Josie Silver writes heartwarming, compelling stories and this is no different. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird has made it onto my list of 2020 Winter books I'm super excited to talk about. I can't wait for others to read this!

I read about 30% of the book and decided that this would go on my Did Not Finish list. There wasn't enough in the story line to draw me in. I had no idea if the story was actually moving forward or not and didn't have any connection to the characters.

My second five star read of the year! I couldn’t put this down and fell in love with Lydia, my heart broke with her and laughed with her. I loved her awake and asleep worlds- I so wanted Freddie just to be there! But I wanted Lydia and Jonah to hurry up and get together! I thought this 2nd book by Josie Silver was fantastic- quick and fun even though the subject was deep. Loved this book!
Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

I received this book from @netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the Random House for this ARC! ⁣
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The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver⁣
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (above average!)⁣
Pub. Date: March 3, 2020⁣
Good with: Coffee/wine and chocolate! ⁣
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Brief Synopsis: The book follows Lydia Bird, who is grieving the death of her fiancé, Freddie. She discovers that she is able to live two lives, awake and asleep, and when she’s asleep, she’s able to be with Freddie, going out to dinner, on her wedding day, and even on her honeymoon.⁣
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“Lydia is pulled again and again through the doorway to her past, living two lives, impossibly, at once. But there’s an emotional toll to returning to a world where Freddie, alive, still owns her heart. Because there’s someone in her new life, her real life, who wants her to stay.”⁣
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Review: This book was extremely enjoyable, and just what I needed to get me over a reading slump. What I liked the most about the book is that it showed the grieving process—self-doubt, anger, fear, and even selfishness. It was truly heartbreaking and romantic, and I enjoyed the character development of those who were grieving.⁣
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Though some parts were predictable, I still enjoyed it. Sometimes you need some predictability in your books! There were a few parts, however, that I wish had more explanation but I hope you all grab this one when it’s released in March! ⁣

I absolutely loved Lydia and her journey through grief. The pace of this story grabs you right away. Lydia is getting ready for her birthday dinner, annoyed with her fiance for stopping to pickup his best friend first. Then the unthinkable happens, and Freddie is killed in a car accident with his friend Jonah walking away just fine.

As Lydia tries to survive the grief and loneliness, she tries some new sleeping pills for relief. When she takes a pink pill, she seems to be transported to another timeline where Freddie is alive and well. She can visit him and participate in this other life anytime she takes a pill. But their is a cost-- she risks not moving forward in her real life and not being present with the people who are in her life.

I liked this even more than One Day in December, but Silver's signature longing is present in both titles. Highly recommend!

One Day In December was one of my top books of 2019. I absolutely devoured it! So, of course I was ecstatic to get my hands on Silver's new novel!

Well.... would it be any different for me to be the outlier on a book? Nope haha! I really struggled with this book and was a very very slow burn of a book.

I think the premise of the book was great.... Lydia adjusting to the love of her life Freddie dying in a car accident. The concept of grief and coping is heavy throughout this book and felt more of a darker mood.

The novel focuses on an interesting concept of Lydia in a dream-like state still being with Freddy and having conversations etc/real life with him. Than Lydia goes back to her "awake" state and living in present of Freddy no longer being alive. For some reason I couldn't connect with this one at all. I hit 50 percent and was completely bored? I'm not sure why maybe the mood I was in?

But, this was just "ok" for me and nothing that hit home for me. I felt the romance wasn't particularly there in this novel but maybe this was just a side note and it was focusing more on moving on from grief/death.

Overall, I would give this one a try and maybe it's something you will love.

3 stars for me on this one.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: 3/3/20
Published to GR: 1/10/20

Lydia is engaged to Freddie and they have been together since high school. On Lydia's 28th birthday, Freddie dies in a car accident. Lydia has a difficult time coping and takes a prescription to help her. When she takes the medicine, she wakes up in an alternate timeline where Freddie is still alive. Should Lydia keep living these two different lives or does she need to stay in her real life?

I really liked this whole book. I found it endearing and something I could share with friends. It will definitely be a huge hit for this year and I can't wait to see it get the recognition it deserves. It was well-written, witty, and just an all-around good read.

Lydia Bird has a lot to look forward to: she's meeting her fiance, Freddie, for her birthday dinner. They're getting married the coming year. They recently bought the house of her dreams.

Then, Freddie dies in a car accident the night of her birthday. Freddie's best friend Jonah was in the car as well but walked away with a few scratches.

Lydia is so emotional about her loss. She can’t sleep and is perpetually full of tears waiting to seep down her cheeks. Once she’s on sleeping pills she dreams of Freddie. Part of her wants to see Freddie in her dreams, but part of her knows when she wakes up he won’t be alive. In this other dreamworld, she's within an arm's reach of her happily-ever-after.

Lydia hovers in a place where she wants to cling to Freddie’s memory but also needing to build a new version of herself.

I liked that Lydia's ability (or lack there of at times) to handle her grief was very relatable. This was a pretty easy read to get through. Did I like this better than One Day in December? Not even close. But nonetheless a good read.

Thank you Netgalley/publisher for the book!

I absolutely loved Josie Silver's last book, One Day in December, and could not wait to dive right into this one. Josie has an amazing way of writing her characters that makes you feel the same exact emotions that they are going through. (Spoiler alert: grab the tissues)

This book was beautiful. I laughed, I cried, I was heartbroken, and I fell in love.

What a beautiful, hypnotic love story!

Lucky Lydia! She has it all. Let’s start with her charming Fiancé Freddy, then there’s her best friend (and Freddies’) since they were school kids, Jonas. And let’s not forget her dear mom and sister. She’s positively over-the-moon happy with her picture-perfect life.
Today is Lydias’ Birthday. But there won’t be anything happy about this day. Life is about to take a serious turn for the worst after her Freddie is involved in a tragic accident

Lydia is in the grips of immense grief and finds it quite impossible to move on.
Finally her sister steps in, taking her to get some much needed help. First step... sleep! If Lydia can just sleep a few hours then maybe the healing process can begin.
She’s given a prescription for a trial medication. One that will let her sleep deeply and dream vividly! But are these really just dreams?! Is she still able to have the life she always wanted?

When I read Josie Silver’s previous book One Day In December I was captivated. So when I saw her latest release was available, I was first in line! And yup…I loved this one even more!

Josie Silver writes from the heart. A profound love story that touched my soul and left me once again in a puddle of tears. An absolute must read for 2020!

A buddy read with Susanne that we both loved💖

Thank you to NetGalley Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Josie Silver for an ARC to read and review

I am an outlier here. Just did not care for this book at all. The premise was that someone can have a person die, and yet have them very much in their lives. Lydia and Freddie are engaged. On Lydia’s birthday, Freddie and best friend Jonah are in a car accident and Freddie dies.

Lydia is in pain and despair and at age 28, believes her life to over. With help from her sister, Elle, and friend Jonah, she starts putting her life back together again. Lydia is then given a chance to live her life again with Freddie. At night, instead of sleeping, she is living in this quasi-alternate universe, continuing to make wedding plans with Freddie, continuing to go out to eat, all the things she had been doing in the before Freddie dies life.

And what's with the fifty-some-odd bereavement days? Most people are lucky if they are able to take a week off for the funeral and "putting affairs in order."

Oh this book.
I nearly had to stop reading it. Josie Silver did an amazing job of writing honest grief. It was unbearable at times. It was all-consuming at times. It was too much at times. It was grief.
But then, our main character finds an escape. That escape comes at a cost. And Lydia must decide if it's worth the cost.
It's just a beautiful book...with painfully well-written grief and the one thing everyone needs more of. - HOPE.

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird surely has an interesting premise: after the life-shattering death of Lydia's fiancé, she copes by visiting an alternate realty where Freddie is still alive and life, albeit slightly differently, continues on. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird focuses around grief and ways in which to cope with that grief. This book was pretty heavy and didn't include too many light-hearted moments to break up all of the darkness. I wasn't a huge fan of any particular character in this story, although I did sympathize with Lydia and was rooting for her to pull it together. The alternate dream plot line wore out its novelty quickly and I can't say that I enjoyed those chapters very much, but I think there was a solid conclusion with that particular plot line. The romance in this book was tough, as Lydia is a grieving fiancé for the majority of the story; that being said, I didn't really enjoy the final romantic beats of this story, and wish there were more moments along the way that made the romance more satisfying. Overall, this book had an interesting premise, was filled with really heavy moments, and ended with a hopeful, yet muddled, conclusion.

5 Lovely Lyrical Magical Stars

Do you believe in Magic? In the possibility of getting back the life you lost?

For Lydia Bird, that possibility becomes a reality when her best friend and fiancé Freddie Hunter passes away in a car crash and she discovers a magical way to “be” with him again.

Best Friends, the love of each other's lives, and hopeless romantics. Lydia and Freddie had it all, until one day, that love was taken away from them, leaving Lydia’s life in shambles. Her mother, her sister and Jonah Jones (her other best friend), are left to pick up the pieces. Lydia doesn’t know how she’ll survive, until “it” happens. Until she discovers a lovely and captivating way to “be” with Freddie. What happens when her “real” life calls to her? The place where she has begun to find her true self, to let go and begin again.

Torn in two, Lydia must make a choice.

In “The Two Lives of Lydia Bird” I found myself completely taken in, hypnotized and mesmerized, by Lydia, the idea of magic and true love. Tears fell and I no ability to stop them. I fell for Lydia, Freddie, Jonah, Elle, Ryan and all of Lydia’s coworkers. This novel cast a spell over me and then some. It is lovely, lyrical, heartwarming and heart-wrenching and I loved it with all of my heart. I loved “One Day in December” - Josie Silver’s debut, and was eagerly awaiting her follow up and this does not disappoint.

This was a delightful buddy read with Kaceey, (of course)! Thanks for sharing in this magical read with me Kaceey!

A Huge thank you goes out to Colleen Nuccio at Random Publishing House - Ballantine, NetGalley and Josie Silver for the arc.

Published on Goodreads and NetGalley on 12.25.19.

DNF at 20%

The premise of this book sounded amazing, and I really wanted to love it, but I couldn't get invested in the story. A huge positive of this book is that it's an honest representation of the grieving process, but for that same reason it seemed to drag on and it was difficult to motivate myself to keep reading. However, the characters are well-written and three-dimensional. Their kaleidoscope of emotions are brilliantly portrayed, and I thought the alternating "awake" and "asleep" chapters were very creative. The concept of this story is one that I haven't seen in any other novel. I recommend this book if you're ready for a heavy, emotional read. I think I just wasn't in the right headspace for this one, but would be wiling to try Silver's next book.

A sincere thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Social: @_shelf.awareness on Instagram

This book was absolutely wonderful. I cried through the first 25% (truly, I sobbed) and the grief that Josie Silver was able to encapsulate felt so raw and painful that it was almost hard to continue. But I did continue, and I’m glad that I did. This book has touched of cliche at times, but in a nice way that helps soothe the pain that the reader feels for the characters. It’s a book that paints a very real view of a very painful topic, but it leaves you with hope and awe. I really loved this book and I will certainly be recommending it to friends.

I like Josie SIlver's books and enjoyed One Day in December as well. However, and maybe it's that I'm reading this around the holidays, but I felt like the book itself was not her typical romance / happy read. This felt a lot darker to me, and was not nearly as fun, and that's likely due to the plot , but I picked it up hoping to be uplifted and didn't get that.

Lydia and Freddie have been together since their teenage years, and are looking forward to their upcoming wedding and spending the rest of their lives together. Until Lydia’s birthday when Freddie and his best friend Jonah are in a car accident, killing Freddie and leaving Jonah with just a small scar. The grief is all consuming, Lydia doesn’t want to do anything, see anyone, and she definitely does not want anything to do with Jonah. A new prescription sleeping pill changes everything though. Just by taking a pill, she can transport to a different life where Freddie is alive. She begins to live two lives simultaneously, realizing that living two lives is taking a major toll on her and her other relationships. Will she be able to let Freddie go for good?

I absolutely adored this book. It did an amazing job at portraying grief and the stages one goes through. I felt overall the storyline was incredibly realistic, and I loved that Lydia’s heart wasn’t mended by her meeting some new guy who sweeps her off her feet and makes everything better. When I read the goodreads description, I thought maybe that was the way this was going to go, but it didn’t. Instead you see Lydia find her way through her grief. She feels every emotion and becomes a stronger woman for it. This one was heartbreaking, tear jerking, but beautiful at the same time and I am 100% here for it. As a side note: her cat cracked me up, he was easily a favorite character.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for my gifted advanced copy of this book!

Josie Silver’s writing is very unique and addicting. Not only do her characters feel real in a way that you can feel their pain, but the stories also feel real enough that immerse you completely.
I hope everyone gives this book a go and live through Lydia’s grief and the way she learns to move on.