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emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual harassment
Minor: Vomit
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Torture, Violence, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, War
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, War
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, War
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility, Sexual violence
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
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, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Violence, Vomit
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole.”
My general opinion? It was fine.
I loved the concept, and the book was overall very touching, but it wasn’t particularly remarkable. There were times it felt a little preachy, which felt kind of pretentious. It also leaned heavily on Christianity’s views of heaven, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but wasn’t really a good thing either. All that being said, if heaven doesn’t end up looking like this, I’ll be very disappointed.
I really liked the quote that I included above because I felt like it spoke very true: life has a way of balancing itself out. There was also a hint of ‘everything happens for a reason’ which I semi-agree with. This book had a way of making it seem a bit like destiny was holding the cards, and I don’t particularly like the idea that we spend our whole lives doing this or that simply because that is what we are innately meant to do. I should be able to decide for myself whether I feel like my life has had purpose, and I should be able to decide what that purpose is. I don’t know if that makes sense.
Some random thoughts:
Eddie has had a lot of horrible birthdays.
For as short as the book was, I felt like it could have been a little shorter. Sometimes it dragged.
Outside of Eddie, there were really no well-developed characters. Maybe this was intentional (it felt partially intentional), but I didn’t love it.
Overall, I thought this book was rather good. Some people will find it incredibly deep and thought-provoking, and I’ll be happy for those who do. For me personally, it missed the mark a little bit. Then again, I think it would be difficult to write a book about what happens after death and not sound a little snobby. Read it if you’d like, see what you think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War