  From "Fly over Antarctica" to "Perform a walk-on cameo in a Broadway musical," if Jodie does it — and keeps all Bree’s followers — a corporate sponsor will pay off the staggering medical debt.  If she gains followers, the Boyds won’t be the only ones to benefit.  It’s crazy.  It’s terrifying.  It’s impossible, immoral even, to refuse.  So, despite the whole world watching, Jodie plunges in, never imagining that in death, her sister will teach her how to live, and that the last item on the list — "Fall in love" — may just prove to be the easiest.

1 comment:

Idea-ist said...

That's a big ask, to finish someone else bucket list.
https://getlostinlit.blogspot.com/2024/08/everyone-should-read-it.html