Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They'd been together for more than a decade, and Lydia thought their love was indestructible.
But she was wrong. On her twenty-eighth birthday, Freddie died in a car accident.
So now it's just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob until her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to try to live fully, happily, even without him. So, enlisting the help of his best friend, Jonah, and her sister, Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world, open to life--and perhaps even love--again. (goodreads)

The Two Lives Of Lydia Bird is Josie Silver's second book. I enjoyed many aspects of Silver's new novel.

Firstly, Silver's writing style is easy to follow. The sentences flowed naturally and there was a likeable quality to her writing. Silver wrote about grief with just the right amount of emotion, warmth and hope that could be palatable for readers who want a novel that is somewhere between light and heavy. Before reading The Two Lives of Lydia Bird, I read Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ which dealt with death too. However, these novels used different tones.

For me, Silver's characters were vivid and I loved that she used grief to help them grow. Lydia experienced different stages of grief and I felt for her. When people pass away, the world keeps moving forward and Lydia had to find a way to exist in the present without letting go of the past too soon. I liked that Silver showed many sides of Lydia's personality.

I liked the friendship between Lydia and Jonah; it developed over the course of the novel. They grieved for the same person and had to learn how to mend their relationship.

Lydia's family go through the highs and lows with her. But, in the end, family members can only help a loved-one embark on a journey of healing for so long. Lydia had to heal from the inside and in this situation, she had to give it time.

The most interesting aspect of this novel was the alternate universe idea, which unfolded in Lydia's dreams. It was great to see what life would have been like for Lydia.

For me, I would have liked to see a more detailed ending, although it was sweet.

Overall, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird was heartfelt and warming.

https://wordscollydeblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/19/a-book-review-the-two-lives-of-lydia-bird-by-josie-silver/

Thought provoking, very readable book, really enjoyed it. Coming to terms with bereavement can never be easy, thankfully I have not experienced it like this but equally difficult is coming to terms with moving on and establishing a new life. . Many thanks for the opportunity.

I thought this had a good story line and I really felt for Lydia. The book has a good message. However some parts were a little far fetched and the ending was predictable.

I really loved the premise of this book - Lydia's long time love Freddie is killed on her 27th birthday (don't worry, that's not a spoiler as it is in the synopsis!) but she discovers that sleeping tablets transport her to an alternative world where Freddie didn't die.

I love books with a little something different, a unique premise that is also magical so this seemed right up my street.

My heart ached for Lydia right at the start of the book. The way she suffered in her bereavement was heartbreaking (if you cry at books, which I tend not to do often really, you will probably sob).

There are some lovely characters who are well developed but I felt like I only scratched the surface with Lydia's mum, sister and workmates.

Then I started to struggle with the book, it just wasn't one of those 'oh I really MUST pick it up' or 'can't stop thinking about it' books for me. There are times when Lydia is really quite selfish, and yes she must have some allowances for her bereavement but we are talking a year later when yes she is still bereaved but she lets people in her life down and that's just not a nice trait in a character I was really liking.

As a side note, I hated that there was a storyline where someone was in charge of a library but had no training or qualifications - all like yeah that's an easy job so anyone can do it. As a librarian I did take a little bit of issue with that - it's not all arranging cool book clubs and shelving books!!

I could see the ending coming a mile off. However, the book did pick up again towards the end. I think maybe it was just too long in the middle, and there wasn't a lot more of substance other than Lydia's bereavement.

It was interesting and heartbreaking how this journey was portrayed though and that is a strength of the book.

Thanks to Penguin and Netgalley for this ARC.

First off I'll say that this was pretty enjoyable overall. If you're looking for something that will probably make you cry, but is also pretty wholesome and heartwarming, this will check those boxes.

Josie Silver seems to have a bit of a thing for writing relationships that you simultaneously root for but also find slightly icky? This next sentence is a bit spoilery for this book, and for her previous novel One Day In December just FYI... In One Day In December there's a cheaty subplot, like she's in love with her friend's boyfriend, and then in this one, her dead fiancé's best friend is in love with her - that's a bit weird to me? Like okay he died so now they can be together... And it's okay because in her dream world the fiancé is kind of a dickhead anyway. Just doesn't sit 100% well with me.

My next point is more so commentary on this genre at this present moment, rather than just this book itself but in adult contemporary/romance there seems to be a bit of a trend with time travel/weird timeline elements e.g. In Five Years, The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart and now this one. I have no problem with this in itself, I actually really like contemporary books with speculative elements. What really grinds my gears (and discount Oona Lockhart from this as I haven't read it yet) is that they have these interesting elements but they don't fully commit. In both books (this one and In Five Years) the time travel/alternate timeline/vision of the future happens within a dream and it is never resolved whether these things actually happened, or whether it was a just a weird subconscious thing - I hate that! It feels like a narrative written by a 10 year old that finishes "... and it was all a dream." I get that these devices are used to allow the characters to explore their feelings and grow, but I honestly find it kind of grating. I love that authors are exploring beyond just bog-standard contemporary, but I wish they'd go a bit further with it - commit to the speculative elements!

Freddie and Lydia have been together since school, engaged and planning their wedding until fate steps in. Instead of 2 points of view we have real life and dream life where Lydia manages to connect with Freddie again. This was a lovely book, despite knowing what would happen, not always sad and poignant but genuinely amusing too. It was enjoyable, intriguing and I didn’t want to put it down. Anyone reading it might just need a few tissues at hand! Josie is fast becoming one of those authors that you read without even looking at the book description.

This was a really interesting premise but I struggled with believability. Whilst grief is an awful thing and we all cope the best we can, the alternate reality was a step too far. It was well written I thought and the telling of Lydia accepting and healing was true to life.

A beautiful story....full of emotion and heartbreak but with a happier story involved. It made me smile lots and I loved it

I was sent a free copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I read Josie's debut novel "One Day in December" and loved it, it was memorising from the start and so when I saw this up for review on Netgalley I jumped at the chance. It had a lot of live up to.

The story is based, obviously, around Lydia Bird, who at the start of the book looses her fiancé, Freddie in a car crash on her birthday. The story then follows Lydia as she goes through the path of grief and how she deals with it. Her life takes two routes, her everyday life grieving for Freddie and a life in which Freddie still exists. After battling sleep in the first few weeks after the accident she starts taking sleeping pills which take her to her other world, where the plans she and Freddie had are still played out and she goes between the two worlds in the rest of the book.
Lydia has strong relationships with her sister and her mother and all three characters are really well written, her sister is married and pregnant and her mother divorced and their relationship is strong but throughout the story line it's put to the test. It also looks into Lydia's work relationships and the relationship with Jonah Jones, Lydia's best friend before Freddie and Freddie's best friend as the three of them grew up.

The story is great and the fact that it switched from life to the other was interesting. There were a couple of points that really confused me, firstly her sister Elle is pregnant and expecting a baby, in one life Elle loses the baby and in the other she doesn't, I had to reread this whole part as I couldn't work out what had happened and whether she'd lost it or not or which life she was in - I had no clue! The other bit that really got to me was Lydia starts seeing Kris, a guy she meets at a work event, they have two dates if you can call them that, but then he's never mentioned again! He just vanishes.

The ending was lovely, Lydia goes away and finds that she needs her old life with Freddie less and less and I guess this is just part of the natural grieving process and the ending wasn't quite what I was expecting but it was nice and was a good and happy ending to the book.

Was it as good as "One Day in December", no. Was it a good book - yes, would I
recommend it - yes if you want something a little bit different.

I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads due to the confusing parts.

Woah what a book. A story of what ifs and maybes of another life while a new life continues. I loved this book, it flowed well from Lydia’s real life to what would have been her old life. I sobbed my heart out when I finished this book. It found its way into my heart and is a book I’ll remember.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

I ended up reading this in a different format so sorry for the late review. I really enjoyed this book and I love Josie Silver's writing. This book is darker than her first, but the way she writes her characters, she makes them so well drawn and you immediately are on their side.
It's a sad, thought provoking yet uplifting story that keeps you reading right until the end.
Would highly reccommend.

A lovely story, this book revolves around Lydia and Freddie, and follows Lydia after Freddie's death. Lydia finds that when she takes certain sleeping pills, she can continue her life with Freddie whilst asleep,. This book is so beautifully written and you really feel for Lydia throughoutl. A great read

This was a book I really wanted to enjoy more than I did.

I love the idea of the story, Lydia loses the love of her life but realises she can dream him back to life.

Its a story of love and loss and anyone who has lost someone can relate to the book, but I felt at some parts I was becoming bored, it didnt keep me hooked and I found myself putting it down and not feeling like i wanted to pick it up again anytime soon.

Its not a bad book and the writing is great, but it just lacked the wow factor for me and cant say I would recommend it to many people.

Thanks to Random House Ballantine & Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review

I really wanted to love this book, I persevered to the end but in general I was just disappointed. It had all of the indicators for a good story but no matter how hard I tried I just did not enjoy the read.

I think I enjoyed this book! The story of Lydia and how she deals with the death of her fiancee. She realises that sleeping pills take her to a time when Freddie hasn't died and they can have a life together. Her choices come down to medication and her fiancee alive or ignore the meds and have to deal with real life.

*spolier alert*

This was a frustrating read for me. Firstly it's compared to PS I LOVE YOU so I immediately had super high expectations. Which has incidentally knocked a star of the rating from the outset.

Lydia Birds fiance dies (sadly a rather predictable death) and we follow the story of how Lydia copes. Her coping mechanism is to take sleeping tablets so she can meet Freddie her fiance again.

These dreams differ slightly from her previous life with Freddie and essentially help her to not only move on, but to fall in love with their mutual best friend.

It's a good read. Particularly a great holiday read. However it's pretty predictable and lacks the character build/ bond which happens in PS I LOVE YOU, I think had it not been compared to this book I would have probably enjoyed it more.

Lydia Bird has been with her fiancé Freddie since she was 14, but tragedy strikes when he is killed in a car accident on his way to her birthday dinner. Finding the grief impossible to work through, Lydia starts taking sleeping tablets that produce dreams with Freddie in them and take her to another life that could have been.
I found this book to be quite dull and the pace too slow. It can’t even be described as a romantic novel and it’s so ladened down with grief that I found it utterly depressing.

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird - by Josie Silver
Powerful and absorbing.

I loved this book. It was both unusual and thought provoking. It dealt sympathetically with sensitive issues and was, at times, desperately sad, yet also uplifting. The characters were totally believable, attractive, loveable and flawed just as people are in real life. The finely crafted story centred on the deep emotions concerning love, life, and death and rang true in every word.
After having been thoroughly engrossed in this book, as I approached the final pages, I imagined several plausible and possible endings but none were as good or as perfect as Josie Silver's actual ending. Brilliant!
Highly recommended. Looking forward to reading more by this author.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books (UK) for sending me a copy of this book.

As I hadn't read Josie Silver's first book, I didn't know what to expect from this book - what a delightful surprise it was! The story of Lydia Bird, ready to marry her true love and then losing him on her birthday is a page turner. When Lydia has trouble sleeping after her Freddie dies, she is given pills to help her - but when she sleeps, she travels to a parallel life where Freddie is alive. Can she live two lives at the same time, or will her alternate life affect her real one? The story describes how Lydia goes through grief and then finds hope and learns how to live her life again.
Highly recommend this book, for a romantic, funny, moving read.

What an lovely, emotional read this was. Lydia's and Jonah's grief just jumped off the pages into me. Although this book is predominantly about grief and the different paths life can take you, its also very much about family and friendships. I loved all the characters and the parts they played, including Lydia's rescue cat! Only part of the book that let me down was the ending - don't want to leave any spoilers but a bit to predictable and tied up for me, hence the 4 starts and not 5.