This Is Not How It Ends

I loved this story so much.

I bought this a while back and as is customary when I’m picking my TBR, I just go with either what I can remember, or the fact I have it in a TBR queue to read it, so I’m always going into a book unaware. I’m glad I did this one because I enjoyed watching the relationship between Philip and Charley unfold. The story was told in the past, at the start of their relationship when they met, to the present.

I liked Philip’s character. His unwavering adoration of Charley shown through in each interaction. Charley’s doubts about the relationship are understandable. Our feelings we’ve held for years can change in the face of love. Things she wanted when she was single don’t apply anymore. That might not work for Philip now, especially because he has to be away from home so much.

All the characters were well-written. I liked Ben and his son, Jimmy who was a perceptive kid. Even if I didn’t agree with aspects of Liberty’s practice, I liked her easy-going manner. I thought she was a good balance to Charley’s character, and I would love to read a story of her past and how she got to where she is today.

This is a story that creeps up on you and has you refusing to put the book down before you know it. It’s touching and emotional; I went through quite a few tissues reading this. You get a bit of everything in This Is Not How It Ends, romance, friendship, healing, and forgiveness. A highly enjoyable read.

This Is Not How It Ends opens with Charlotte taking her beloved dog Sunny for a morning walk in beautiful Islamorada, Florida. Charlotte’s first-person narrative begins: “I’ve heard it said that life is about choices. Paths stretch out ahead of us — sometimes, we make conscious decisions and other times, fate intervenes and chooses for us.” Indeed, Weinstein effectively illustrates how, had Charlotte taken a different route on her walk that morning, her life might have been unfolded entirely differently. Instead, she happens upon a little boy who asks if he can pet Sunny and suddenly suffers a medical emergency. When his father panics and freezes, Charlotte jabs the EpiPen into Jimmy’s thigh and saves his life. Ironically, Charlotte is employed by a local doctor who has had success employing unconventional methodologies to treat allergies, and Jimmy becomes a patient.

Through alternating chapters, Charlotte relates how, two years earlier, she met Philip on a flight from Miami back to her Kansas City home where she was a teacher. Philip “came crashing down the narrow walkway,” taking his anger out on a flight attendant because his first-class seat had “dissolved into economy.” Once settled into his seat, however, he calmed down, bought drinks for his fellow passengers, and proceeded to charm Charlotte. Although he had been boorish, flaunting his financial status, he was undeniably worldly and sophisticated, with “something in his eyes that was too forgivable and too blue.” And thus their relationship began over a discussion of Charlotte’s limited travel experiences and love of literature. “I’ve been everywhere I need to go. Places you’ve never been . . . would never understand . . .” referring to “the stories that kept me alive and took me all over the worlds — their destinations only rivaled by the depth of what I’d come to understand about living . . . about life. ‘You don’t always have to physically go somewhere to experience something magical.'”

Weinstein explores Charlotte’s deep, but unsatisfying love for Philip, a man who plainly adores her and is able to provide her with every physical comfort, but fails to provide the deep emotional connection Charlotte craves. She agrees to give up her teaching career and move to Florida with him, but he refers to home as “[s]uch a fluid term.” As Philip leaves Charlotte alone for extensive period of time while he travels the world on business, she becomes acquainted with Ben, the handsome chef and restaurateur who is still mourning his wife, and Jimmy. She finds herself increasingly drawn to Ben, even though she is devoted to Philip. Still, she finds herself wondering if Philip’s commitment to her has waned, whether he has become bored with her, and if their engagement was a mistake. Their emotional distance leaves her frustrated, lonely, and bewildered by her own neediness. She wonders where and if she truly fits into Philip’s world, despite his assurances that he loves her and misses her when they are apart.

Charlotte learns that Philip and Ben have a long-standing friendship, which only complicates her burgeoning feelings for Ben. All she had wanted was a live with Philip and she finds the connection she and Ben share horrifying. While Philip loves her, Ben listens to her. Her relationships with the two men are different, but each is intense.

And just as Charlotte’s emotional turmoil threatens to tear her apart, Weinstein injects a heartwrenching turn of events that causes Charlotte, along with her readers, to view everything from a different perspective. Suddenly, Charlotte’s world is again upended, but she gains new insight into her relationships with both Philip and Ben, as well as a deeper understanding of both men.

Weinstein’s characters are fully developed and empathetic. Charlotte’s struggle for the kind of love she has always wanted and her deep disappointment at not having found it with Philip is palpable and believable. Ben’s and his son are reeling from the tragic loss of his wife, and his struggle to establish a new normal for himself and his child is portrayed credibly and compassionately. And Philip, the bigger-than-life businessman whose life, like Charlotte’s, has been shaped by loss and abandonment, is a soulful revelation. His choices bring Charlotte to a place of “less thinking and more living” where she recognizes and appreciates his capacity for giving.

Weinstein weaves a tangle of longing, lack of fulfillment, and striving for more into a cohesive story about assumptions as to how love is or should be demonstrated, choices, forgiveness, and, ultimately, the power of love. Her writing is insightful and elegant, her examination of her characters’ inner demons unsparing, but compassionate. This Is Not How It Ends is full of surprises that propel the story forward, never losing momentum until it reaches a conclusion that feels logical, natural, and somehow inevitable. Which is, of course, the point of Weinstein’s poignant, engrossing tale.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.

What an emotional journey ! am speechless I don’t know which character I loved more
I listened to the audiobook and Tavia Gilbert is amazing!
It’s a win/ win!

Good stories grab you at the beginning and don’t let go. This Is Not How It Ends is that kind of book. The introduction of Charlotte and Sunny on that hot Florida morning burrowed into my brain and settled in for a long ride. I fell in love with her, with young Jimmy, with Philip, and with Ben. The character descriptions along with their actions portray such a wide scope of feeling I felt I was watching a movie unfold. Philip’s rambunctious louder-than-life attitude made me vacillate between over-the-top and awe-inspiring. Normal people don’t act that grandiose, but that largess is so appealing, and we all need that sometimes. And then rock-solid Ben with the heart of gold and fabulous cooking skills to boot, how can you not like him? The complex relationships that Rochelle Weinstein weaves in this story are all too familiar and not only tug at your heart, they crack it open. Charlotte so wants to love, but . . . You’ll laugh at the antics, cry at the tragedies, and want to beat the characters over their heads for not finding the way sooner. Rochelle has the gift of storytelling and exploring the journey of the heart in this book. And just when you think you’ve reached the end, you’ll discover This Is Not How It Ends.

A love triangle romance and an examination of the grief caused by pancreatic cancer combined into one read. I especially enjoyed the setting on Islamorada. When we stayed there a few years ago, we went twice at an amazing restaurant called Morada Bay which is a major setting for the story (and the site of filming for Bloodline, one of my favorite TV shows). The plot was a little too predictable for my taste, but others will surely love it.

Wow, what an emotionally challenging book. You need the tissues nearby for parts of this one and the tears are well worth it. I was skeptical to read this as it involves “cheating”, but it’s not the way I had envisioned it. This book is so full of emotion that will bring you a tear or two but also a lot of smiles from love and friendship and being there through all the hardest times. I listened to this on Audible through Kindle Unlimited and the narration was wonderful! It really added so much to the book.

I really loved this book. Could not put it down.

This book was an interesting and emotional read. It explores how we are impacted by loss both in our early years and as adults. It touches on some alternative allergy therapy, which was interesting to me because a good friend of mine has significantly benefited from the therapy they use in the book and I had never run across mention of it in a work of fiction before. I cried and some of the choices Charley made I was very disappointed with, but it was life and we all make mistakes. This was a well rounded emotional book and I would definitely recommend it.

This book was highly recommended to me and in turn, I am high,y recommending it. The book is an emotional story where I experienced a myriad of emotions….sad, happy, angry, joyful, disappointed and I shed a lot of tears especially in the last 20% of the book.