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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“it's hard to accept that life always marches forward, isn't it? always forward, never back. i was forced to change when my life suddenly changed around me, but even if it hadn't, i'd have changed in one way or another sooner or later, wouldn't i? Because people do, don't they, no one stays the same forever. everything is just so fragile, isn't it? we make our decisions dependent on the day, the weather, our mood, the phases of the moon, what we had for breakfast… i can't keep questioning choices i may or may not have made, blaming myself for being too soft there and too hard here. i see now that i've been walking in circles, making crazy patterns.” i stop and draw breath. “i need to walk in a straight line, Petar.”
não cabe aqui o tanto que essa história me fez chorar. ver a lydia sem rumo doeu tanto em mim, que precisei parar diversas vezes pra me acalmar. é incrível que até o final eu não tinha nem sequer cogitado a possibilidade da outra realidade ser apenas um sonho, uma maneira que o cérebro dela encontrou de escapar da realidade atual. fiquei surpresa com a relação dela com o jonah, mas depois percebi que não tinha como ser diferente.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Alcohol
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy
I loved this book. Not your classic romance, it had me laughing occasionally and crying often which is unusual in a book for me lately. I loved Lydia and loved the concept.
Until the ending. Ugh. What a predictable, clichéd way of ending a book.
Until the ending. Ugh. What a predictable, clichéd way of ending a book.
challenging
dark
emotional
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:
Complicated
Saddddd and slow but ultimately a great ending
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Fair warning, if you are grieving or if you still struggle with loss, the first half of this novel could be difficult to read. I cried just about every 5 pages for the first half of the book. The author does an amazing job of showing Lydia working through and processing her grief and it's raw, and it's real and it is painful to read.
The second half of this novel is a joy. Watching Lydia work through that grief and carve out a new life for herself is heartwarming and encouraging and everything that I needed as someone who is still processing a tremendous loss. I love that the author doesn't make things easy for Lyida. She makes mistakes, and she mucks up her relationships, but it feels real and believable to me in a way that many stories centered around loss aren't.
The second half of this novel is a joy. Watching Lydia work through that grief and carve out a new life for herself is heartwarming and encouraging and everything that I needed as someone who is still processing a tremendous loss. I love that the author doesn't make things easy for Lyida. She makes mistakes, and she mucks up her relationships, but it feels real and believable to me in a way that many stories centered around loss aren't.
I had high hopes for this book after reading [b:One Day in December|38255337|One Day in December|Josie Silver|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573862622l/38255337._SX50_.jpg|56132017] and this book mostly delivered. Take this review with a grain of salt however; the topic hit particularly close to home with me, so it took a while before I could get into the story since the beginning of it made me so sad.
Lydia is engaged to Freddy who, unfortunately, is killed in a car accident on the way to her birthday dinner. Needless to say, Lydia is distraught. Her mother takes her to a doctor who prescribes sleeping pills for Lydia to help with her insomnia. Lydia takes the pills and realizes that when she uses them, she dreams of an alternate universe in which Freddy didn't die that night. She keeps taking the pills and in turn, starts living two lives: the real one where she is awake and the alternate one in which she is asleep.
This book adeptly touches on a lot of important topics: love, grief, friends, family. It ended up being a beautiful story with a very real look at the way losing a loved one affects so many people and how it impacted her relationship with everyone from Freddy's best friend to her sister. It also did a good job of showing that everyone grieves in different ways, and it's a process that must be dealt with at its own pace.
The ending was predictable, but I didn't mind. At first I didn't want Silver to take the story there, but she did a great job with it and I was ultimately happy with the way it ended. I thought the plot was very original, so it gets a 9 out of 10 and the characters get a 10 out of 10 for a perfect balance of likeability with human flaws and shortcomings. Overall I give this an A-. If you're like me and you struggle with the beginning, keep going, it gets happier and this book is definitely worth it.
Lydia is engaged to Freddy who, unfortunately, is killed in a car accident on the way to her birthday dinner. Needless to say, Lydia is distraught. Her mother takes her to a doctor who prescribes sleeping pills for Lydia to help with her insomnia. Lydia takes the pills and realizes that when she uses them, she dreams of an alternate universe in which Freddy didn't die that night. She keeps taking the pills and in turn, starts living two lives: the real one where she is awake and the alternate one in which she is asleep.
This book adeptly touches on a lot of important topics: love, grief, friends, family. It ended up being a beautiful story with a very real look at the way losing a loved one affects so many people and how it impacted her relationship with everyone from Freddy's best friend to her sister. It also did a good job of showing that everyone grieves in different ways, and it's a process that must be dealt with at its own pace.
The ending was predictable, but I didn't mind. At first I didn't want Silver to take the story there, but she did a great job with it and I was ultimately happy with the way it ended. I thought the plot was very original, so it gets a 9 out of 10 and the characters get a 10 out of 10 for a perfect balance of likeability with human flaws and shortcomings. Overall I give this an A-. If you're like me and you struggle with the beginning, keep going, it gets happier and this book is definitely worth it.
Her other book, One Day in December, was great. Hit all the marks. This one was ok. I liked the ending. But it seemed rush at the end, and there was random stuff thrown in, like she had so many ideas and couldn’t bare to cut anything. I get she was trying to show the stages of grief, but it felt choppy and like the idea wasn’t thoroughly flushed out. But I still enjoyed it, so I can’t talk too much crap.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated