Welcome to Litsy!

A group of college friends come back together to throw “funerals“ for each other in times of crises, so that they always know they're loved. An entertaining read that had many resonant passages for me, but it felt a little lacking in real depth somehow. Perhaps it's because we spend time in the minds of five different people and it's not that long a book. Or perhaps the echoes of “The Big Chill' and “Peter's Friends“ make it feel too theatrical.

“We've reached the tipping point,“ Naomi said, pouring a shot of Don Julio; it burned with a smoky finish.

“How do you mean?“ Jordy asked.

“I just figure at a certain point, life takes more from you than it gives.“

He had an urge to return to Bogota. It was fascinating to him, the idea that all the things his parents had escaped were now here, and all the things they wanted for their kids were now there. Random gun violence, political unrest, supply chain issues--those were now America, Marriage equality, socialized medicine, and reproductive choice--those were all Colombian.

Everyone was on the same ticking clock. They might fool themselves into thinking that more time affords them opportunities to do more things, that the future is open-ended. But the world is simply too big. We weren't meant to see everything, we weren't built to do everything, we aren't capable of knowing everything. At a certain point, peace has to be found with the choices we've made.

Read in 2024. The book is about a group of friends that have living funerals for each other after one of them from their friend group passes away. The story goes back & forth between their time in college to what they‘re current going through in life. They discuss their highs & lows of life. Nothing ground breaking but I enjoyed it (although months later I can‘t remember anything poignant about the story).

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for my December #Roll100 pick.

After the unexpected loss of their friend, five young adults make a pact to give one another “living funerals”. Over the course of 20ish years, the friends come together at various life stages to uphold their promise to one another.

This was moving, emotional, and struck a chord. Beautiful.

Five friends make a pact after another friend dies young and suddenly…a funeral pact that can be invoked at any time, no questions asked. The five remaining friends can each have their own “funeral” with the goal that nothing is left unsaid and they reaffirm how much they mean to each other. Heartbreaking, but also positive.

#bookspinbingo
#24in2024
#readaway2024

A group of friends gathers for the funeral of one of their college crew who died way too young. They make a pact to continue holding “funerals” for each other to honor those friendships while they are still alive and able to hear how they are loved. This was just so-so for me. Read it for book club and found more to appreciate as we discussed, but the characters didn‘t really grab me and the dialogue and humor felt a bit too contrived and clunky.

Since I DNF'ed my original choice for this prompt (too scary!!), this book worked just fine for #52bookclub24 #includesapersonalphobia. Skydiving. Enough said!

Overall, I enjoyed this one, though it did start out pretty slow for me. I definitely preferred “The Guncle“ to this, but it was still worth reading. And it was my #bookspin pick for June!

Some flaws, but overall good. The lengthy digressions into California's history take away from the narrative and the twists are a little messy but the characters and setting are good. I could see it becoming a series and I would continue reading if so.