Review: Dear Life

Dear Life by Meghan Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm too busy crying to write a review right now. I'll get back to this tomorrow.

Okay, okay. I think I can do this now. I'm actually ashamed to admit that I have never read a book by Meghan Quinn until now. I have heard that this was a bit different than her typical rom-com, but I didn't know just how different.

Four people. Four different lives. Four different hurdles to jump. Dear Life is the system that brings these four lost souls to one another. Dear Life is the system in which they will try to heal themselves.

Meet the people that drive this story.

Daisy: Sheltered from the outside world, raised by her grandmother, and home-schooled she's never experienced life like most girls. After her grandmother suffers a stroke, she moves in with her half-sister, Amanda.

Jace: Pro-baseball player who just rocked his rookie year. Just had his world shattered when an old flame shows up seven months pregnant. Faced with fatherhood and raising a child while on the road, Jace has to decide what is best for his child.

Hollyn: Destroyed emotionally by the death of a loved one, she is left to grieve for the love and life she is missing. Refusing to move on, she keeps the same dead-end job as a waitress and wallows in grief and self-pity.

Carter: Raised by an emotionally abusive uncle, he is trying to overcome the black cloud that lingers over his head. Just when he thinks he can do it, he is blindsided by the one person he thought he could trust.

Dear Life comes to each of these people by word of mouth. Grouped together to work in small support teams, these four become the structure of the book and each other. Each meeting they tell their story, write letters, and support each other. They never saw each other coming. Each unique with their own story, they manage to find a bit of common ground.

A group text changes the dynamic of this foursome. And I think this is the witty remarks and comedy that Meghan Quinn is known for:

This right here, this is why group text messages should never be allowed. Why do I wan tot be part of a conversation that really is between two people? Thank you, Apple, for fucking with my insanity.

But what happens when that group chat turns into chats between duos? What happens when different people connect while others find themselves nearly hating the others?

"I want to get lost in you. In your touch, in your body, in your spirit. I want to forget with you, but I also want to experience joy again."

Because her lips are one of those things I haven't been able to get out of my head the past few days. I want to know how they taste, how soft they are, how they would feel up against mine. Would it be serendipitous? Like we were meant to be?

Now that the sexual tension is off the charts, can this group of lost souls find a way to mend themselves or each other? Is there more to this life than the life of inexperience? grief? hatred? loss? What do you do when that person you've come to rely on is suddenly missing from your life as well? Can you pick up the pieces and put them back together or do you crumble into a bigger mess than you were in when this all started? Where will you be when your life changes again?

"Don't let anyone dictate who you're supposed to be. You and you alone can make that decision."

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