Review: I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi (audio)

Title: I Liked My Life

Author: Abby Fabiaschi

Narrator: Susan Bennett, Dan Bittner, Therese Plummer

Published: Audio – January 2017, Macmillan Audio / Print – May 2018, St. Martin’s Griffin

Length: 9 hours, 47 minutes / 288 pages

Source: Audio via library / Print – Paperback via GetRed PR

Summary: 

Maddy is a devoted stay-at-home wife and mother, host of excellent parties, giver of thoughtful gifts, and bestower of a searingly perceptive piece of advice or two. She is the cornerstone of her family, a true matriarch…until she commits suicide, leaving her husband Brady and teenage daughter Eve heartbroken and reeling, wondering what happened. How could the exuberant, exacting woman they loved disappear so abruptly, seemingly without reason, from their lives? How they can possibly continue without her? As they sift through details of her last days, trying to understand the woman they thought they knew, Brady and Eve are forced to come to terms with unsettling truths.

Maddy, however, isn’t ready to leave her family forever. Watching from beyond, she tries to find the perfect replacement for herself. Along comes Rory: pretty, caring, and spontaneous, with just the right bit of edge…but who also harbors a tragedy of her own. Will the mystery of Maddy ever come to rest? And can her family make peace with their history and begin to heal?

My thoughts: This is one of those books that while I wanted to read it, I was a bit apprehensive about it at the same time. I’m not really a big fan of the whole ghost story, to be honest…and so I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get into the story with one of the characters being telling their parts from beyond. But, I needn’t have worried – I found myself completely engaged with from the start.

This book is so much more than what it might first appear to be – and I so appreciate books like that. I love books that have little life lessons and really delve into familial relationships. This one caught me by surprise. It was the perfect balance of emotional, heaviness with lighthearted, funny moments – I really felt that I went through quite the ringer of emotions here and quite enjoyed the ride. 

The characters that we meet along the way, the three main narrators, as well the other characters we meet through them, all felt genuine and real. They were relatable and not without their faults. It was so easy to grow attached to them. And I loved that Brady and Eve use Maddy’s journal as a way to work through their grief. Not only did it give them some answers, but it was as if it helped solidify their relationship, too.

This book is such a powerful read – it’s heartfelt, thought-provoking and hopeful. I really enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. And to think it’s a debut novel – I cannot wait to see what comes next from this talented author!!!

Audio thoughts: There are times when a book calls for a cast of narrators and there are times when it can be done just as efficiently with one narrator. This time, having a cast of narrators made the most sense and it really worked well. Having a different narrator for each of the three main narrators of the book really helped to make this book come alive and I think each of the three narrators did a fantastic job. The pacing and tone each of the narrators used was good and each infused just the right amount of emotion into their voice as needed. This was a great book to listen to on audio.