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ker0wyn 's review for:
The Regrets
by Amy Bonnaffons
I really love all those beautifully crafted slice-of-life style observations that are prevalent in literary fiction, but I just can't seem to get excited about them unless they're in the context of some weirdo fantasy setup. In that regard this book was just *chef kiss* perfect.
The story follows Thomas, a guy who had an encounter with an angel as a kid when the angel mistook him for a different boy she was there to collect. When he dies for real many years later, the angel that comes for him is (whoopsie!) the same angel, and it creates all sorts of clerical errors in the afterlife. Now for the next three months he's stuck on Earth in a body that looks like his but isn't, unable to contact people from his past life or make new connections lest he incur the dreaded "regrets". Complications happen, of course, in the form of Rachel, the girl at his bus stop who he becomes a little obsessed with.
So first off, I (obviously) loved the writing in this- there are so many choice nuggets peppered throughout that the screenshots folder on my phone grew significantly over the course of the book. I loved the flawed characters and how they reacted within this strange context. I loved the odd, floaty charm of it all, and the low-key humor that had me smiling on more than one occasion.
I will say that I think this started a lot stronger than it ended, and part of that comes down to a narrative shift about halfway through the book that I don't think was totally successful. The momentum slowed down at that point and I ended up putting it down for a few days before picking it up again. I'm glad I did go back, though, as I do think it comes back around in the end and I found myself overall satisfied with where it all went.
Overall, though, I just really liked this book. Even though I'm not going to be going around telling everyone that they ABSOLUTELY MUST READ IT, I feel this soft spot inside that's filled with nothing but a warm, pleasant fondness for it.
The story follows Thomas, a guy who had an encounter with an angel as a kid when the angel mistook him for a different boy she was there to collect. When he dies for real many years later, the angel that comes for him is (whoopsie!) the same angel, and it creates all sorts of clerical errors in the afterlife. Now for the next three months he's stuck on Earth in a body that looks like his but isn't, unable to contact people from his past life or make new connections lest he incur the dreaded "regrets". Complications happen, of course, in the form of Rachel, the girl at his bus stop who he becomes a little obsessed with.
So first off, I (obviously) loved the writing in this- there are so many choice nuggets peppered throughout that the screenshots folder on my phone grew significantly over the course of the book. I loved the flawed characters and how they reacted within this strange context. I loved the odd, floaty charm of it all, and the low-key humor that had me smiling on more than one occasion.
I will say that I think this started a lot stronger than it ended, and part of that comes down to a narrative shift about halfway through the book that I don't think was totally successful. The momentum slowed down at that point and I ended up putting it down for a few days before picking it up again. I'm glad I did go back, though, as I do think it comes back around in the end and I found myself overall satisfied with where it all went.
Overall, though, I just really liked this book. Even though I'm not going to be going around telling everyone that they ABSOLUTELY MUST READ IT, I feel this soft spot inside that's filled with nothing but a warm, pleasant fondness for it.