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littlelady_28 's review for:
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird
by Josie Silver
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.