Twelve Tasks

Title:  Twelve Tasks

Author:  Therese Woodson

Publisher:  Dreamspinner Press

Length:  210 pages

Rating:  B+

Quad Shot of Love

Blurb:  Routine makes Eliot Taylor happy. He thinks. He goes to work, goes to school, and lives with his two best friends. Except lately, something’s missing. While he’s hungover from New Year’s Eve, Eliot’s friend Jen coerces him into a New Year’s resolution. They agree to try one new activity per month for an entire year.

Each new experience checked off his list, like singing karaoke and bungee jumping, destroys more of Eliot’s comfortable routine. He meets new people. He falls in love. And despite how much it scares him, he learns to love life a little out of order.

Review:  What a fantastic story. I was pulled in and living this story with these guys. This is the kind of story where you start reading and it feels so real that the next thing you know a couple hours have passed and you’re shocked and saddened that it is over.

Eliot’s clumsiness and tendency to turn even the most basic physical things into a dangerous activity were funny and oddly endearing. His world has been shattered and he’s shut down. The only people that he allows in are his best friends. He follows a boring routine that protects him from having to take any chances or meet any new people. His friends recognize that his small world needs to be shaken up and they help him as best as they can.

I enjoyed the development of Matt in this story. When we first met him I agreed with Eliot that he was a huge jerk and I was skeptical of his worthiness to be a part of Eliot and his friends’ circle. By the time we came to the end of the story I was wondering whether Eliot deserved to have Matt and his circle of friends. Awesome.

Eliot and Matt have amazing friends. They are as much a part of this story as Eliot and Matt, and as Eliot’s world expands and he finds more friends those people are pretty wonderful as well.

The twelve tasks are fun and cute and I enjoyed some of the crazy hilarity that ensued. A great story of love, friendship, loyalty, letting go, hope and the family we make.

Reviewed by Nina