review: promises to keep by jane green

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Such a sad, sad story in Jane Green’s Promises to Keep. Callie Perry’s life is pretty perfect (in fact, she’s a little too perfect, but that’s understandable as her story’s inspired by the author’s deceased friend), but as she approaches the five year mark so important to cancer survivors, Callie starts feeling ill. At first she chalks it up to perimenopause, but the truth can no longer be ignored when she crashes the car while driving with her mother and sister.

The story isn’t all tragedy though; in fact, the first chapters are quite light-hearted as Callie’s sister Steffi flounders through life. Steffi with all her imperfection and whimsy made Promises to Keep enjoyable; Callie, on the other hand, just didn’t seem believable (and then I felt bad for not liking someone diagnosed with such a rare cancer).

Promises to Keep also follows the trend of including recipes after the chapters. This somewhat works as Steffi is a chef; however, at times it felt like a bit of a stretch. There were chapters that didn’t really have anything to do with food or even a mention of food. The recipes worked best when they fit into the story, such as the chili recipe following the chapter where Steffi complains that her boyfriend and his stoner friends had ate the chili she made for Callie’s party.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Viking.