Book Review: The Life Experiment by Jess Kitching

Author Jess Kitching might be from England (I mean, she is) BUT we’re 100% claiming her as a local Canberra writer these days and when her new novel The Life Experiment was announced it was straight to the top of my tbr. Read on below for my thoughts!

What is Jess Kitching’s The Life Experiment about?

When OPM Discoveries puts out an ad seeking participants for The Life Experiment, a study that claims to help people searching for meaning, Layla and Angus are among those who apply. Little do they know they’re about to be told when they will die.

Layla, a corporate lawyer, has foregone all relationships for her career. Growing up on the poverty line, Layla fought tirelessly to better her circumstances, but stuck in the monotony of long hours, impossible deadlines and the London rat race, she wonders if happiness can be found behind a desk after all.

Angus, an esteemed Fairview-Whitley, is struggling with his family’s expectations after the death of his brother and a failed investment. Unsure what to do with his life, Angus is frozen in a cycle of late nights and lazy days, watching time pass him by.

Unaware that they are participating in the same experiment, Layla and Angus meet by chance the day they get their results. Their attraction is instant, but can they open their hearts to more when their time might be brief?

My review of The Life Experiment

The Life Experiment is Jess’ first departure from the thriller genre and I really hope it won’t be her last. This beautiful novel asks a difficult question of its protagonists, and readers along with them since the writing will have you invested so quickly: would you want to know when you are going to die? And if you did, what would you do? As you might imagine this story is sad and a bit heavy sometimes, but Jess has genuinely done the most incredible job of keeping the overall vibe hopeful and tender.

I loved meeting Layla and Angus – seeing them meet and their relationship grow was really a joy. I think they’re the sort of characters that you grow to care so much about across the novel that in the future every so often you find yourself wondering what they’re up to and how they’re going. If you’ve read my reviews before you might already know that I love an alternating point of few in a book and I just thought it was so perfectly done here where it gives us that insight into what Layla and Angus are keeping from each other – not the least of which is the fact that they’ve both signed up for the same experiment.

If readers didn’t already know Jess from her thrillers this book has definitely marked her as a writer to watch. I’m looking forward to her next book, which I understand will be in the thriller space too, and can’t wait to see what she does beyond that.

xo Bron

***

The Life Experiment by Jess Kitching
Out now from Simon & Schuster
Source: I received an ecopy (via Netgalley) from Simon & Schuster (thank you!) and also purchased a paperback copy for my own shelf
Category: Contemporary women’s/romance

Looking for more contemporary fiction? Try these.