"the thing about people is you have to let hem drag you to places you don't want to go. let them tell you things you don't want to hear. let them break you and put you back together."
If asked how she imagined the end
of her life, 27-year old recluse Delphie most certainly would not have said
choking to death on a microwavable convenience store burger in her grossest
nightgown while watching “The Tinder Swindler.” But that’s how it went down.
She definitely wouldn’t have guessed that upon her demise she would regain
consciousness in a place called Evermore, where her young, bouncy, vibrant,
talkative, afterlife therapist of all things, Merritt, informs her she is in
fact dead as a doornail.
While Delphie is struggling to get her head around the devastating news, she is distracted by a new arrival, a guy around her age. Delphie and the guy’s physical attraction is instantaneous, and their conversation flows naturally. Has she just met her soulmate? But unfortunately, the man of her dreams is merely in a state of deep unconsciousness, and a moment later he is gone, back among the living. During their brief conversation Delphie learned two things about him – his first name is Jonah, and he’s also from London. Just when Delphie thinks all is lost, turns out her afterlife therapist is a big romance lover and a believer in true love, so the two strike a deal – Delphie can return to Earth for ten days. If she hasn’t received a kiss from Jonah by the last day she is to die again – permanently this time. A further complication is thrown her way, Jonah doesn’t remember meeting her in Evermore as his memory was wiped clean when he returned to his life. The race is on to track Jonah T. down in time. Is a woman with few social skills and little life experience up to the task? Delphie intends to give it all she’s got.
This was so much fun. Greenwood
takes you on a wildly inventive goose chase alongside Delphie looking for her
soulmate, Jonah T. While this is all going on, changes and opportunities happen
for Delphie through quirky new friendships, art, and her very first intimate
encounters. I loved this enlightening, unusual take on romance, and adored how
Greenwood cleverly writes every trope imaginable into the storyline, ultimately
leading Delphie to finding her happily-ever-after.
Delphie was a wonderful main
character. She was hard to like at first because I thought she was wallowing in
self-pity, but then I started to get where she was coming from. I saw so much
growth from her through the book and she grew on me. I loved how she and Cooper
worked together to help each other out despite not being on the best of terms.
Delphie grows up and opens up, she stops being scared and it opens up a whole
new world for her. The way she confronted her childhood bully, the
vulnerability she displayed in asking for help to track down this man that she
believed was her soulmate and her ticket out of Evermore, the strength it took
to finally stop putting energy into the one-way relationship with her estranged
mother. It was all really inspiring, as someone who possesses some of her
characteristics.
Her downstairs neighbor Cooper, is
the one who actually finds her passed out in the aforementioned grosses
nightgown. This is an affront to Delphie and he has never liked her and gas
only been standoffish to downright rude. Who cares if he’s actually kinda hot?
Not Delphie, who has never been in a relationship or had any intimate
interactions with men. She doesn’t, really. But still, he is down to help her
with tracking down Jonah the man she “slept with all over this town”, and never
turns down any of her outlandish ideas. He even takes her to meet his family
and tells her about his wonderful twin sister who passed and left a gaping hole
in his life. I loved the end reveal about his sister, though I had my
suspicions about mid-way through. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking, none
the less.
The story was sexy, sweet, utterly
satisfying, hilarious, magical, and contained several of my favourite romantic
tropes. Delphie’s quest to find Jonah really brought her out of both her shell,
and her comfort zone, and everyone who helped her along the way impacted and
enriched her life in ways she couldn’t possibly have imagined or predicted. The
novel is a romance but there are elements of realism and real-life issues –
there were traumatic reasons why Delphie had chosen to hide away from the
world.
The side characters were also very
fun, with Mr. Yoon being my favorite, and Delphie's relationship with him
really touched my heart. Delphie learns about herself through interactions with
all these new and old people, and she realizes life is worth living fully and
one shouldn't let past hurts get in the way of a happy ending. He realizes she
could’ve had a relationship with her boss and her mother, that they were trying
to befriend her the whole time – she was just too wrapped up in her habits and
so sure no would actually like to spend time with her, due to her childhood
wounds, that she just put up walls and wouldn’t let anyone in. It was so heartwarming
seeing her happy and surrounded by her found family.
I loved everything about the
romance, but the found family of it all actually destroyed me. I’m such a
sucker for a character building their community on page after being incredibly
lonely for a long time. It was a bit quirky, very British, and full of shenanigans
that actually made me laugh out loud. I will definitely be on the lookout for the author's next novel.
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