The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood follows the story of Delphie Bookham, who just died in the most anticlimactic way: choking on a microwave burger, alone, in her flat in London. Delphie wakes up to find herself in the afterlife, where she runs into the most handsome man she’s ever seen who is looking directly at her. In the afterlife lobby, where she currently is with this handsome stranger, she meets Merritt who is apparently her Afterlife Therapist, who ends up sending the handsome stranger back. Out of both desperation and disbelief, Delphie strikes a deal with Merritt to send her back to find this mystery man because she thinks he’s her soulmate. Merritt reluctantly agrees but sets some guardrails: she has to find him in 10 days, and he has to kiss her out of his own free will.
Delphie comes back to Earth on a mission to find this man who she thinks is her soulmate with zero idea on where or how to find him, or how to get him to kiss her out of his own free will. Once she’s back in her apartment, after seeing her life flash before her eyes, she realizes she hasn’t really been living. Delphie has isolated herself from people, choosing to be a “lone wolf” with only her elderly and mute neighbor Mr. Yoon as a friend. In her adventure to find her mystery man, she’s forced to connect with a few people in her community who willingly offer help and their friendship. As her time on Earth may be limited, she’s laser focused on finding this guy, not seeing that she’s opened herself up to an actual community.
I both loved and hated this book – which are strong opinions but hear me out. I saw myself a bit too much for my liking in Delphie. She purposely isolated herself from people to shield her feelings, which left her physically alone but also emotionally numb in a way, given that she wasn’t feeling anything because she wasn’t actively doing anything. Granted, I did not purposely push anyone out but I can identify with the isolation piece to shield myself from feelings – mostly feelings of anxiety but still. I hated seeing that on paper because Delphie’s realizations about herself and her life could have also been said by me, and it’s sad. I’m out here being vulnerable on a book review but that’s how much this book resonated with me, and pushed me into action (a baby step, but a step nonetheless). Though, that’s where the similarities end because outside of that, I have nothing in common with Delphie. I don’t actually hate the book; I wasn’t fond of seeing myself in Delphie – especially since we aren’t similar personality wise. If anything, this book served as a bit of a reality check.
If you love romance books with magical realism like I do, with a couple of plot twists along the way, then I definitely recommend this book. It reminded me a little bit of Sophie Cousens’ Just Haven’t Met You Yet – minus the magical realism part – so if you’ve read that book, then you’ll enjoy The Love of My Afterlife.
