REVIEW: The Birthday List by Devney Perry

The Birthday List by Devney Perry is a touching, heartwarming story about moving on past a terrible loss.

When Poppy sent her husband Jamie to the liquor store to get liquor for their one-year anniversary barbeque the following day, she never imagined that would be the last time she would see him. Five years later, Poppy still feels guilty about what happened and feels like she can’t move on from Jamie’s murder. In order to do so, she breaks out Jamie’s birthday list. For every future birthday, Jaime had written down something he wanted to do or accomplish. It was his birthday bucket list. Poppy believes if she can complete the birthday list, she’ll be able to move on. What she doesn’t count on is running into Cole when doing one of the things on the list.

Cole had been the police officer that delivered the news of Jaime’s murder to Poppy all those years ago. At the time he admired her strength and how she handled the situation, and he admires her now for trying to fulfill Jaime’s wishes. He offers to help her complete the list, and as they go through item, Poppy wonders if she can move on enough to let him into her heart.

I loved the idea of the birthday bucket list. Some of Jaime’s ideas were outlandish, such as swimming in a pool of green Jell-O and pulling a fire alarm, some were not, such as Hike Glacier National Park and taking a karate class, and some were to benefit others, such as buying a stranger a car and changing someone’s life. I liked how the author put the year of the birthday (such as the 50th birthday) and the wish, and how it corresponded to what actually took place in that particular chapter.

Readers won’t be able to help but feel for Poppy. She has been through so much, and it feels like, with the exception of Jaime’s grandfather, that the rest of his family blames her for his death, which only adds to her guilt.

Cole was wonderful. I loved how he encourages Poppy to talk about Jaime and to cry when she needed to. He felt no jealously whatsoever about Poppy’s love for Jaime. Instead, he acknowledges that Jaime had been a big part of her life and would always have a piece of her heart. He just hopes that there will be room in her heart for him, as well.

This book runs the emotional gamut and it’s worth the emotional ride. With the unique idea of the birthday list to characters readers will want to root for, it’s definitely worth reading.
 

Book Info:

Publication: April 3, 2018 | Publisher- Devney Perry |

Happily married to her college sweetheart, Poppy lived a blessed life with the husband of her dreams. Then everything changed. She is no longer a wife. She is no longer the envy of her single friends. Now, people look at her with pity as they whisper a single word behind her back.

Widow.

Years after her husband’s tragic death, years of pain and sorrow and wishing for the life she’ll never get back, Poppy decides to finish Jamie’s birthday list. She’ll do the things he wanted to most. Because maybe, just maybe, if she can complete his list, she can start to live again.

Poppy expects going through the birthday list will be hard. She expects it to hurt. But what she doesn’t expect is Cole. Could the man who delivered the news of her husband’s death and shattered her heart be the one to help her put it back together again?