Read with Fern

“Sure, I had wallowed, and sure, I knew how to avoid responsibility, but I didn’t think this was the full expression of what anyone meant by care.”

The Year of Second Chances, Lara Avery

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Starting with a 30-something main character that’s freshly widowed isn’t necessarily fun, but it is rewarding! Robin Lindstrom was married to a wonderful man, Gabe. But Gabe has passed away after a battle with cancer, and Robin has no clue how to move on, or even move. She’s in the throes of depression when she receives a scheduled email from Gabe, written to help her after his death. So begins Robin’s adventure into online dating, specifically on an app. Gabe has enlisted his college-roommate-turned-best-friend Levi to help push Robin out of her comfort zone, and he does so in a charming, rock-n-roll, kind of way. Robin dates several different men in the greater Twin Cities area, to varying levels of success, while also juggling her frustrating family and time for herself.

This book was a slow starter for me, but I really enjoyed it once it got going! Robin and Levi are well-written, while the cast of characters parading around them are the exact people you meet in a small Midwestern town. There’s grief, growth, and some good ol’ fashioned fun. My only issue was that by the end, I felt like I had spent too much time on Robin’s dates with miscellaneous men, and didn’t have a deep connection with some of the main characters.

Ready for my full review (with spoilers)? Continue reading here!

Finally, I want to mention the most notable thing about this book. Avery is clearly a midwesterner, because she included things that cannot be learned through research, like the horrifying perfection of gas station pizza.