My dying wish is for you to finish my bucket list. I refuse to die without knowing this list will be completed. And I refuse to die without knowing my family will be okay . . .
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.
Jodie and her family have lost Bree, her older and adventurous sister. Bree has traveled all over the world and has seen incredible things and had it all posted on social media, making her a very famous influencer. However, cancer doesn't pick people and Bree fought but could not win this battle, meaning her family has been left with a huge debt to be paid. Knowing how this would affect her family, Bree still found the will to prepare things so that, with the help of a flying company, her sister could be sponsored to finish her bucket list and make some publicity about it, and the flying company would pay off what her family owes. The issue is that Jodie has never been an extrovert like her sister and some tasks seem unlikely to be met, such as falling in love, how can Jodie find someone in such a short amount of time?
In spite of the theme, I still had hopes this story would be a sweet story about sisterly love and doing things out of your comfort zone, with Jodie trying her best to finish the tasks and "discovering herself" at the same time. I was not counting on the fact the flying company being so active in Jodie's days... I thought the company would be a viewer like everyone else, and Jodie would need to do most things on her own, with them only facilitating the hard stuff, such as flying over Antartica of course. But no, this story went on to be way more about public exposure than what I imagined.
This is my first book by the author, so no expectation writing wise, and now I can say the style is accessible and pleasant which means that, in general the reading experience was a positive one. However, in my opinion, things drag. There are several passages and situations that happen in a repetitive pattern or include a lot of information/scenes that could have been edited. I think if this had happened, a few details would have been more poignant. For instance, the first three chapters describe Bree's illness and days while battling her disease, which was emotional, yes, but I kept thinking if we really had to have so many pages with something that not only was already established but that we knew how would end...
The bucket list idea seems very silly from a practical POV. It also makes the whole experience a little far fetched because there things in the list that cannot be achieved easily. Still, I had an idea the plot of this book would be for Jodi to find a way to do things on her own, even if that included the company paying her expense in going to the places or buying the "tools" necessary to do it. No, the reality is that someone from the company helps Jodie and deals with all those complicated details... I mean, OK, that should free Jodie to reach personal conclusions easier but the whole things turns into a circus.
I think I understand the point, on how social media takes over one's life and what is there isn't always true or only shows things for value's sake and all that, but while I as reading, although the things Jodie accomplishes and the friendships/acquaintances she forms teach her something, it also kind of made the story feel less serious, considering it happens because someone died. The author does try to highlight this, but I think there were too many distractions for the subject to be taken as seriously as I think it merited.










