Life's Too Short
Reviews
"There are people you can know for a lifetime and they never get into your heart. And then there are those who are already inside it, before you ever even lay eyes on them."
4.5 ⭐️
Wow this book tore my heart out and stomped on it, then picked it up, put it back together, rinse then repeat, over and over. I am once again floored by Abby Jimenez' writing, the way she explores such deep, difficult topics with insight, nuance, humour and grace is just a wonder to behold. This book had some of the toughest topics in any of the six Jimenez' books I have read so far, trigger warnings aplenty for mental health issues and related topics such as addiction, hoarding, abandonement, death, grief, and dealing with terminal illness. I sobbed multiple times while reading this book, so definitely brace yourself and make sure you're in the right headspace when you pick this one up, but it really is a beautifully told story that is worth the read.
Adrian and Vanessa both come from deeply flawed families and they both have their unique ways of dealing with this, from Vanessa's unending optimism to Adrian's need for control. I loved our two main characters, they were both intricate and deep and the way they uderstood each other, supported each other and helped each other through some really bad situations was truly beautiful. It was almost a grumpy X sunshine story but Adrian isn't really grumpy, he's just busy and a bit closed off because he has a fear of people leaving him. Vanessa is bubbly and fun loving, but she also had a fear of people getting too close for fear of them losing her, because she has a 50/50 chance of developing ALS like multiple other women in her family have developed and died from. Their friendship at the beginning of the book was really delightful, the way they both breathed air into each was so fun to read, their banter was great, there were some proper laugh out loud moments and some deeply touching moments too. All the while they were both denying feelings for each other and miscommunicating themselves into confusion, as always. Why on earth romance novel characters can't just speak to each other beats me!
Unfortunately, and something that made me drop a half star in my rating, the second half didnt sweep me off my feet quite like I hoped it would. There was so much tension building up to the moment they finally kissed and when that finally happened it just felt a bit lack lustre for me. This was already at about the 60% mark so I was starting to worry about what was going to happen, only for it to be more miscommunication 😂 this made the ending feel a bit too rushed in my opinion. I think this could've been a slightly longer book because every aspect of this was really important to the storyline in my opinion. All of the side characters and the side quests we're taken on with them are what helped make this story feel so genuine and touching. I think I just wanted a little bit more oomph from the romance because this book dealt with so many tough subjects I think it needed a little bit more impact to really get it to that five star mark, for me. Regardless, it was still a wonderful love story.
I can't wait to dive into Abby Jimenez' next book once I can get my hands on it, with this book I am officially in love with 5/6 of her books so far and it has truly cemented her as a must read, auto buy author. Her books are must reads in my opinion, the way she captures a slice of life in such an all encompassing way is so impressve. For books that are roughly 400 pages long she manages to squeeze so much depth and heart into them and they leave me reeling, thinking about these stories and characters for a long time after I have finished, and I never want to put it down while I'm in the middle of them. I've had such a good start to my reading year and I am thrilled!
i loved this book to end the series! vanessa was such a fun and refreshing character and i loved how seamlessly aidan and vanessa came into each other’s lives. it was just so natural and great build up. the life’s too short thing was slightly cheesy, i’ll admit, but i liked how the title showed up and everything came full circle. great book to start off my 2025 with!
Outta the 3 of this series this one was my favorite, couldn’t put it down. These are the first Abby Jimenez books I’ve read since she was recommended to me & so far I’m loving them ☺️.
How freaking cute
the best out of her books so far, also a one-sitting read, i might have a problem
Look…. It was a great book, would i read it again ? No…idk why i didn’t get attached to it
But i do encourage the others to have the experience i got
i haven’t sobbed this hard reading a book in years. i fully intended to go to bed three hours ago but i started this book and couldn’t go to sleep without knowing how it ended. this book is beautiful and tells a heart wrenching love story of partners and family in such a raw way. this was the last book i had to read in abby jimenez’s backlog and she has officially locked herself in on my top authors list.
i fucking thought this was a cutesy novel. no it made me fucking cry.
5 sobbing stars
As with all of AJ's books, I feel like I've been on a roller coaster and the bar just lifted and they're telling me to get off. What an absolute ride - funny, charming, and full of wonderful side characters.
abby was trying to get real and emotional but forgot to put the romcom corny aside
"softly" by clairo
"baby powder" by jenevieve
"ours" (taylor's version) by taylor swift
"if the world was ending" by jp saxe, julia michaels
THIS BOOK DESTROYED ME (not clickbait)
vanessa and adrian are so effortlessly perfect for each other! i love them so much idk what else to say, i'm still emotionally recovering from what i just read
also their friends to lovers was perfect! CHEFS KISSES and adrian copeland UGH WHAT A MAN
the dogs got to me
I almost got rid of this book last year and what a mistake that would have been. Dame this book was so cure, it had me laughing and it has me crying.
I didnt expect to end up loving it as much as I did.i binged it in a day. I love the positive truthful message at the end of this book and how it all ce together.
I'm someone recently diagnosed with fnd and I know how ot feels to go through something so difficult and this book hit home although I don't have what Vanessa has my world was turned upside down and life is too shirt and this book was brilliant
4.5 ⭐️ i am SICK to my stomach! do you hear me SICK ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATINGLY SICK THIS WAS SO GOOD I HATE IT HERE let me just say that the friends to lovers trope will forever and always remain superior and this book proved it whole heartedly Grace, Adrian, and Vanessa all have my heart. i fell in love with them with them just being friends. did i have to wait until over 60% of the book for them to finally kiss..? yes but i didn’t mind i could read about their tensioned friendship until the world ended. the fixers of their respective families ended up together and the healed each other UGH fav quote: “So, what? Does this mean I’m your girlfriend now?” “That title doesn’t even feel worthy of what this is.” i simply turn into a puddle if someone said this to me this book made me SICK to my stomach it was so cute ugh
Loved this one!! This series is unbelievable !
I always look forward to reading Abby Jimenez’s books. Her writing has a vortex-like quality… it sucks you in. I enjoyed this read, though to be honest, Adrian and Vanessa were a bit lacking in chemistry. It was hard for me to believe they loved each other THAT much. Their interactions with each other felt wooden - like watching two really bad actors who are absolutely apathetic towards each other. I do like how the serious issues in this book are tackled. Adrian and Vanessa’s cause of breakup also didn’t feel forced or overdramatic. It felt reasonable. Kudos to Abby Jimenez for keeping her stories as realistic as possible!
This book had an emotional chokehold on me like no other. The audio was so good, but I want a physical copy. I don’t remember the last time I cared so much about what happens to characters. Also, the smut is very minimal and not graphic!
Abby Jimenez strikes again. I read this on a plane and thank god for masks because I could not stop SMILING from the cuteness. (Also the last few chapters broke me but in a good way).
Good story but I found some things about the FL frustrating. The final 2 chapters annoyed me. The epilogue brought it back around but it all felt rushed and one-sided.
I loved this book. Abby did it again, this book sucked me right in and I didn't want to put it down. I fell in love with the characters and loved the cameos from past characters that I love from the friend zone universe.
Live like you are dying ... Vanessa and Adrian are an adorable pair and when you add a baby ... how can you resist.?! Another Abby Jimenez hit you in all the feels read. I loved how Vanessa knew Adrian and how Adrian was there no matter what. This is a slow build. A will they or won’t they but you know they will type of read. Not very spicy; more fade to black (which was a little disappointing). Just another great read that leaves you with some thoughts to ponder.
I couldn't stop reading and ended up reading this book without creating too many highlights. I loved this book so much.
I think I'm riding on an Abby high and I don't want to it to ever stop. I love how well every single one of her books is written.
There's just something so thrilling about it all. Like, I genuinely wish I had more time to spend and read every single one of her books.
It honestly, feels like no matter what she writes, I could eat it up. I love her writing so freaking much.
Highlights
“Let’s make this the best time of our lives. Live every day like it’s your last.”
I sniffed. “And when one of them is my last?” I asked, looking at him.
“You’re my soul mate. I’ll find you in the next life. Like I found you in this one.”
😭😭🥹🥹🫶🫶🦋🦋😩😩❤️🩹❤️🩹
“Why do grown-ups stop doing things like this?” I asked, lolling my head to look back at the ceiling. “Why do we forget?”
“It’s not very sophisticated. I think I’d have some explaining to do if I brought a woman home and this was the ceiling in my bedroom.”
“Oh my God. I would love if a man brought me home and this was the ceiling in his bedroom. I’d be way more excited to have sex with him.”
I could feel him look at me. “Really? You think these are available on Amazon Prime?”
I giggled. “Just so you know, I’m not having sex with you just because I come over and you have glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling.”
“Is there anything you will have sex with me for? I’d like to get started on it.”
AH 😩😩🫶🫶
“How did you get here so fast?” I looked over all the stuff he brought. “I called you and you came in, like, ten minutes. How’d you get all this ready and steal a garnish and still make it to rescue me in under an hour?”
He cleared his throat and talked to the food he was setting out. “I was already on my way with it.”
I pulled my face back. “You were on your way home when I called you? Your thing started at six thirty. It’s seven fifteen. Did you just show up with a bag and start pillaging? You weren’t planning on staying?”
“I guess not.”
I watched him opening more containers. “Why?”
He didn’t answer me for a long moment. “I just figured you had a rough day and might want to watch TV with someone.”
This is a rendition of “why did you come?” “You called.” Situation 😭😭🦋🦋🫶🫶🫠🫠😩😩❤️🔥❤️🔥🥰🥰
Grace smiled at me from her stroller. She’d been doing that now for the last few days. Every time she had her pacifier in and I made her smile, it popped out and she’d beam up at me, all gums and twinkling eyes. And if I tickled her, she giggled. I couldn’t get enough of it. I loved playing with her.
I reached down to scoop her into my arms and nuzzled her with my nose. She had on a tiny blue fleece onesie with snowflakes on it and she smelled like baby powder and Vanessa’s perfume.
She smelled like home.
❤️🩹❤️🩹
“It was like the whole Price family was headed for extinction. Faulty genes, predisposed conditions, and Murphy’s fucking Law.
And poor Grace. An addict mother, a narcissistic granddad, a deluded uncle, and a dying guardian.”
Oh shit.
“That’s a nice photograph,” I said, nodding at a framed picture. It was a copper-colored dog on the shore of a lake. Looked like up north.
She closed the space between us to stand next to me. “It’s not a photograph. It’s a painting.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Really.”
“Yeah. I got it at a MADD fund-raiser. I had to pledge a fortune for it. It’s a Sloan Monroe.”
“Oh, Jaxon Waters’s wife. I know her,” I said, studying it.
“You know her?” she said to the side of my face. “How?”
“My cousin Josh is married to her best friend. He lives next door to them in Ely. And I went on a date with her once.”
“Bullshit.”
I looked at her and her eyes were wide. I pulled out my cell phone and went to Instagram. I found Sloan’s private page and handed her the phone.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, scrolling through the pictures of Sloan and Jaxon, my cousin and his family intermingled in the feed, sitting around a campfire, at the table for Thanksgiving, playing with each other’s kids.
“This is so cool! You just got cooler by association,” she said, smiling at me. “I’m a total fangirl. I love her—she is so talented. There’s like a three-year waiting list for one of these.”
“I can see why,” I said, looking back at the artwork.
Sloan ❤️🩹❤️🩹
The dog was shitting everywhere.
I’d had the thing less than three hours, and I was already counting down the seconds until I got to hand him back to Becky.
The diapers wrapped around his belly and stopped only the urine from getting everywhere—which I suppose I should have been grateful for. But it did nothing for the pudding-like stool he was shitting all over my apartment. Luckily, he’d done this only on the hardwood so cleanup had been minimal, but it was far from pleasant.
😭😭
“That’s Grace. My name is Vanessa.”
“Nice to meet you, Vanessa. Now go. Take. A shower.”
Hey man. Stop repeating that statement 😭😭
"The control was an illusion. No one can promise you forever. People die unexpectedly every day. They have car accidents and heart attacks and strokes and if all you do is live your life fixated on how it ends, you're just living the end twice."
"All I ever wanted was to live. To grow old and have more time. And now I had something else I wanted as much as that. I wanted him. And neither one was probably ever going to be mine."