I was going to read this author's other book last year but it didn't happen. I actually didn't realize this was the same author until after I requested it because I just was intrigued by the premise from the get-go. I was pretty pleased with what I read but I did lack that deep emotional connection.

Lydia Bird has lost her fiance on her birthday. Like her, I would be devastated. I wouldn't want to eat, sleep, and I'd just be an uncontrollable crying mess. She is that but with the help of sleeping pills, she can relax but then the dreams about her husband happen. This is where the book splits into two realities, her husband being alive in her dreams and the real world.

I thought that it was such a unique concept to have two different realities. The thing is, I just had a hard time having a deeper connection with Lydia or the other characters. It was also quite slow in the beginning and I really didn't start feeling anything until over 50% into the book.

There were certainly a couple plot twists and the biggest one of all I saw coming from the beginning. This could also be why I didn't love the book.

Overall, it was a good book. I feel like many will fall in love with what the author created but the slowness in the beginning just kicked me out from truly enjoying the story.

4.5 imaginative stars!!

Wow! I really loved The Two Lives of Lydia Bird! I’ve read books where the main characters have 2 simultaneous lives, but this book was a bit different being that Lydia was actually living both of them as one person. One asleep and one awake. And the writing was great and the storyline was interesting too.

I was pleasantly surprised with the path that Lydia eventually took and in my opinion, the books ending was perfect!

4.75 swoon worthy stars

I loved Josie Silver’s first book “One Day in December” so I jumped at the chance to read an early release of this one. Now she is on my must-read list! This book was such a romantic, yet heartbreaking story. The ending made me cry! I loved it! (Although the plot sounded a little far-fetched when my daughter asked about the book I was reading)

We have Lydia Bird and her amazing boyfriend/fiancée Freddie – they’ve been together since age 14 and are planning their wedding next year. The perfect life comes to a hard stop when Freddie dies on Lydia’s birthday in a car accident. Grief takes over her life and Lydia can hardly function.

Strangely, she’s reunited with Freddy in her sleep and they seem to live their lives as if the car accident never happened. Lydia finds herself torn between her sleep life and her “real” life. Can she maintain the dual lives?

I especially liked the dynamics with Lydia’s sister and mom and found their relationship added quite a bit to the story. Lydia’s best friend Jonah tries to pull her out of her grief, but he’s struggling with his own demons. How can Lydia get past her grief to embrace life and maybe even find love again? The character of Lydia was so real, her grief was heartbreaking, and it was quite the journey for her to process this huge loss.

Mark your calendars, this one comes out 3.3.2020 – I highly recommend it, especially if you need a good cry!

Thank you for the ARC in return for an honest review. Unfortunately, I have to DNF this book. I wanted so much to like it but it crept along at a snail's pace. I dreaded opening my Kindle knowing this was the book that would turn up.
Loss of a spouse leads to a whirlwind of emotion and Lydia handles it in her own way. She is whiny and not really likable.

I received this book "The Two Lives of Lydia Bird" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. I really like these types of books, magical, fun, things that you know really can't happen but it takes you to a different place. Although it is a story of losing the love of her life, I liked how Lydia was also coping by going into her dreamstate. This book really makes you think about your own life and what would happen. I wanted more of this story! I didn't read the authors first book "One Day in December" but after finishing the Lydia book I downloaded it and read it.

After her fiancé dies in a tragic accident, Lydia Bird tries to process her grief by returning him to life in her dreams, but as time goes on she begins to wonder if this is the healthiest way of dealing with loss. Bittersweet and romantic, this novel is an emotional rollercoaster ride from start to finish. With a tight plot and sympathetic characters, this novel is heartbreaking in the best of ways!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

Josie Silver does it again! I started this on a plane ride and was sobbing within minutes (super cute look). This was another case of picking up a book that I had no idea what it was about, but I love the author, so I blindly read it. Having known that Freddie dies, I maybe wouldn’t have started it on a plane? Totally worth it though! This book is emotional, but in the best way possible. I loved how supportive the women in Lydia’s life were for her and that she was, over time, able to become a strong woman that she had never thought possible for herself.

I really enjoyed this novel by the author of One Day in December. The main character suffers a loss and the reader is taken on a journey through her processing of her grief. A quick and bittersweet romance.

Already a fan of One Day in December, this new novel by Silver hits all the right notes. Sweet, mystical, sad, empowering, and strong it's the perfect blend of grief and hope.

I made it through 25% of this book. Not much has happened and I don’t love the concept. I saw it playing out differently from the synopsis. The chapters are short and taking a sleeping pill to be reunited doesn’t sit right with me. I wish this was done a bit differently. I am DNFing this for now but may come back to it later.

This book was just ok for me. I didn't hate it but I certainly didn't love it. The first half is very slow. Josie Silver previously wrote One Day in December and this follows much the same pattern.
However, if you're a fan of P.S. I Love You or the movie Sliding Doors, this romance book might be for you!
Thank you to Netgalley for the free, advance copy.

What an incredible novel!! Josie Silver blew me away with her debut novel (One Day in December) so I was thrilled to get an opportunity to read an early copy of The Two Lives of Lydia Bird!

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird literally grabbed me by the heart from the beginning. The characters were so incredibly endearing and that combined with a fantastic storyline had me never wanting this book to end. The premise was completely original and the writing was superb! I went completely blind in this book (after Josie’s first book, I new she was a sure thing) and I’m so glad I did!! The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is a complete 5 star novel!! I already know this book will be in my top 5 for the entire year! I can’t recommend this book enough!!!

This book is different from other sliding doors type of books in that it’s not a case of choosing one path or another and living out those options. I appreciated the awake and asleep timelines which made it more unique. I did thing the ending was predictable but think it’s a cute rom com type book or something light to read at the beach.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4.5 Stars
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird
Josie Silver
Publication date 3-3-20

This book blew me away. There are moments which mark your life. Moments when you realize nothing will ever be the same and time is divided into two parts - before this, and after this. Faced with a life changing tradedy the loss of her best friend and fiancé, Lydia who is heartbroken finds a way to keep Freddie in her life..... I quickly fell in love with all the characters as I could relate to what they were going through. While grieving themselves they provided an amazing support system and Lydia explores ways to deal with grief. To truly move on without Freddie, she has to figure out who she is and how she will find the strength to become the new Lydia in her own way and in her own time. This book was raw, compelling, and shows forgiveness and acceptance. The plot was brilliant and Josie Silvers truly shows off her true talent as a writer.

Thank you the Netgalley and Random House for providing me the ARC for my honest review of The Two Lives of Lydia Bird.

#josiesilver #goodreads #netgalley #randomhouse #thetwolivesoflydiabird

Twitter @donna64619247
Instagram donnasnotsosecretbookdiary

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is a beautiful story of grief and healing. Lydia is mourning in an unusual way, experiencing a double life: One in current day, and the other as if her fiancé never died. This novel is sad and inspiring, uplifting and honest. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy, all opinions are my own.

Lydia Bird's heart is broken. Freddie Hunter, the love of her life has died, wrapped around a tree on his way to her birthday dinner. His best friend Jonah escaped with only a scratch.

Lydia is struggling with her grief. In a desperate bid to get some sleep, she tries taking sleeping pills. It's then that a miraculous thing happens. She drifts off and finds herself in an alternate reality in which Freddie never died. Can this dream world with Freddie be enough to carry her through the haze of grief she's been living in? And what about her real life, her family and friends? Will she ever be ready to move on?

I loved Josie Silver's One Day in December. While this one didn't hit the same mark for me, I found it to be a sincere look at grief and the ripple effect that it has. However, as the book alternated between Lydia's dreams and waking life, more and more I wanted her to stay in reality. If she had, perhaps we could have had more of those key moments between characters and the ending might have had a stronger finish. Regardless, it held my interest throughout, and I would say it's worth a read.

What an interesting concept. The author tells the story of Lydia's grief over two years. She's lost the love of her life and has found a way to keep him 'alive'. But grief is a process and loss does not affect only one person - families and friends are changed forever. So, as changes occur, can we remain stuck in the past.
Interesting read. Thank you #Netgalley

There's something delicate about the way Josie Silver writes that I can't put my finger on. The pacing in both of her books, first One Day in December and now The Two Lives of Lydia Bird, is slow but deliberate. The timelines of her novels also span years as opposed to days or weeks (or at most, a month or two), which is more typical in contemporary romance nowadays, and the stories she unravels are better for it.

Most importantly, a lot of romance books are quick to tell you their main protagonist's flaws in a heavy-handed huff and make her realize her issues with the same leaded writing down the line. Silver's different, and The Two Lives of Lydia Bird perfectly encapsulates how her eponymous heroine slowly comes to terms with grief and what it means to cope with it healthily and toxically over an extended period of time. There's no quick fix to handling loss, and Silver respects the fact that nothing will ever truly make it go away; it only morphs and changes shape.

Just to be clear here: I officially stan Josie Silver. I'm reading everything she writes from here on out. One Day in December had me intrigued, but The Two Lives of Lydia Bird has me hooked.

I want to say upfront that this is NOT a genre romance. There is nothing wrong with that, but for romance readers looking for a romance, I would not pin your hopes here. This is more of a contempary fiction book with some romantic plot. If you’ve read Josie Silver’s first book, I would even venture to say that this book (Lydia Bird) has less of a romantic element than the first book (One Day in December.)

Again, nothing wrong with it being fiction, but since it was “sold” to me as romance, I had to readjust expectations while reading.

Now, for what the book actually is: an exploration of loss and grief and growth. While I did not love all plot elements, I did think that Silver did a beautiful job expressing Lydia’s pain and grief. It’s actually not an easy book to read because Lydia is so heartbroken for a lot of it, but the pace moves along and I found myself pulled into the storyline. Unfortunately there was some decisions that did not sit well with me, and lessened my overall enjoyment.

I’d recommend as a “sad beach read”—it’s a heavy topic but engaging and you could easily lose a few hours reading.

**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced ecopy in exchange for an honest review,**

Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book. I must admit that I liked the author’s previous book, One Day in December, much more than this one. This story just didn’t ring true for me, although the writing was good.