twistykris's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Car accident, Violence, and Alcoholism
Minor: Blood and Toxic relationship
lastblossom's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
tl;dr
A little too sweet for my tastes, but should land perfectly with anyone looking for soul mates and tales of undying love.
Thoughts
True believers would call this romance pure and sweet. Bitter cynics like myself would call it sappy. Things like "soul mates" and "love that transcends all other loves" don't typically do it for me, and it was pretty clear going in that this is exactly the kind of story this book was about to dish up. So why did I bite? Well, I'm a huge sucker for the "my love doesn't know it's me and I can't tell them" plot line, so I showed up to the party anyway. And for the most part, yeah, I'm glad I did. That plot played out well, with all the drama, angst, and uncertain feelings that I love. There's also a very tender and honest depiction of grief, and the various ways it can present itself, that I appreciated.
The rest is officially Not For Me. World building is loose, with little reasoning about how or why any of afterlife rules work, along with the absolutely wild fact that one of the characters is literally a medium, and we all just handle that super casually. But you didn't show up here to read philosophical musings about the afterlife - you showed up to read a story about undying love around a couple that you can cheer for. And if that's what you want on the menu tonight, then dig in.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.
A little too sweet for my tastes, but should land perfectly with anyone looking for soul mates and tales of undying love.
Thoughts
True believers would call this romance pure and sweet. Bitter cynics like myself would call it sappy. Things like "soul mates" and "love that transcends all other loves" don't typically do it for me, and it was pretty clear going in that this is exactly the kind of story this book was about to dish up. So why did I bite? Well, I'm a huge sucker for the "my love doesn't know it's me and I can't tell them" plot line, so I showed up to the party anyway. And for the most part, yeah, I'm glad I did. That plot played out well, with all the drama, angst, and uncertain feelings that I love. There's also a very tender and honest depiction of grief, and the various ways it can present itself, that I appreciated.
The rest is officially Not For Me. World building is loose, with little reasoning about how or why any of afterlife rules work, along with the absolutely wild fact that one of the characters is literally a medium, and we all just handle that super casually. But you didn't show up here to read philosophical musings about the afterlife - you showed up to read a story about undying love around a couple that you can cheer for. And if that's what you want on the menu tonight, then dig in.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Alcoholism
Minor: Violence
More...