The Two Lives of Lydia Bird
Ratings38
Average rating3.7
I keep trying, but this is only okay. Setting aside at 39%. The grieving part of this is A+, and rang totally true to me. But! It is mismarketed as a romance. It is NOT a romance.
It's going back and forth between the present day, when Freddie is dead, but with the aid of sleeping pills, Lydia enters an alternate reality where her fiance is still alive and they continue along like he didn't die at all. It ... does not work for me. I want to know why Lydia and Freddie fell in love, I don't want to know what their future might have looked like if he hadn't died. That's not how this works! That's not how any of this works!
Neither Lydia nor Freddie are really people I want to root for either. Lydia is kind of snobby about how special her and Freddie's love is, not cliche like other people's love! And she's not very kind to Freddie's best friend, who also happens to have been her own friend for like a decade. I know from reading other reviews that Silver was going to try to make Fetch happen with the best friend, and I reject this very much because they have zero chemistry, just happen to be grieving simultaneously.
There's not enough character development, in either the waking or “dreaming” storylines. So much telling, not enough showing. I'll be kinda enjoying it while I'm reading, but the second I put the book down, my irritation with it starts up.
Meh. Next!
Edit: OH GOOD I'M GLAD I PUT IT DOWN NOW. Other reviews indicate that in the “dreaming” storyline, Lydia's sister has a miscarriage. Nope nope nope.
This book explores grief and loss - especially traumatic losses we didn't see coming - in a really spectacular way. It's a talent I can deeply appreciate when an author like Silver can use fiction to portray things that happen in real life and the struggles we as humans sometimes have to deal with. I cried so much while reading this book - the way she describes loss and how the mc deals it so realistic and yet heavily emotional and impactful.
I was not quite expecting the more fantastical parts of this book that I got. It just felt a little disconnected due to them? And the random running away part just never sat right with me, felt more like the author added it to fit into a trope and less because it made sense.
I have a friend who forsake Marian Keyes forever because of the book where the boyfriend dies. So I'll start by saying this (and it's not a spoiler) it's unbearably sad. Lydia loses her fiancee the night of her birthday, and starts ‘meeting' him in a parallel life where it hasn't happened by night. It's about grief, the kind one feels and it's so difficult to explain. But it becomes also about love, in other ways, and eventually also in that way. So (now a spoiler:) it ends happily, but the way until then is so, so painful and bleak, everybody who has ever lost someone will feel it in their hearts until the last page.
That said, Josie Silver has a marvelous narrative, deep and sympathetic, light and real: it's easy to love her characters and live with them.
2.95/5⭐️ predictable, sappy ending. Feel good read. This light hearted read was done in an effort to take a break from my typical murder thrillers books before I started up again for fall. This was a cute read. Definitely not worth the physicality of readying it (much better in audio). I guess there was a lot I loved and a lot I hated, so it really just rounds out to this being an “okay” or likeable book. I had a hard time with some scenes because I felt like the author was rephrasing the same point over and over and over again. But then again I guess I understand and it was her attempt to capture the spiraling of thoughts that death of a loved one puts us in. I wanted to hear more about the bad side of Freddie though. We only get one glimpse of it and i don't know. I know that it would have screwed up the plot but I just have reserved feelings. I really feel like the characters needed more work. I had a hard time relating to or investing in them. This book did drag and there were times I didn't think it needed to be as long as it was. Plot points didn't make the book any better and were unfollowed closely enough to have made it matter. Overall okay book as a “palate cleanser” for better romance books or books of different genres.
Josie Silver did it again. While he made me dream away with One Day in December, he made me think about lots of important things with The Two Lives of Lydia Bird. I loved it.
An extensive review will be up in the next few days.
The librarian in me still isn't exactly sure how to feel that Lydia ends up running a library (despite no experience), but this book is good. It takes a long time to get where you think it's going + it's worth “enjoying” the journey of grief with Lydia.
2.5✨ find my full thoughts in my romaceathon vlog >> https://youtu.be/rNWnJkqULn4
I had high expectations for this book, but I was a bit let down. Story was boring in parts and Lydia (the protagonist) was a little whiny and selfish at times. I did get misty eyed at a few parts. I thought it would be sadder, but maybe I just have a heart made of ice.
