A Life Worth Living

By: Louise Guy

Narrated by: Cat Gould

Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Are some white lies simply too big to forgive?

Eve and Leah are identical twins - but beyond that, they’re polar opposites. Struggling journalist Leah envies Eve’s seemingly perfect life - the loyal husband, the beautiful twin daughters, the stellar career - little knowing that what Eve longs for most is Leah’s independence.

When a shocking event upends their world, one woman seizes a split-second chance to change everything and follow her sister down a different life path. It’s a spontaneous choice, but there’s no going back. How will she deal with the fallout when covering up one untruth means lying to everyone - about everything?

One thing is clear: both twins have secrets, and both just want to be happy. But what price will they pay to live the life they’ve always wanted?

Revised edition: This edition of A Life Worth Living includes editorial revisions.

©2018, 2020 Louise Guy. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Enjoyable

Not my usual genre. but very good. loved the narrator. not a twin so a bit skeptical but overall a good story.

👍

Interesting plot involving some very complex and deep rooted emotional ties bonding several people together. A traumatic moment, a promise to a dying loved one, and shock leads from one wrong decision to a cascading waterfall of them.

I enjoyed the book from being able to stand back and objectively see each character and how this truly could infact happen in a family dynamic.

Enjoyable story

I found this book to be an enjoyable story. There was no crazy mystery to be solved, just a straightforward family drama with a twist.
No foul language. No sexually explicit scenes.

From an identical twin

I really I enjoyed reading this book as my twin and I did
Switch classes in school, going on dates with the others boyfriend., answering the others phone and fooling our friends. There is a closeness with twins that can’t be with anyone else.

Parted and Joined, two souls in one body

I had this book on preorder since I'd quite enjoyed two of Louise's other books. When it landed I didn't even read the blurb, just jumped in cold, and really enjoyed it. Where the other books put their characters into difficult spots, and had themes of honesty and family, this one takes those ideas and turns them up to 11. Also reminds you that when you think you are seeing a bad person, you are really just seeing the result of bad decisions. Or what you think may be bad decisions!

There are some fortunate circumstances in the story, a few uncrossed lines that even the morally challenged protagonists refuse (or are not allowed) to countenance until it becomes "right" to do so. Also some wise words from unexpected sources that actually fall on open ears at the right times. Somewhat deus ex machina. But for all that, the book does not come across at all cheesy or contrived, and I think is Louise's best so far in this format. The dialogue, both internal an external, comes across as well observed. Looking forward to the next one!

Things Are Not as They Appear.

It was a good read full of all the emotions high /low, happy/sad...it was like being on a roller coaster of emotions. It was also about tremendous persevering of a family to bring forth good for all.

Great!

Great story loved the characters. The story moved along quickly. It was easy to follow.

Ridiculous premise

Kept waiting for the story to kick in…but just took an incredibly ridiculous idea and played with it the entire book until an even more ridiculous twist closed out the story. Really a big waste of time.

Implausible Romance

This was a new kind of book to me. The author does not seem to have known identical twins, the Melbourne realty scene, nor the impact of pregnancy on the human body. The lead characters are dense beyond belief. I know men are often castigated for being unobservant when it comes to women but does the author really expect us to believe that pregnancy stretch marks, breast coloration etc. were entirely missed. Did Eve had makeover belly surgery?

For me, the book was poorly written with a tin ear for dialog and strange views of 6 and 7-year-old language and understanding. I was most taken aback by the repetition of stock phrases. Perhaps this is a typical romance novel. The pacing seems formulaic. The language appears rigidly kept at the beginning high school level and the vocabulary is also tightly restricted, All in all not for me.

I see that many reviewers liked the novel. It was just too implausible and poorly written for me.