"A clutching-the-wheel kind of ride, launching readers into uncharted territory"
Reviewed by Lauren Troy
Posted December 22, 2015
Women's Fiction | Fiction
They say bad things occur in threes, but in Libby Miller's
case, two
terrible things are quite enough to handle for one woman. A
cancer
diagnosis and news that her faithful husband has been in
the closet
for years are enough to derail Libby's normal countenance
completely, causing her to abandon her current life and jet
off for
waters unknown, as a last hooray before her time's run out.
Camille Pagán's LIFE AND OTHER NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES is a
clutching-the-wheel of a ship kind of ride that launches
readers into
uncharted territory. Death always hangs waiting for curtain
call for all
of us, but when you know the story of your life is drawing
to a close,
do you recite your lines as planned or is going off-script
the better
swan song?
I really like LIFE AND OTHER NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES. The
author knows when and how to balance hilarity and sadness
in a
single scene without too much of one or the other. The
looming
cancer progression hangs over every scene, creating a
fantastic sense
of urgency in the story for Libby to find what she's
seeking before
her illness catches up to her. And her sarcasm and self-
depreciating
humor make her a protagonist worth rooting for.
The side characters in this story are well-developed as
well. Every
one of them also has their own agenda and goals, which
works nicely
against Libby's story, who is scrambling for hers before
she has no
time left to have one.
Overall, I recommend LIFE AND OTHER NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES.
It is a wonderful story.
SUMMARY
Libby Miller has always been an unwavering optimist—but
when
her husband drops a bomb on their marriage the same day a
doctor delivers devastating news, she realizes her
rose-colored glasses have actually been blinding her. With nothing left to lose, she abandons her life in Chicago
for the clear waters and bright beaches of the Caribbean
for
what might be her last hurrah. Despite her new sunny
locale,
her plans go awry when she finds that she can’t quite
outrun
the past or bring herself to face an unknowable future.
Every day of tropical bliss may be an invitation to
disaster, but with her twin brother on her trail and a new
relationship on the horizon, Libby is determined to forget
about fate. Will she risk it all to live—and love—a little
longer? From critically acclaimed author Camille Pagán comes a
hilarious and hopeful story about a woman choosing between
a
“perfect” life and actually living.
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