Witty, painful, and a fascinating look at reincarnation. Milo has been reincarnated more than any other human. He’s been enjoying his lives and becoming wise though not quite achieving perfection (the ultimate goal)—which is fine because he is absolutely in love with Death (who’d rather just be called Suzi and ultimately would like to settle down and run a candle shop). Unfortunately, come to find out there’s actually a limit on how many chances you get at perfection. Sounds strange? Yes, it is. But it turns out to be a moving and lovely story about becoming the best person you can be, love, meditation and the journey of life.

I was certainly intrigued when I saw a starred review in Kirkus for a book about reincarnation where Death, one of the main characters, is also known as Suzie. This set the tone for the entire wild ride for me.

Milo has 5 lives left out of his limit of 10,000 to reach perfection, and he is in love with Death, a.k.a Suzie who he only meets in-between lives. There is never a dull moment, and while both Milo and Suzie are guilty at times of conversations more likely attributable to teenagers than the wisest souls in existence, I really had fun with the book. This is not literary fiction, my usual genre, but I enjoyed the creativity of this book. There are beautiful moments:

"Living in the ocean was half-dreamlike, an act of worship without the complication of gods."

"The universe twisted around and flipped her out of there, reminding her, in its way, that she was Death, not Rain or Mercy."

There are both very touching moments (oh - the whale!) and times where I laughed out loud, and I look forward to reading more from Michael Poore.

This book was so different from any other I have ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed following the various lives Milos lived, whether in the past or the future. The author created a number of curious and interesting ways for the main character, Milo, to die. Overall, great story, or maybe I should say stories.