camille pagan’s life and other near-death experiences was a kindle first selection sometime last year, and i finally got around to reading it last month.

in the first chapter of the book, libby learns she has cancer and that her husband is gay, leading to a series of snowballing events that eventually find her leaving chicago and running off to sunny puerto rico. while libby struggles to deal with the sudden changes in her life, she also avoids telling her twin brother and her husband about her diagnosis and her plan for dealing with it and ensconces herself in life on vieques island.

this book had a lot of promise at the beginning. i thought it was going to be a light and interesting book, but in the middle it devolved into chick lit. i hesitate to accuse libby of whining, because i have never been through what she experiences, but i felt pagan’s portrayal went a little over the top in a few places.

in the end this was a fast read that helped me fall asleep, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression. i think pagan has promise as a novelist, though, so i would be intrigued to see what else she writes.

my goodreads rating: 3 out of 5 // average rating is 3.83

currently reading: lauren groff’s fates and furies [almost finished!]; little women; and prisoner of azkaban. i’ll start i am malala when i get back to bangalore.

xx