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Spoilers Beyond This Point

“I’d tried not to cry as I watched him, the world’s friendliest Grim Reaper, wondering how he could possibly celebrate spring as he marched toward the opposite.”

The Year of Second Chances, Lara Avery

Obviously a dead husband who had cancer is going to be a saint of a man that no one can live up to. There’s no other option, and I accept that. And I truly did like Gabe. But I was so excited as the story progressed and Robin was spending time with people that weren’t perfect for her. The whole point of the story, online dating for a full year, was to get her out of her comfort zone with other people. So when Jake, the closest thing there was to Gabe, showed up, I was not interested. I expected him to stick around for a couple months, but this man stayed for an entire year. Most of the things that annoyed me about the character are things that also annoy me about real men in their mid twenties to mid thirties, so it’s not that he was poorly written. He was just a man looking to settle down with a widow of one year and was surprised when it was messy.

Between Jake and the other one-off dates, I felt like Levi barely got any time at all. Part of that was clearly intentional pacing, because it felt like I was dating, possibly wasting time, while there was a great guy off in the distance. But part of it was just that I couldn’t believe Robin would actually say “yes” to some of the experiences, even with Levi’s pushes. By the end, it felt like a brunch recap with a friend you hadn’t seen in a year. I was trying to keep track of all the characters, but everything kept getting crossed in my head.

“In response, he put two rock ’n’ roll fingers on his forehead, head-banging. Hail Satan, he mouthed. This was a common Levi gesture of general approval.”

The Year of Second Chances, Lara Avery

I knew I was going to love Levi, that’s obviously the point of the book. But it was this line that did it for me. It wasn’t the nice lines that happened later, it was this. After spending so much time with a golden retriever of a man like Gabe, there’s nothing more refreshing than a punk-rock supporter. Also Levi is clearly the only person in Robin’s life who actually pays attention to her, and that’s more important to me than almost anything.

“‘I can’t convince Jake of anything. Because the truth is . . . I do have a thing for you. One thousand percent, I have a thing for you.’ My first instinct was to smack him, but I’d never hit anyone in my life, and I wasn’t going to start now, especially not in front of my ailing mother.”

The Year of Second Chances, Lara Avery

The ending of this book really saved it for me. I was losing interest by the time Jake took Robin ice-fishing, and still had 100 pages to go. But the true drama, the cathartic screaming, happened. And I was so glad that this turned into a story about Robin finding herself underneath everyone else’s baggage instead of Robin finding herself in the love of another man. I will always support any firstborn daughter discovering that 0% of her life needs to be dedicated to anyone but herself. 

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.

“‘There’s just something about Casey’s pizza,” I said as I went for a second slice. “Is it the crust? Is it because it sits for hours under a food heater? God, I can’t put my finger on it.’”

The Year of Second Chances, Lara Avery