The Loose Ends List

Recent Reviews

Laughter through tears occurs multiple times, while reading this book. It is filled with authentic characters, who are forced to live life to the fullest in their final moments with a beloved. Some people just push you onward, make you love more deeply, insist upon you having more fun than you ever imagined yourself capable of having, make you a fuller version of yourself -- Gram Astrid is that character in the book. May everyone who reads this book have a Gram! I sure did, Gram Bev, who taught me to have fun in adversity and to love unconditionally and wholeheartedly. Cheers, Gram! Cheers. . .- K. Abernathy, Amazon

I taught Intro. to Literature to college freshmen for many years.. I always began with an initiation rite, because the theme is universal and there is a wealth of "teachable" material in a well-written rite-of-passage story. Firestone's debut novel is a fresh, beautifully written look at a young woman's growth from self-absorbed innocence to a more mature understanding of the complexities of love, loss, and reconciliation.
The Loose Ends List encompasses so much of the human experience. Firestone knows teenagers, with their furious picking at their split ends and their penchant for nicknaming others. She understands, too, the excitement of passion and romance and the devastation of the losses felt by the protagonist, young Maddie.
The novel's power lies in juxtaposing the narrator's life and thoughts with her beloved Gram's on this cruise ship of the terminally ill. It would have been easy to miss the mark in this novel by portraying the dying as pathetic, while their loved ones watch helpless and horrified. Happily, Firestone finds the perfect balance between sadness and joy; grief and celebration. The novel shows us that there are always "snow globe moments." In the midst of all that is dark and terrible, we can all find "little sips of laughter and light.
The Loose Ends List would be the perfect contemporary addition to my list of classic rite-of-passage stories like Lord of the Flies, John Dollar, The Bell Jar, The Color Purple, The Awakening. . . FME, Barnes & Noble

The Loose Ends List follows Maddie as she embarks a journey with her entire family on a cruise with her dying Grandmother. The catch is that her Gram won’t be returning home with them. The cruise is all about firsts and lasts for each member. It mixes love, death, grief, and sadness all into one book.
I love the characters that Firestone creates in this book. They are funny and unique characters. I can’t get enough of the wit and seriousness that each character embraces. The writing style flows well. It was hard for me to put it down. I recommend reading The Loose Ends List if you’re looking for something sad, but also funny at the same time. - Jenn, Amazon

In her wildest dreams, white and privileged Maddie Levine never could have imagined that she’d spend the summer before college anywhere other than with her best girlfriends, kissing boys and soaking up sun at the club. She certainly never imagined that her beloved grandmother and family matriarch would be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and whisk the whole family off on an eight-week, “death-with-dignity” cruise as her final farewell. While readers know from the very beginning how this story will end, they will be surprised to discover that the journey is far more about life than death. Maddie’s first-person account is filled with humor and fun, introducing readers to a raunchy, heartwarming, and endearingly dysfunctional family. The story is made all the richer by a cast of quirky supporting characters that includes her two gay uncles, a sweet and slutty cousin, her larger-than-life grandmother, and a small handful of terminal patients and their families who are celebrating and grieving alongside them. Best of all is the achingly romantic love story that unexpectedly blossoms between Maddie and a fellow shipmate and lends the story much-appreciated moments of passion and levity.

A poignant and important story about compassion, love, and the decision to live life on your own terms—right up to the very last minute: all aboard. - Kirkus Reviews

I loved this book. Like, LOVED. Seventeen-year-old Maddie has a crazy family. They are off-beat and wild and so lovable for their eccentricities. When Maddie’s Gram announces she has terminal cancer, she also announces that the entire family will be joining her on an 8-week “Death with Dignity” cruise. I didn’t expect to laugh as much as I did while reading this book. After all, Maddie has to seriously wrestle with the pain and confusion that stems from learning of her strong grandmother’s ailing health. And the cruise is to say good-bye to her grandmother, a woman she admires and loves beyond all others. The story is filled with hard choices and soft moments. There is this one part of the book called “The Gathering Wall” that basically split my heart open. This book asks us to consider what words we leave behind, what love we leave alive in our wake. How we deal with our regrets, and how we strive to live better. The story is beautifully executed and there is a swoonworthy boy, exotic locations and a flawed and adorable main character. This is a story of finding yourself, loving life and, ultimately, letting go. It is hilarious and sweet and clever and real. - S.M. Parker, GoodReads