Narrator: Jessica Almasy
Series: Good to the Last Death #1
Published by Blackstone Publishing on April 27, 2021
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction Fantasy
Length: 9 hours, 11 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm
Whoever said life begins at forty must have been heavily medicated, drunk, or delusional.
Thirty-nine was a fantastic year. I was married to the man I loved. I had a body that worked without creaking. My grandma, who raised me, was still healthy, and life was pretty damned good.
But as they say, all good things come to an end. I’d honestly love to know who ’they’ are and rip them a new one.
One year later, I’m a widow. My joints are starting to ache. Gram is in the nursing home, and dead people think my home is some kind of supernatural bed and breakfast. Gluing body parts onto semi-transparent people has become a side job—deceased people I’m not even sure are actually there. I think they need my help, but since I don’t speak dead, we’re having a few issues.
To add to the heap of trouble, there’s a new dangerously smokin’ hot lawyer at the firm who won't stop giving me the eye. My BFF is
thrilled with her new frozen face, thanks to her plastic surgeon, her alimony check, and the miracle of Botox. And then there’s the little conundrum that I’m becoming way too attached to my ghostly squatters… Like Cher, I'd like to turn back time. Now.
I was looking for snarky paranormal romance/urban fantasy when I came across It’s a Wonderful Midlife Crisis by Robyn Peterman, the first installment of the Good to the Last Death series, in my library’s suggestion list. I enjoyed her previous books, and after meeting the author in person at several conventions, knew her to have a sarcastic sense of humor and a dry wit.
Daisy is almost forty. She never expected to find herself widowed after almost twenty years of marriage and having to start again. Fortunately she has the support of her friends, who are also her coworkers; they are determined to see her get back out into the world. But what her friends don’t know is that she’s been seeing ghosts. Or she thinks she is seeing ghosts, because maybe she’s just going crazy. Regardless, she embraces this new ability with very little investigation or self-examination. She’s not quite able to communicate with the spirits, and finds herself attaching their missing body parts with superglue. It isn’t a surprise when she discovers that by helping resolve the ghosts’ unfinished business, she helps them move on.
I can understand and appreciate what the author was trying to do, but there were too many things that felt off mark that I just couldn’t enjoy the story. I felt most of the characters in It’s a Wonderful Midlife Crisis were either underdeveloped or stereotypical and one-dimensional. Daisy herself was hard to like, because I felt like she was oblivious and immature. Her character needed a lot more depth to engage my interest. There were hints at her sadness over losing the love of her life, but moments later, it was as if that emotion wasn’t quite there.
Although the plot of the story was not original, there were some tweaks to the ghost trope that have potential to make this series stand out. There was a point about two-thirds of the way through that I was warming up to the book, interested in how the story arch might resolve over the entire series. Unfortunately, any momentum gained was lost by some revelations about Daisy’s marriage, the bypassing of any relationship development with the would-be love interest, and a single, direction-altering assumption. It was hardest to believe that as a smart, independent woman, with a gaggle of nosy and vocal friends on her side, she could not be made to see the flaws in her marriage and her late husband; specifically with the gaslighting and emotional abuse she suffered at his hand.
Additionally, there were little things throughout the book that, on their own, would have been a blip on the register, but when added together had a negative impact on my enjoyment of the story. The jokes and humor from Daisy’s inner dialogue, didn’t really work for me. The group seemed to be part of a toxic workplace with a boss that was a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. I wanted to understand more fully Daisy’s ability, her role in the afterlife, and the encompassing mythology.  Any chemistry that had been brewing between Daisy and Gideon what quickly neutralized by how quickly the relationship moved forward (not to mention the implosion).
While I hoped to laugh out loud while reading It’s a Wonderful Midlife Crisis, I mostly grumbled and shook my head at Daisy’s antics. The writing style and actual prose held promise, and given that the book ended on a significant cliffhanger, I will most likely continue with the next in the series, and hope that some of what I missed in the this installment will be flushed out in the next.
Narration:
The narration for this story was ok, but I am not sure I liked the narrators interpretation of Daisy’s voice (and therefore personality). The pacing was where it should be and I could easily understand the dialogue. My biggest complaint is the interpretation of Gideon, which was just short of creepy. This had a definite affected on my ability to enjoy the romance aspect of the book. Because of this, I would definitely skip the audio if I continue with the next book in the series.
Listen to a clip: HERE
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Hopefully the next is better.
Love the title on this, but sounds like a pretty big miss.
Great review. Sorry it was a disappointment.