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A review by nefariousbee
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
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: Car accident, Child death, Violence, Terminal illness, War, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Gore, Cancer, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Vomit, and Violence