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Title: The Bucket List
Author: Georgia Clark
Genre: Women’s fiction
Content warning: Breast cancer, death of a parent
As someone who came to romance via the chick lit of the early 2000’s, I have a soft spot in my heart for stories like these. The Bucket List could just about be categorized as romance, but it airs on the side of women’s fiction mainly due to the main character’s journey.
Lacey works two jobs, both in the fashion world, both super demanding of her time and energy. She has plans, and she knows exactly how she wants her career to pan out. But she’s thrown for a loop when her BRCA 1 gene mutation test comes back positive. Women with the BRCA 1 gene mutation are all but guaranteed a breast cancer diagnosis at some point in their life, and since Lacey’s mother died of the disease at a young age, Lacey is forced to take a hard look at her options. When she decides to have a double mastectomy, she also decides to give her breasts the send off they truly deserve. Thus the bucket list. Lacey makes a list of mostly sexual things she wants to experience before having her surgery, then spends a few months completing them. Along the way, she finds herself falling for her best friend’s roommate, but the two can never seem to get their shit together long enough to make an actual go of it. Throughout her bucket list journey, Lacey struggles, obviously. She is facing major surgery, dealing with a sister who doesn’t believe in Western medicine, and trying to balance her career with her her newfound shift in priorities. Because there are no guarantees with women’s fiction, I’ll go ahead and ease your worries and let you know the story ends happily.
I really, really enjoyed this book. Georgia’s first book, The Regulars, was a little on the magic realism spectrum which isn’t my favorite, and I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. But this is about as chick lit as it gets in 2020. Both of my aunts also tested positive for the BRCA 1 gene mutation (luckily, my mother did not), and they both also had double mastectomies (though much later in life than Lacey). I found a lot in this book to relate to, but even if you don’t have a personal connection to breast cancer (is that even possible these days?) this book examines a lot of issues worth thinking about. The cost of healthcare, how we look at women’s bodies, and the career/life balance women are supposed to magically achieve being just a few. There were moments that were tough to read, but that’s just because the whole thing was so real. Whether or not you have a personal tie to breast cancer, I would highly recommend this read.
Overall rating: 4.5 stars