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izzybell's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
nefariousbee's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Honestly this book has me really torn.
Because on one hand, I like the premise. I liked the messages at times even. I like the writing style, the brisk tempo, and the composition.
But damn, it made me so deeply annoyed and even angry at times. The obviously Christian tone I could ignore, even tho I find it very annoying when authors pretend to play the all religions card and then they obviously operate in the Christian mindset. The SA excuse was... it was. It sure was.
What really did it for me was the ending. The final person. The metaphor of washing your hands of your sins. It was rushed, it was obviously done just for the emotional effect. This part could have been longer, it could have been a proper dialogue, but no, we get a quick scene where you're supposed to feel sorry for the army man because he's actually the victim here! And the thing is, he really is! This was caused by the American imperialist tendencies and yet this is not brought up or mentioned or anything. Instead we get a little kid being the bigger person.
Look. I am all for reading outside your comfort zone and this was definitely it. I think I can say I enjoy even authors whose morals and opinions don't allign with my own. It always sparks good conversations and some good old thinking about your own values as a person, being confronted with someone else's.
This just wasn't it. I couldn't take much more than a couple of nice one liners from this because the prerequisites for his arguments are just. illogical. to me. already flawed. and given the overal tone of the book I just felt patronised anyway. it truly resembles a Sunday dinner with posh distant relatives in a way
Because on one hand, I like the premise. I liked the messages at times even. I like the writing style, the brisk tempo, and the composition.
But damn, it made me so deeply annoyed and even angry at times. The obviously Christian tone I could ignore, even tho I find it very annoying when authors pretend to play the all religions card and then they obviously operate in the Christian mindset. The SA excuse was... it was. It sure was.
What really did it for me was the ending. The final person. The metaphor of washing your hands of your sins. It was rushed, it was obviously done just for the emotional effect. This part could have been longer, it could have been a proper dialogue, but no, we get a quick scene where you're supposed to feel sorry for the army man because he's actually the victim here! And the thing is, he really is! This was caused by the American imperialist tendencies and yet this is not brought up or mentioned or anything. Instead we get a little kid being the bigger person.
Look. I am all for reading outside your comfort zone and this was definitely it. I think I can say I enjoy even authors whose morals and opinions don't allign with my own. It always sparks good conversations and some good old thinking about your own values as a person, being confronted with someone else's.
This just wasn't it. I couldn't take much more than a couple of nice one liners from this because the prerequisites for his arguments are just. illogical. to me. already flawed. and given the overal tone of the book I just felt patronised anyway. it truly resembles a Sunday dinner with posh distant relatives in a way
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Infertility, Terminal illness, Violence, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Violence, and Vomit
someonelikeblue's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Infertility and Vomit
saoreads's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"the world is full of stories but the stories are all one"—The straightforward way of narrating the story to introduce a lesson on why we live and what we live for, as if tracing the dots, you realize it all happened for a reason when you look back. The different angles; sacrifice, forgiveness, then unveiling it to find a purpose; that your life wasn't a waste, you made a difference. It was striking to put it with the backward format of the novel, which began from the ending. It makes you think about life in general, because all of your suppression, hatred, denial, and emotions reveal how you have been living your life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
clemrain's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The Five People You Meet in Heaven was not for me.
Found it hard to sympathize with Eddie. I normally like characters that can be hard to root for, but Eddie didn’t fit the bill. The more people he met in heaven to explain his life, the more irritated I got with Eddie. His life goes against many of my own morals and maybe that’s why. I tried to keep an open mind and meet the books end to understand the character better but it didn’t happen.
The way this book makes you see the “good side” of abusive and shitty people is absolutely gross. What was especially out of touch was Ruby telling Eddie to forgive his father when she is a total stranger to him and his situation . His father was abusive and self righteous. This is one of the morals that contradict mine. Forgiveness isn’t necessary to move on. Also Eddie’s mom was in the middle of being sexually assaulted and somehow his father ended up being the victim but also a good guy because he forgave the person who was doing it?? Like yeah I get message. People are complicated. However. there is absolutely a better way of showing that than what the author went with.
The writing was simple. Nothing spectacular about it. It is interesting to read a piece of fiction by someone who primarily works in non-fiction. It really reads in the writing style. I do think this story could’ve been shorter and I’m glad it wasn’t longer.
Ending was predictable and exactly what I thought it’d be. Does that make it bad? No. But it’s adds to the lack of memorability of this book.
I really wanted to like this book and I had expectations going into it. Maybe that contributed to my disappointment in it.
Side note: I also did not appreciate how the little child was described at the end of the book and it turned my mood sour for it.
Found it hard to sympathize with Eddie. I normally like characters that can be hard to root for, but Eddie didn’t fit the bill. The more people he met in heaven to explain his life, the more irritated I got with Eddie. His life goes against many of my own morals and maybe that’s why. I tried to keep an open mind and meet the books end to understand the character better but it didn’t happen.
The way this book makes you see the “good side” of abusive and shitty people is absolutely gross. What was especially out of touch was Ruby telling Eddie to forgive his father when she is a total stranger to him and his situation . His father was abusive and self righteous. This is one of the morals that contradict mine. Forgiveness isn’t necessary to move on.
The writing was simple. Nothing spectacular about it. It is interesting to read a piece of fiction by someone who primarily works in non-fiction. It really reads in the writing style. I do think this story could’ve been shorter and I’m glad it wasn’t longer.
Ending
I really wanted to like this book and I had expectations going into it. Maybe that contributed to my disappointment in it.
Side note: I also did not appreciate how the little child was described at the end of the book and it turned my mood sour for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Sexual harassment
below_average_baker's review
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really liked the concept of this book but the execution felt rushed and disappointing. The "morals" felt like inspirational quotes you see on facebook rather than something actually deep and meaningful. The main thing that I hated was excusing his father's lifelong abuse and making Eddie forgive him because the dad didn't quite kill the guy who sexually assaulted his wife . That seems very poorly thought out without considering the nuance and complicated emotions that would actually be involved in the situation.
If you like the idea of this story, I would recommend "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig instead, or even "On the Other Side" by Carrie Hope Fletcher. Personally, I enjoyed them far more.
If you like the idea of this story, I would recommend "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig instead, or even "On the Other Side" by Carrie Hope Fletcher. Personally, I enjoyed them far more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Alcoholism, Infertility, Vomit, and Alcohol
dohertys17's review
inspiring
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? It's complicated
3.25
Likes:
- Quick, easy read
- Not overly preachy/God toned language
- Liked the theme of someone who is unhappy with where they are in the world being able to come to terms with their life and find some sort of meaning.
- Learned that Kewpie was originally plastic dolls and not just Japanese mayo hahah
Dislikes:
- I kept forgetting that Eddie was in his 80s. The way he was portrayed made him seem like he was much younger. Also, I feel that he likely had some time to reflect during his aging process and not be so shocked by his death (although it was caused by a horrific accident)
- The 5-year-old Asian girl somehow knew English but not well enough to speak properly. Find it sort of sad that the main/only POC character in this book was portrayed this way (especially in the magical world of heaven)
- Throughout the book I felt like I was being told how to feel rather than feeling it for myself.
- His relationship with Margueritte felt unhealthy, as if he idolized her, yet we don't find out that she has died until near the very end. Why was he not looking forward to potentially meeting her in heaven?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Sexual assault
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, and Terminal illness
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