The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart

This book was exactly what I needed for our long journey home from Spring Break. It is fun chick lit at it's best, keeping you laughing, smiling, shaking your head and even tearing up at one point. The story development and cast of characters puts me in mind of the Shopaholic and Bridget Jones series'. I didn't want the story to end, and even though it was somewhat predictable I actually was inspired by the bucket list concept. There are so many light reading options out there these days it can be overwhelming. I finally found one I thoroughly enjoyed!

I tried. I tried so hard to finish this book. I just couldn't.I couldn't finish the book. I made it 25% in and just couldn't do it. The main character Abi was just too weak for me. I've read books where the main character starts off without a back bone but then grows into a strong character by the end. Abi was not that. She continued to stay obsessed with her ex boyfriend and uses social media as a way to win him back by posting photos of all the cool, fun things she's doing and that she is a changed woman. She is basically cat fishing her ex with the look at all the cool things I am doing, we can totally be together. A break up is supposed to make you stronger and independent. She does the opposite.The things she says and does make me think she's a teenager or a woman in her early 20's still into the high school mindset, not someone who is mature and 30.Unfortunately, this book and I did not click.

I enjoyed the book and was pleased with the predictable and happy ending. The characters were well developed, and the little workplace twist at the end was good. I give four stars only because I think some parts were superfluous and the book could have been shortened by some 50 pages. Overall, this was fun reading. I recommend this one.

Clearly this book should have an age range guide. In the 3 chapters I dragged myself through (1st 2 & finally the last) I didn't stumble across the humour. (clearly my dry, sarcastic, or just outright funny sense of humour isn't the same style as the authors) The over use of a person's name should be banned, definitely. I'm going to have to stay away from any person with the same name as the characters in this book! If you're in your late teens, maybe 20's, and your focus is just on soppy break up stories, then go ahead. Turn the pages. Otherwise, swipe left, move on.

Spoiler alert! This was a light hearted good read. All the way through the book I kept hoping the main character (forgot her name) would wake up and see "the good guy" standing right in front of her, and she finally did. Women of the world, it isn't what a man looks like that's important, it's what he is on the inside and how he treats you that matters. She finally got that, thank goodness.

Love, love love! This book was such a great ride! The heroine is totally relateable and, although I wanted to shake her at times, watching her grow and develop throughout the book into a strong woman by the end was so wonderful. Excellent chick lit escapism!

This book is everything you’d want out of a quick fun piece of chick lit. It’s natural to want to know why things went wrong after a break up so when abi’s ex says they’re incompatible she uses a bucket list written by him to prove he’s miscalculated. Her attempts at checking things off his list to get him to notice her are heartwarming and hilarious and with a great cast of sidekicks you really can’t go wrong here. Loved it!

This book grew on me. The main character was frustrating at the beginning, especially how hung up she was on her ex. (She missed weeks of work over a break up? What?! I've never heard of such a thing.) And how she remained obsessed with her ex even after an attractive, athletic man who owns a bike shop decided to be her bucket list spirit guide. But the concept is cute and she grows throughout the story. Her bucket list sounded fun! Overall, the book made me want to go for a bike ride with a cute boy.

That is what infuriated me about this book - everything Abi does is to win the affection of her ex-boyfriend Joseph. Her behaviour is, not to put too fine a point on it, borderline obsessive and I found that to be actually quite disturbing; the fact she could only admit to a near stranger that she was only putting herself through this to rekindle his passion for her shows that the character knew it was wrong but still she behaved in this way. To be honest it creeped me out more than a little - next stop bunny boiling for sure.There is some humour in the book but more of the wry observations of personal calamity so we are laughing at the characters rather than with them. The situations are a little contrived and don't really stand up to scrutiny but this is a novel after all so artistic license is allowed - this is never more obvious than in the detailing of Abi's work life and her attempts to keep her job.The characters are all a little flat and never manage to fully inhabit their pages somehow. Abi in particular does at least grow through the course of the tale but I always felt like there was something missing, some detail of her character that was being held back and I never did find out what it was. When she meets her "bicycle-man" (see, I can't even remember his name) he is everything that is perfect about a partner without ever really seeming to have his own personality and Joseph is, ultimately, just a name of the page.All that said, it is an enjoyable enough read if you don't want anything particularly challenging. I read this whilst on holiday and it was perfect for that - pick it up, browse through a couple of chapters in a leisurely manner and then put it back down again. No urgency to read one more chapter and no real investment in the characters - light, frothy fluff which is all you really need sometimes.

I am afraid the same theme has been used in another book I read recently, just different setup. Girl chasing someone then when they get them realises they don't want them anymore as the reality did not live up to the fantasy. All the same I enjoyed the book. Even if the end was rushed into half a page and it was a predictable ending.

I so wanted this to be a good book. It was recommended by Amazon based on my previous book choices, however, it was totally booooring!! I read it properly for the first 25%, then I just couldn't bare it anymore and just read the dialogues. By the time I got to 35%, I was bored senseless and went to 85%. Didn't really miss anything... I did not laugh once while reading this book, I found it mind-numbingly boring, a total insomnia cure. I just didn't like the style or the characters. The story is predictable and dull.

Well that was brilliant. Just what I needed. Happy and sad at the same time. So well written that I was there along the way, partaking in the bucket list too. Thank you. Now I've got to go find anything else Anna has written, read that and then make my own bucket list. It's a timely reminder for me as my children are about to fly the nest and my next chapter is about to be written. Thank you again for making me take stock of my life and I'm a bit like Abi in my relationships too. Perhaps I should take a leaf out of her book and try a few things that frighten me.😊

Because I thoroughly enjoyed "It Started With a Tweet" (5 star review) so much I felt it worthy of reading another light hearted girlie book from Anna Bell. Although it didn't have me page turning rapidly in the beginning, once the momentum took off I really found myself wanting to get through the bucket list. We all have made bucket lists over the years & nothing more satisfying than striking off once accomplished, so all up I really did enjoy this book.