Book Review: The Life You've Imagined

* Marathon Madness Monday will post on Wednesday this week as I am reviewing another book for TLC Book Tours today!

I received an advanced reader's copy of "The Life You've Imagined" by Kristina Riggle. I know this is super dorky, but I love ARCs! I think it's so cool that I get to check something out that isn't available to everyone! I read this book in the span of 3 days - it's 334 pages so the fact that I read it so quickly is worth noting! The title of the book is inspired by a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "Go Confidently in the direction of your dreams. Life the life you have imagined." In this book, we meet Cami, Maeve, Anna, and Amy; each character takes turns narrating the story. I think changing narrators each chapter is what made the book so engaging for me. I like it when the author shows us the perspective of multiple characters - but does so in a way that doesn't confuse the reader.

Cami has escaped to Haven, Michigan after the relationship with her boyfriend crashes and burns. She moves back in with her abusive father and while their relationship seems irreparable, her goal is to learn more about her mother that passed away when Cami was young.

Maeve runs a small convenience store in Haven, Michigan and is still haunted by the fact that her husband walked out the door without looking back many, many years ago. She stills wears her wedding ring on a chain around her neck and has struggled to accept that her life has turned out vastly different than she imagined.

Anna is the daughter of Maeve. She returns to Haven while on bereavement leave after a colleague passes away. While back in Haven, she begins to spend time with her high school flame and begins to wonder what might have been had she not broken up with him.

Amy went to school with Cami and Anna and has gone through a physical metamorphosis. She has lost quite a bit of weight and is engaged to be married. While she tells herself that "every thin day is a good day" she is beginning to see that losing weight wasn't the answer to all of her problems.

Throughout the novel, the characters all try to come to terms with where they are and how they thought their lives would turn out. I've talked about this before, but I definitely had a 'vision' of how my life would turn out. My life has turned out vastly different - it's not worse than what I had pictured, it's just different. Sometimes I struggle with letting go of that vision I had, but as I get older, I am getting better and better about accepting, embracing, and celebrating the way my life has turned out.

The book was released last Tuesday so is now available. It was a light, easy read that I really enjoyed. The book references Thoreau's book, Walden, a couple of times so it makes me really want to check that book out!