Six Weeks to Live by Catherine Mckenzie

About the book:
Jennifer Barnes never expected the shocking news she received at a routine doctor’s appointment: she has a terminal brain tumor—and only six weeks left to live.

The  forty-eight-year-old mother decides to spend what little time she has left with her family—her adult triplets and twin grandsons—close by her side. But when she realizes she was possibly poisoned a year earlier, she’s determined to discover who might have tried to get rid of her before she’s gone for good.
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I’d say this reads, first and foremost, like a domestic drama, but it does have a smattering of solid psychological suspense elements. The opening premise is unique, and the beginning - in which the main character is given six weeks to live - actually hit me hard emotionally, which hooked me in right away. 

Given the title and premise, I expected a fast-moving, race-against-the-clock pace in which we are completely on the ride of Jennifer after her diagnosis. Instead, the first two-thirds of the book is more of a slow burn in which the truth about this family’s dysfunction is slowly revealed through multiple, shifting POVs, including not just Jennifer but each one of her three daughters. 

I found myself wanting the pace to pick up around the midpoint, but I think that partly had to do with my expectations going into it, along with my general lack of patience for anything these days. Still, I at NO point found myself bored in the least. On the contrary, those pages kept turning.

This book definitely delivers VERY WELL on family dysfunction. There’s a LOT of it. In fact, I’d say family dysfunction is the main character -- and the fun -- of this story. There’s a ton of tension, secrets, sibling rivalries and simmering resentments. 

I’ll admit that I was able to guess the ending early on because I’ve read a ton of thrillers, but that didn’t make it any less chilling. And there was a solid twist I didn’t see coming, too!

This comes out May 4!

Thank you Atria Books for the ARC!