Reviews

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

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charlote_1347's review against another edition

3.0

This novel was an amalgamation of good and bad. From the onset, it never captured my attention. A friend saw it when we were shopping and pointed it out to me as an 'amazing book'. To avoid upsetting her, I bought it. I am not disappointed with my purchase but I'm also not convinced this book is the next classic. The idea was brilliant - a woman who relives the same life every time she dies. The novel's structure coincided perfectly with this non-linear story, at least in the first third of the novel. After that, it grows confusing in places. Times jumps backwards when it's not supposed to and subtle things change, things that the reader doesn't necessarily pick up on, that affect the next section. The ending, perhaps because of this confusion, teeters off. There is no bang, no final plot twist, no big bang of realisation and meaning. After trawling through six hundred pages, that made the ending as unsatisfactory as endings come. To be fair, this was the only bad thing about the book and while it's a doozy, the characters help to make up for it. Each was intricately depicted and three-dimensional in each reality. My favourites were Teddy, Hugh and Ursula. Of course it was also thrilling to read the scenes containing Hitler, if only to hear another interpretation of what he was like. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is (a) interested in detailed war-time narrative and (b) doesn't mind their books with a good dose of huh?

muirk128's review against another edition

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5.0

Loved the way this played with time and possibilities!

freckleduck's review

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I feel like I’m the only person I know who doesn’t like this book. I found it to be a bit all over the place and hard to listen to. I also didn’t love the characters and didn’t care which is probably why it felt like it wasn’t for me. The book seems like a good book just not for me.

jgtruesdell's review against another edition

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4.0

Really loved the concept of this book. I had some problems with the stories jumping around in time and I felt like the ending was on fast forward. Probably more of a 3.5 for me but a I rounded up because of the overall philosophy of it.