⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Pros: one of the most well written books I've ever read, whimsical, believable, beautiful.
Cons: that i can’t go back in time and read it for the first time again.
TW: death, infertility, grief, marital issues, pregnancy (there may be more but I had a hard time finding a list.)
For a long time, I didn't have an answer to one of the most basic book related questions: what is your favorite book? I have always been a weirdo when it comes to reading. I jump back and forth between genres, read multiple books at once, never read the same author twice, etc. I definitely knew that I didn't have a favorite author, but a favorite book? I should've had at least one, right?
Then I met this book. I don't remember how or where or when, I just remember we were together and after that, I was a different person. This book is without a doubt my favorite book. It is a story about love, loss and time. Time that continues moving forward, with or without us.
The story told in this book gives us a peak behind the veil as the main character continues to exist in a place no one can see her. The place? Whatever comes after we die.
Death has always scared me, and I mean that literally. I used to cry to my mom about the impending death of all of our loved ones, specifically my grandfather who is still alive and semi well to this day. I am still afraid of death. The idea of dying before I'm done keeps me up at night, sometimes frantically, just thinking that I could die in my sleep and not even know (if I just unlocked a fear in you that you didn’t know you had, I am sorry and also welcome.) So the fact that I enjoy this book about a girl who has passed away as much as I do should say something. I don't know what it says exactly... but its something.
The story follows Raziela, a young, bold girl living her best life in 1920's New Orleans. She is madly in love with her boyfriend Andrew and making big plans for all the trouble she plans to get into throughout her life when she suddenly and tragically dies. Once she is dead, she exists in between, in the after and we get to watch her travel through space and time in the most whimsical, beautifully detailed, surreal but believable ways. The way the interactions between Razi in the after and people in the real world are written was so tangible, I felt like I could reach out and touch this world Ronlyn created. I believed it, I wanted it to be real, I felt held by this book.
I have decided to give no further spoilers because this book is more than a twist here and a gasp there. This book is magical, meant to be experienced through and through. The biggest twist or spoiler was that the main character dies in the first chapter or so, but it spoils nothing because it drives the story. Her death is only the beginning and I cannot say enough kind words about this book.
I have not read it in 10 years or so but it is still so present in my mind, as soon as I started out to write this, it all came flooding back. Read it, sit with it, let it wash over you and then please come back here and tell me what you thought of it. I have been dying to talk about this with someone for the longest time.
Also, please enjoy my GoodReads review and follow me there if you'd like! This review is a great summary of all the things I plan to discuss at length below.
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