Book Review: One Last Time by Helga Flatland

Go deep and get serious. That’s what this next book is all about.

Goodreads Blurb

Anne’s life is rushing to an unexpected and untimely end. But her diagnosis of terminal cancer isn’t just a shock for her – and for her daughter Sigrid and granddaughter Mia – it shines a spotlight onto their fractured and uncomfortable relationships.

On a spur-of-the moment trip to France the three generations of women reveal harboured secrets, long-held frustrations and suppressed desires, and learn humbling and heartwarming lessons about how life should be lived when death is so close.

Review

I want to provide an honest review of One Last Time but I also want to make it subjective to other readers’ tastes.

It is possible that I read this book at the wrong time. It goes very deep into terminal cancer and strained family dynamics. Though I’ve read some blurbs that say One Last Time is also witty and funny, I just didn’t see that. It meant that the book was just to heavy for me at the present time to really appreciate or enjoy.

Saying that, I can see the appeal of One Last Time. It is very well written and captures well the feelings and emotions of Anne and Sigrid; not so much Mia as there are no chapters from her perspective. I also felt that the author dealt well with the complexity of family relationships, keeping them real and not proving unrealistic conclusions or endings.

One thing that is gnawing at me about One Last Time that I have to mention is the blurb. I just didn’t feel like it matched what actually happens on the book. The trip to France is just a small part of the story and, in my opinion, there wasn’t any big secret reveal, just a family trying to figure out their relationships in the wake of the matriarch’s diagnosis. Maybe I just missed all that in my reading of the book but there certainly was some disconnect for me.

I know there are many people out there that will enjoy One Last Time. If you feel like you are one of those people, you can pick up your copy of the book here.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.