still lifeA tragic plane crash. One woman who lost her husband. Another who gave up her seat for him.

Ada spent twenty-five years in a fringe religious sect. Then she met Julian, a photojournalist who’d come to document their lifestyle. They eloped mere days later and Ada was thrust into a completely new life as a wife, city-dweller, and an individual allowed to make her own decisions. 

On her twenty-sixth birthday, Julian flies home from an assignment, but the plane crashes and everyone is killed, including Julian.

Ada is completely lost with no friends and no marketable skills. She begins travelling with Julian’s camera for a companion, searching for answers to who she is and what she really wants.

Meanwhile, Katherine must live with the knowledge of why she gave her seat to Julian-to extend her affair one more night. She recognizes her survival as a second chance to save her marriage. But is it too late?

When Ada’s and Katherine’s paths cross, they discover that there’s still life ahead for both of them.

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While the book isn’t bad, the whole thing threw me off balance. Above is the blurb that captured my attention – the story of a woman trying to cope after her husband’s death. Still Life, however, isn’t really Ada’s story. It’s not really Ada and Katherine’s story either.

Still Life is the story of Julian Goetze and about 10 people he interacted with throughout his life.

That may not seem important, but it set me up for serious disappointment.

I wanted to find out about Ada – how did she cope? how did she change? how did her life move forward?

Instead, there were chapters about Ada meeting people her husband had photographed. We get to see how Julian touched those people, but we don’t get to see how their stories touched Ada. She meets them, takes a picture, and leaves.

Then there’s Katherine – we know about her affair and her decision to save her marriage, but we don’t get to see what in her changes, how it changes, or why it changes.

The story in itself isn’t bad (though I would probably cut quite a few of the long, not-necessarily-relevant descriptive paragraphs), it didn’t live up to my expectations because the blurb doesn’t describe the book, it describes part of the book. I don’t really know how to compare it, but I suppose if you’re looking for a combination of Lifetime and Hallmark movies, this might be the book for you. I would give it 3 of 5 stars.

*I received a free copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are my own.