Three More Months - Sarah Echavarre

Three More Months

Author: Sarah Echavarre
Genre: Contemporary Drama
Rating: 2 stars.

In a Nutshell: Predictable, emotional, long-winded. Didn’t like the MC. Didn’t like the writing.

Story Synopsis:
Chloe is a workaholic who spends all possible hours at her job as a pharmacist in a medical centre. Unfortunately, this means that she hasn’t the time to visit her mom who stays just a couple of hours away. After a chat with her best friend Julianne, Chloe vows to visit her mom that weekend. Unfortunately, her mom passes away that very night. Devastated, Chloe takes a break from work and goes home to help her younger brother Andy with the funeral arrangements. A few days before the funeral, Chloe wakes up to find her mother alive and well. She soon discovers that she has been transported back to March (the original timeline was in May.) Unsure of what to make of this opportunity, Chloe decides that she will save her mother at any cost. Can’t waste a second chance after all.
The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Chloe.

Where the book worked for me:
😍 The initial few chapters, right up to the chapter Chloe is taken back in time and a few paras beyond, hooked me to the story.

😍 Chloe’s mom is a Filipino, so there are plenty of references to Filipino culture and cuisine. I liked the representation pretty well.

Where the book didn’t work for me:
😒 This is a book that is fast in its pacing but slow in its proceedings. The writing is so repetitive. I felt like everyone was saying the same thing three different ways in every chapter. There are too many stretched-out scenes and loads of inner monologues. I hopped and skipped my way to the end after the timeslip occurs.

😒 The title is such a spoiler. The minute Chloe went back in time, I knew she had not the original death date but three full months with her mom. (I hate spoilers in general, but I hate it even more when the title itself does such a bad job of keeping a secret.)

😒 The book had so much potential as a ‘second chances’ story rarely focusses on parent-child relationships. Unfortunately, Chloe spends her new chance forcing her mom doing weird things she isn’t interested in – yoga, water aerobics, healthy eating seminars, and what not. I expected to be emotionally moved with the reunion attempt, but I just ended up irritated. The entire ‘three months’ period is mainly that of Chloe micromanaging her mom's life.

😒 I simply couldn't connect with Chloe. She comes across as domineering and wants everyone around to do her bidding but herself doesn’t follow what others suggest. She doesn’t understand that there’s a difference between mothering and smothering. When you don’t like your first person narrator, you don’t like the story. Simple.

😒 Why was the romantic arc needed after the timeslip? Wasn’t this a story about a mother and her daughter? Is a romantic HEA always needed?

😒 Since you all might have guessed that there is a funeral towards the end, this isn’t a spoiler. Chloe ends up delivering a long-winded eulogy. I felt like this was written just to make sure the reader cried – it was so over the top and needlessly melodramatic! I did cry, but for a different reason. I was crying tears of frustration and relief that the book was finally coming to an end.

All in all, I expected a greater emotional connect with the story but the roundabout writing and Chloe’s character didn’t impress me much. It is a “can-be-read”, not a “must-read”. If you give it a try, I sincerely hope it works better for you.

2 stars.

My thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “Three More Months”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.