catreader18's review
4.0
I’ve never heard of a death dula before this book. Their job is to help people and their families transition someone to the afterlife. It would be a very hard job. Mason comes to Nova for her services. The book is told from multiple POV and before and after Mason’s death. It tells Mason and Nova’s story broken up in bits. As the book progresses we learn more about them and I have to say I did not see the ending coming. This enjoyable read will have you falling in love with most of the characters.
chelle22's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Terminal illness
bound2africa's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
agustinap's review
4.0
I LOVED this book. Super riveting, great characters, moral dilemmas, romance, family drama…it has it all. I’m very thankful to St Martin’s press and to Jessica Strawser for the opportunity to read this book.
I’m definitely recommending to my friends
I’m definitely recommending to my friends
kbranfield's review against another edition
5.0
The Next Thing You Know by Jessica Strawser is a bittersweet novel of friendship, family and healing.
End-of-life doula Nova Huston’s methods are sometimes unorthodox, but they usually yield the desired results. She becomes close to many of her clients and she feels their losses deeply. Nova is willing to work with the hard cases so her friend Kelly Monroe, who also owns the business, quickly passes new client, thirty-six-year-old Mason Shaylor to her. Nova immediately realizes that Mason is going to be a difficult case but will she be able to help him come to terms with what lies ahead of him?
Mason is an indie musician whose hard work has just paid off when he realizes he should not have put off seeing a doctor for concerning symptoms. He is hoping an end-of-life doula will be able to help him make peace with everything he is losing. Mason resists most of Nova’s advice but once she meets him on his terms, he begins to make a little progress. With Nova becoming more involved with easing him through the various steps, they begin to blur the lines between end-of-life doula and client. Will her laidback approach to following the business's usual guidelines eventually come back to haunt her?
Weaving back and forth in time, The Next Thing You Know is a deeply affecting story of hope, love and loss. Nova is an appealing woman who is trying to live life on her own terms. She is caring, compassionate and very intuitive about the people she works with. Mason is quite taciturn and very stubborn yet there is no doubt he is an immensely gifted musician. The storyline is poignant and deals with death in frank yet sensitive manner. The multiple points of view are easy to follow and assist in telling the whole story. With a final heartrending revelation, Jessica Strawser brings this heartfelt novel to a tear-inducing conclusion.
End-of-life doula Nova Huston’s methods are sometimes unorthodox, but they usually yield the desired results. She becomes close to many of her clients and she feels their losses deeply. Nova is willing to work with the hard cases so her friend Kelly Monroe, who also owns the business, quickly passes new client, thirty-six-year-old Mason Shaylor to her. Nova immediately realizes that Mason is going to be a difficult case but will she be able to help him come to terms with what lies ahead of him?
Mason is an indie musician whose hard work has just paid off when he realizes he should not have put off seeing a doctor for concerning symptoms. He is hoping an end-of-life doula will be able to help him make peace with everything he is losing. Mason resists most of Nova’s advice but once she meets him on his terms, he begins to make a little progress. With Nova becoming more involved with easing him through the various steps, they begin to blur the lines between end-of-life doula and client. Will her laidback approach to following the business's usual guidelines eventually come back to haunt her?
Weaving back and forth in time, The Next Thing You Know is a deeply affecting story of hope, love and loss. Nova is an appealing woman who is trying to live life on her own terms. She is caring, compassionate and very intuitive about the people she works with. Mason is quite taciturn and very stubborn yet there is no doubt he is an immensely gifted musician. The storyline is poignant and deals with death in frank yet sensitive manner. The multiple points of view are easy to follow and assist in telling the whole story. With a final heartrending revelation, Jessica Strawser brings this heartfelt novel to a tear-inducing conclusion.
wombat_88's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
amyma's review
2.0
The Next Thing You Know by Jessica Stawser is a book about death doulas, something I had never heard of before reading this story. It is a very interesting concept and I feel the author did a lot of research and explained very well what a death doula does, but the problem with the book is that I never felt connected to the main characters and I do not feel they had a good connection with each other. The story also jumped back and forth in time and became confusing and seemed to drag. I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them, this one simply did not hold my interest. Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions shared are influenced by nothing other than my own reading experience.
jessica22's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
readwith_adele's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
amgmontavon's review
3.0
I picked up this book without having any idea about the story and never read anything by the same author. I was hooked right away with the idea of a “death doula”.
The story does pull at your heartstrings at times, makes you wonder, think outside the box, question… BUT that wasn’t enough for me. I didn’t dislike it, but it was hard to truly “get to know” the characters, except maybe for Nova, but still I found it really hard to get back to the book at times. Not sure if it’s because of the multiple POVs that makes you feel like you get to see only snippets and not the full picture for each person. Also having all of Nova’s POV in present tense was confusing. It always felt when I was reading the “THEN” that it was happening in the “NOW”. But I know this is only a matter of personal preference, so I could ignore it for the most part. Then I couldn’t quite figure out Bonnie’s motivation and changing of heart at the end. It felt like it was missing something. Then the last Mason chapter… the omni narrator halfway through felt contrived. I would be okay if the author had chosen not to give clear cut answers about what had truly happened to him, or kept that chapter limited 3rd until the crash. We still would’ve known.
But I think 3 stars is the fair rating based on my personal experience reading this book. It wasn’t an awful story, but it didn’t blow me away either, and it’s okay. I will definitely read something else by Mrs. Strawser.
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the advance copy provided for review.
The story does pull at your heartstrings at times, makes you wonder, think outside the box, question… BUT that wasn’t enough for me. I didn’t dislike it, but it was hard to truly “get to know” the characters, except maybe for Nova, but still I found it really hard to get back to the book at times. Not sure if it’s because of the multiple POVs that makes you feel like you get to see only snippets and not the full picture for each person. Also having all of Nova’s POV in present tense was confusing. It always felt when I was reading the “THEN” that it was happening in the “NOW”. But I know this is only a matter of personal preference, so I could ignore it for the most part. Then I couldn’t quite figure out Bonnie’s motivation and changing of heart at the end. It felt like it was missing something. Then the last Mason chapter… the omni narrator halfway through felt contrived. I would be okay if the author had chosen not to give clear cut answers about what had truly happened to him, or kept that chapter limited 3rd until the crash. We still would’ve known.
But I think 3 stars is the fair rating based on my personal experience reading this book. It wasn’t an awful story, but it didn’t blow me away either, and it’s okay. I will definitely read something else by Mrs. Strawser.
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the advance copy provided for review.