The Someday List

The Someday List (Jubilant Soul Series #1)

by Stacey Hawkins Adams

Overview

Source: GoodReads

Rachelle Covington has it all. A fabulous home, a handsome and prestigious husband, two beautiful children, and a place in the upper crust that's quite comfortable. But her life is not all it's cracked up to be. When her husband goes away on business trip and the kids are sent off to the grandparents for a month, Rachelle takes up the challenge of a dying friend to start a list of things to do before she dies. She heads back to Jubilant, Texas, to reconnect with her past, her purpose, and herself. But when her ex-husband shows up in town looking very fine and very single, Rachelle must confront feelings she thought she'd long buried. Will she give up everything to recover the past? Or will she find a reason to plan for the future?

"The Someday List" is an honest look at what makes us who we are and what can throw us off track. Author Stacy Hawkins Adams writes with a voice that is fresh, sincere, and completely.

Discussion

The book has been described as a Christian love story/Christian fiction. There are several story themes in the book including, a woman losing her personal and professional self in marriage, infidelity in marriage, family secrets, following your dreams, your relationship with God or finding religion in the midst trials; faith and forgiveness.

Club members discussed:

• The storylines which resonated with us the most

• The character developments, storylines, and author ability to tell the story

• The way the story ended

• The role of religion the story

• The main character, Rachelle’s, inability to communicate in her relationships

• The purpose of Aunt Irene’s character

• The way Aunt Irene’s issues were resolved

• Rachelle’s choice regarding her marriage

• Rachelle’s friend dying

• Family influence in Rachelle’s life

Group Assessment

NCBC Rating: 1.6

As a group, the group rating reveals The Someday List was a huge disappointment for many members. We found that the characters were one-dimensional and the plot/story was under-developed and fairly predictable. There were too many storylines that led nowhere with no closure; left the reader clamoring for a conclusion. The author’s attempt to create a story with a Bible-based lesson in faith and trust simply fell short.

This is one of NCBC’s lowest rated books. It takes the third-place ranking of low rated books with a collective rating of 1.6, following Solemn by Kalisha Buchanon (NCBC Rating: 1), and Mary B. Morrison’s Sweeter Than Honey (NCBC Rating: 1.25).

Final Thoughts and Individual Ratings

Debbie (Moderator) – Rating: 1.5. Read the book. The author, Stacey Hawkins Adams gets an “E” for effort, but ultimately failed by including too many storylines featuring poorly-developed characters. It was difficult to care about the characters; could not relate to Rachelle who did not have a strong sense of self and relied on her parents and later husband to care for all her needs. She is unable to communicate her needs and speak up for herself. As a Christian based story, Debbie had a hard time understanding the role faith played in the character’s lives to help them through their crisis. The religious lessons were not clear.

Natalie – Rating: 1.5. Read the book. Did not know the story was going to be Christian based but knew where the book was going to go very early on – a totally predictable story with no surprises. Agrees with the group that the book was not well-written and lacked character development. She says it was too much drama and did not focus on the characters lessons and being better.

Ebony – Rating: 2.5. Read the book. She likes Christian-based novels. Concurs with the majority that the book was not well-written and lacked character development. It was not a Bible-based, meat-and-bone Christian lessons. She

could relate to the theme that focused on how people can get wrapped up in life and forget who they are. However, you don’t always get sensible, fulfilling closure, satisfying answers or “neat endings” in real life – this was a lesson the book could have shared but missed the mark. Ebony liked the idea of a Rachelle’s dying friend having a “celebration of life” party with close friends and family before her impending death.

Syreeta – Rating: 1. - Did not read the entire book, got through a few chapters and gave up. She did not understand why Rachelle chose to stay in an unhappy marriage. Serita and the group agreed that Rachelle had a problem communicating or lack of delivering when it came to her current husband, parents and first husband, Troy. Why didn’t she talk to her husband about the issues in their marriage? Personally, Syreeta could not relate to the character’s choice to seemingly stay in an unhappy marriage, nor did she agree with Rachelle’s decision to give up her career but liked the way Rachelle respected her dying friend’s choice to gather all her friends at a party before her death. The story was boring, stereotypical, and not enjoyable.

Chanell – Rating: 1, but did not read the book. Says the group did not inspire her to read the book. On the topic of infidelity says that If her husband cheated on her, she would not be able to trust him again.

Adrian – Rating: 1. Did not read the entire book. Read only a few chapters and knew where it was going. The author did not do a sufficient job of developing the characters enough. The book felt like a BET movie or Tyler Perry movie. Thought it was formulaic and lacked depth.

Guerdie – Rating: 3. Read the book. In our group, Guerdie enjoyed the book the most. She embraced the spiritual aspect of the book. She could relate to some aspects of the book as her father was heavily involved in the church and she’s been married for 25 years with two children. Being of Haitian culture, she says it’s common that men assume the role of care-taker and decision maker in the home, so she could understand Rachelle’s present husband Gabe’s personality type. However, she does not believe in putting up with his infidelity. Guerdie also believes that Aunt Irene received a light punishment for her drunk driving charge. Instead, Aunt Irene should have gone to jail at least for a few months. Guerdie also wanted Rachelle to go back to Troy. Guerdie liked that Rachelle learned to take care of herself with the list she was finally able to create at the end.

Phyllis - Rating: 1. Phyllis did not like the story. From a mechanical point of view, the characters were one dimensional, the storytelling style was stilted and a bit amateurish (whenever a character was introduced, there was an immediate need for her to overly describe characters or what they were wearing – annoying!); the novel closed with no solid conclusions but I guess we’re to believe that all will be well with the characters. Not a fan of Christian Fiction, Phyllis tried to put aside her bias, and read with an open mind to capture the essence of the book and take away the lessons learned but found despite consulting numerous family members, friends and clergy, the novel ends on a superficial note that all will be well; when the author missed an opportunity to make this story a teachable moment for the AA audience regarding the importance of seeking professional help (in addition to pastoral counseling, if desired) for mental health counseling (for Aunt Irene’s depression), self-esteem issues and life coaching (for Rachelle), marital counseling , alcoholism and drug abuse. As the saying goes, ‘how can you take care of others, when you can’t/haven’t taken care of yourself?’ – Rachelle needed to work on herself first and foremost – time spent with a therapist could have helped her focus, find herself and work through her next steps. It was a bore and a chore to read numerous pages of Rachelle wallowing in self-pity and consulting too many people to offer advice to her seemingly superficial problems. Other characters entered as afterthoughts to spew Bible-based messages on forgiveness and absolution ad nauseam.

#books