vishwesh's review against another edition
5.0
This is going straight to my top 10 fav. books.
40 absolutely mind-boggling possibilities of "life after death" that make us value "life before death"
Must read, highly recommended.
40 absolutely mind-boggling possibilities of "life after death" that make us value "life before death"
Must read, highly recommended.
charlottapeterson's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
lucysmom828's review against another edition
5.0
I first read this book more than 15 years ago, and to this day, some of these stories stick with me. Humans have been pondering for millenia what happens when we die, and this anthology gives us 40 possibilities. Each is intriguing to imagine and makes you question what you want the afterlife to look like. My favorite part of these stories is the twist at the end of each. With each story you are introduced to a new possibility from one perspective, and then, right at the end, are shown a new way to view it. It makes you consider each outcome from multiple perspectives and makes you stop and think.
mathew's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Forty short stories about afterlives of various kinds. Most of the stories are only a handful of pages long, most have some kind of sting in the tail, and most of them are thought provoking. More than once I was left stunned, needing to sit and think about what I had just read before proceeding to the next story.
dkai's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
2.0
Really wanted more imagination from this, a lot of it felt like things you've probably thought of before and weirdly situated in a Western Christian headspace
clarat18's review against another edition
4.0
I can’t tell if this book is fantastic or it’s just the memorable stories that are fantastic. As I got further into the 40 stories there were clear repeating themes, repeating ideas, etc. Yes, some of these stories are incredible and yes, I would recommend it, but at a certain point it seemed better for some to be more fleshed out and some to just be cut.
teastojanovska's review against another edition
4.0
"Humans have discovered that they cannot stop Death, but at least they can spit in his drink" - if that's not that epitomy of the younger generations, i don't know what is. This book is deeply phylosophical but also entertaining and silly at the same time. The end of the second chapter blew my mind. This is the second book that i've read this year that, casually or not, mentions the possiblity of humanity destroying itself. The death switch was eerly realistc, creepy, and not far from giving someone an actual future idea.
ilseoo's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. A very interesting and intelligent little short story collection.
roster's review against another edition
The book was fine, I just lost interest in the middle of it, with all of the repeated gods this and afterlives that(which was, admittedly to be expected- it's in the title, after all). It was fun to think about, but I think I'd rather I finish this some other time.