This book seemed to come out of nowhere to win the Goodreads Choice award for fiction, and I’m glad I finally read it! It’s a lovely, albeit melancholy, novel about a character who gets the opportunity to explore the parallel lives she could have lived, while in a sort of purgatory after attempting suicide. So, fair warning on that front.
I found the idea of fixing past regrets and trying on different lives so compelling, and flew through this relatively short book, curious to see where Nora’s choices would take her. But somewhere along the way, I realized that I wanted more depth than breadth from the story. I mean, the existential themes of the book are DEEP, but my connection to the main character and her relationships were not. Although, one of the things I think Nora has to learn is that she needs to live for herself and not others, so delving into her relationships was not the focus. For me as a reader, a novel focused mostly on plot and messaging makes for a REALLY GOOD read, but not a GREAT one - a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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