Review: The Half-Life of Love – Brianna Bourne

Posted March 7, 2023 by Andi in Books, Review / 0 Comments

Review: The Half-Life of Love – Brianna BourneThe Half-Life of Love by Brianna Bourne
Published by Scholastic Press
Published: March 7, 2023
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Flint Larsen has 41 days, 9 hours, and 42 minutes to live.

He’s known exactly when he’s going to die since he was eight years old and half-lifed, a small twinge that tells a person when they’ve lived half their life. From that moment, Flint’s done everything he can to make his death more bearable. Cutting off all his friends, refusing to eat his favorite foods, reading only the most depressing literature by long-dead writers. He plans to spend his final days back in his hometown with his parents, quietly waiting to die.

But then he meets September Harrington, an utter explosion of brilliance and fun, and all his plans fly out the window. September has dedicated herself to curing the half-life, landing a coveted internship at the world-renowned Half-Life Institute. She has her own past that she’s refusing to deal with, choosing instead to spend her nights living it up with her friends and her days deep in the lab, where she’s working to find a cure.

When their worlds collide, it feels like the start of an epic, once-in-a-lifetime love. Only Flint can’t bring himself to tell September he’s dying, and September’s keeping secrets too. The closer they get, the less time they have together and the more their secrets threaten to destroy everything.

Can September and Flint save each other, or are their days numbered from the start?

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.



In 2021 I came across a book from a debut author called You and Me at the End of the World. I’m not 100% certain what lead me to that book, it might have been an Instagram post from Stephanie Perkins, but something lead me in that direction. And that book by Brianna Bourne became one of my favorite 2021 reads. And then I read what her 2023 release, The Half-Life of Love, was going to be and I knew I needed that book. Truthfully, I’m not sure my emotions can recover from how good it was!

The Half-Life of Love is story of Finn Larsen, a boy that has under 42 days to live, and September Harrington, a girl that would do anything to curing the half-life, the small twinge people get that tells them they have half way to their death. Finn knew since he was 8 years old that he would die at 16 so he cut everything and everyone out of his life to make it easier on himself and and his family. But with Finn’s time winding down he ends up meeting September, a brilliant and fun girl with secrets of her own, and everything changes for him. Instead of being alone as his life gets shorter and shorter, Finn finds himself falling in love and maybe just not ready to lose everything he loves.

Truth…it took me a long time to read The Half-Life of Love, thanks other plans and life, but it was 100% worth it. I was, still am, blown away by the whole story. Actually it reminded me a lot of The Program by Suzanne Young (so much so I emailed Suzanne to tell her to read it because she will love it)! It was the perfect mix of contemporary and sci-fi. My heart still aches thinking about how beautiful the story was and how much I loved Finn and September and the cast of characters that surrounded them. It was a perfectly crafted story of trying to protect your heart but of also letting go of your fears.

The one thing about The Half-Life of Love is how fascinating of a concept it it. It really makes you think and feel for all of these characters and think how you would feel if you were in their place. It will pull on your heart strings and you will likely need many tissues on this journey but it will be worth it because even with the tears you’ll understand the beauty. Brianna Bourne is without a doubt a favorite author of mine now and I think she will be one of yours too when you give her books a chance. Add her stuff to your TBR now!

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