(review published on 17/02/2020)

After reading Josie Silver’s One Day in December a while back, I was really pleased to pick up a copy of her new book, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird.

On reading the blurb I immediately thought of the Gwyneth Paltrow movie, Sliding Doors, as that too deals with what ifs and lives lived in parallel, but while the book and movie had some similarities in feel, I felt that the multi-universe/multi-life concept was more fully explored in the book.

Nothing in this book is easy for Lydia Bird, as she loses her fiancé within a few pages while getting ready for her birthday dinner. While this is a dramatic and fast-paced entry into Lydia’s world, what unfolds afterwards is a carefully-paced examination of grief, and the lengths people would go to for one more minute, one more day, with their lost loved one.

Lydia is a beautifully written character, and you can empathise with her desperation to see Freddie again, so the fantastical part of the plot, where she is actually able to live parts of her life in an alternate world, where Freddie is alive, is not quite as odd as it may sound and fits nicely with the sections of Lydia’s real life.

The world that Freddie inhabits is almost, but not quite, identical to Lydia’s real world – and that’s not just in the fact that Freddie is alive there. Certain situations with her family and friends are different in each world and the perfect moments that Lydia remembers with Freddie are not quite so perfect now she’s had to get used to living without him.

Ultimately, the concept really works well in looking at how people move through grief, and how becoming consumed by it can have ripples in our nearest and furthest circles.

I would describe this book as more hopeful that anything else – hope that even after the very worst things in our life, we can move on and, although our future lives may be different, they are no less important and worthwhile.

Definitely recommended for all the hopeless (and hopeful?) romantics – I’m excited to see what comes next from Josie Silver.

Really enjoyed this book thank you. Vibrant, believable, characters and an absorbing plot. I will ensure I look out for this author in the future!

I've been dying to read The Two Lives of Lydia Bird ever since I first saw the cover for Josie Silver's second book. I adored One Day in December so much, so my expectations were high when I dived into this book.

The story follows Lydia Bird, and how she copes with the tragic loss of her fiancé on her twenty-eighth birthday. Grief-stricken and feeling lost, she begins to lead a double life - her real day to day life where she has to survive without Freddie, and a parallel life where she has him right by her side and the tragedy she's suffered through doesn't exist.

Through both lives, Lydia learns more about herself, and with the support and love from her friends and family, she finds she has to make a difficult decision about how she chooses to move on. Does she cling on to the little part of Freddie that's still alive, or does she make peace with his passing and release the pause button on her life?

My high expectations for this book were definitely well met. Josie writes so beautifully, and the transitions between Lydia's two worlds were seamless. The characters were wonderful and different in so many ways, and Lydia felt like such an honest protagonist. Her struggles with grief and how to cope with it really hit home for me, and the fact that she has such a warm and loving unit of family and friends around her was such a comfort.

I loved the plot - the concept of travelling between parallel worlds to see a lost loved one is both heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. We never discover whether Lydia's experiences are real or if they're a coping mechanism stemming from her grief, but I don't think it really matters either way. Escapism is a method we all use to cope with difficult situations in life, so it's something that's so relatable.

I feel like this book was a story of metamorphosis. Lydia needed access to a world with Freddie still there so that she could find the strength to move on. She changes as a person, becoming more sure of herself and more daring, and she loses her fear of the unknown. I genuinely shed a tear when I finished this book because it ended in such a beautiful way. I seem to be reading a lot of books about grief recently (completely unintentionally), and this was definitely up there with Dear Edward, that I read last month.

Another cracking book by Josie Silver that I hope will do just as well as One Day in December did. It certainly deserves to, and it gets five stars from me.

How do you carry on when then love of your life dies on the day he should be marrying you?
From this grief laden scenario flows a novel full of despair, uncertainty, family love, renewal and hope; with some humour thrown in to lighten the atmosphere.
Lydia cannot let go of Freddie and her life jumps between here and now and what could have been.
Not a usual romantic novel due to the nature of the content, but after the grief and depression ther is hoe and the possibility of a new life.
I found this novel quite compelling but not always an easy read.

A totally readable book that I am sure will captivate many and will also resonate with others.
Lydia appears to have the perfect life and set to marry her childhood sweetheart Freddy. Her world falls apart when Freddy is in a car accident with their best friend Jason . Freddy dies but Jason survives. Lydia and Jadon have to come to terms with their loss and hereby underlies the premise of the book.
Lydia is distraught and to cope is given experimental sleeping tablets that take her to a place where Freddy and she continue their lives together. She keeps this double life secret from friends and family. We follow her struggle to cope and return to something of a normal life and rediscover her true self . Jason meanwhile is trying to find his way to a better place.
The characters are truly 3 dimensional in this tale of two lives and worlds that do eventually come to a welcome if predictable conclusion.

Well, the One Day in December lass has come up with a story that feels like Christmas. Its start is desperately sad, but oh so tender and full of love and it’s end is offering a new beginning, hope and once more, love. Yep, definitely Christmas.

I loved this book, I loved that it didn’t shy away from the big stuff. It’s never schmalzy, it’s never boring and yet it still deals with grief head on in an understanding and compassionate way while remaining immensely entertaining.

As a character, I liked Lydia a whole lot and really hope we get to see her and the whole cast again for a further instalment, after all it would be great to do more than just ‘peek’ at a new beginning.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They've been together for almost a decade, and Lydia thinks their love is indestructible.

But she's wrong. Because on her 27th birthday, Freddie dies in a tragic accident.

So now it's just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob 'til her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to live her life well. So, enlisting the help of his best friend and her sister Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world and starts to live - perhaps even to love - again.

Then something unbelievable happens, and Lydia gets another chance at her old life with Freddie. But what if there's someone in her new life who wants her to stay?

Please get the tissues ready, I laughed until my stomach hurt and cried so that my children thought I was truly in need of medical help. Helping Lydia through her toughest of times will stay with me for a long long time. I will need a proper break to fully digest Lydia before I start anything new.

Loved this and you will too

I loved One Day in December and was really excited to see that Josie Silver was releasing another book, this story sucks you in from the very 1st pages and makes you want to keep reading. 

Lydia is the main character and she is lost after losing the love of her life, she is worrying those around her and her mother and sister are making sure she eats and trying to get her to sleep. From the offset you can feel the power of the loss for Lydia and it tugs your heartstrings and draws you further in.

A story oozing with love and loss and it makes you reflect on how would you even contemplate moving on when you had your whole life mapped out. Lydia and her family are all grieving after the tragedy that has struck them and this story touches on how it impacts relationships with others around you and how would you go about building new relationships as you put yourself back together.

A really raw story that makes you think and gives you all of the feels as you read and get to know Lydia and the wonderful love of her life.

Josie silver is such a good story teller. Characters are believable, the storyline is wonderful. I wish I had those special pills to see my loved ones again. Beautiful ending to a wonderful book.

Once again this wonderful author has pulled at my heart strings and reduced me into an emotional wreck. A lovely chic lit book filled with love, loss, heartbreak, new beginnings, questions, tears and laughter. I loved the main character and I enjoyed how the story was told in two different ways. To begin with I did find the whole dream world and different life a little bit cliche however the further I got into the story the more I found myself enjoying it and it really made the reader see that whatever path your life goes down love and loss are both are both going to be apparent in some way or another. I did find the ending a little bit predictable however it is a beautiful book and a definite recommendation.

"The Two Lives of Lydia Bird" narrates the story of Lydia, a young woman who will marry the love of her life in a few months. Until one day he dies tragically in a car accident and she has to deal with a life without him that she doesn't want nor has any idea whatsoever how to live within it.
Magically, though, some of the sleeping pills that her doctor recommended her have the power to bring her in a "parallel universe" where Freddie, her fiancée, is still alive and where they still are very much in love and with a whole life ahead of them.

I read Josie Silver's other book "One Day In December" before its release day too, and I fell in love with her writing. I'm mesmerized by the way this author has with words, and how she can deal with various aspects of human life.
I expected this book to be in the romance genre like her other one, and it was, but only for a part. I would classify it more as general fiction or adult fiction, since the story basically follows Lydia as she learns to live in a world she does not recognize like her own.

I have to say that for the "romance" part, I totally saw it from page one. And I'm totally okay with that. I won's spoil it now, but I could see why the book took a certain path and why Silver made us wait for so long for something to happen between two characters. I was totally rooting for them, by the way. I knew they could save each other in ways other people could not even begin to comprehend.

Sadly, in some points, in my personal opinion, this book dragged a little bit. The pacing is quite slow, but some scenes were quite repetitive and in general they slowed the book a lot.

Even though this is very different from her other work, I still really enjoyed it and I believe I will read all of the other books that Silver will write because she never lets me down, and she's one of my favourite author of the last few years.

The two lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver certainly took me down an unexpected path. Lydia faces an unbearable loss when her fiancé dies in a car accident- even more stark as it happened on her birthday. Lydia’s journey through grief is well handled by Josie. I loved how life went on around her, despite her loved ones trying to put theirs on hold to help Lydia. The support from friends and, especially, family endured and broke through Lydia’s grieving process. The dual story line was a clever reminder of how we can romanticise people and relationships and also how we miss the little clues of the struggles our close ones have in everyday life. Overall it’s a yarn where we have to suspend belief to a large extent but nonetheless the grieving process is well handled - and who doesn’t root for the underdog! Enjoyed this book

I had imagined that this would be a kind of sliding doors idea, but the two lives play out very differently. Immersed in grief after the death of her fiancé on her birthday, Lydia has been barely managing to sleep on the sofa, unable to face the bed she used to share with Freddie. Finally she agrees to go upstairs and takes one of the sleeping tablets she's been prescribed. However, this is when she discovers her other life, a life where Freddie is still alive.

Over the next year, we follow Lydia's story in both her lives, and as she struggles to get back to normal, and to rebuild her friendship with Jonah, one of her oldest friends and Freddie's best friend.

I really enjoyed the way the story was told across two timelines, and following Lydia's path to learn how to deal with the worst thing that could happen to her. I felt her highs and lows, and had a few moments where I wanted to shout "what are you doing?" when she made questionable decisions. And by the time I finished the book, I was totally hooked - I could easily see this being made into a film!

A powerful read and really emotional. The synopsis of the book made me doubt I’d like it - too cliche and obvious. But it’s not what I though and Lydia’s other life helps her cope with her grief

The themes of grief and love were handled really well in this book as was the character of Lydia. I loved the authors use of pop culture references, it felt like she was one of my friends at some points.

Josie Silver has a wonderfully descriptive way of writing, which makes it really easy to put yourself in the world she has created.

An enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading other novels by Josie Silver 👍🏻. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Those was an interesting book, not 1 I would choose routinely. I enjoyed the writing style & storyline vertical much.

I have to admit I struggled with this one, despite Josie's previous book being one of my all time favourites. Perhaps I wasn't in the right frame of mind to read it. I may try again another time.

Lydia and Freddie have been together for ever – since they were really young. Now, they are happily engaged and planning their future together. But then fate intervenes and, on his way to Lydia’s birthday dinner, Freddie dies in a car accident. Lydia is devastated. This is actually an understatement. she can’t live, she can’t breathe, she can’t sleep without Freddie. She is unable to handle a day in life, and everything that it includes: eating, washing, going to work. When she’s finally given sleeping pills, she finally sleeps, but she also awakes – in a dream that is too vivid, is lifelike – next to Freddie. She soon realises that the pills help her to be with Freddie again, and so she starts to live two lives – her real one and her dream world. But will it be helpful? Will this bring Lydia back to life, help her rebuild it? Is it at all possible, without consequences, to lead such a double life, with one foot in and one foot out of the real world?

Lydia’s character was exceptionally well written. There was so much depth to her, and you could feel all the emotions that were accompanying her days. Her pain and despair at losing the love of her life were literally heart – breaking, you had a feeling that you are simply next to her and experience the same things. She was complex, believable and genuine in her feelings, and was also full of flaws but that always makes a character even more likeable and relatable. She’s also a character that develops throughout the story and it was truly uplifting to observe her taking control of her life again, especially after seeing what she has to experience to come to this point in her life. She wanted to hide away so much and I was so thankful for her to have her brilliant mum, sister Elle and friend Jonah who never gave up on her, who tried to show her that maybe, somewhere, there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel? I kept everything crossed for Lydia. I could easily understand her and her decisions, even if they were so hard to grasp, especially by her closest ones. I loved how strong in the end the author has made her, guiding her through the process of grief, slowly picking up the pieces of her life and forging a new path. The relationships in this story are also brilliant written, no matter if the author writes about love between Lydia and Freddie, or familial relationships with Lydia’s mother and her sister, or normal friendships. They all felt real, realistic and so truly human.

The author has already proven with her debut novel, and she shows it again, that she has a way with words, writing about feelings and grief in such a sensitive and understanding way. She explores love in a way that not everybody can, in an almost lyrical but not too overdone move, and she won’t let you have a dry eye at the end. But don’t worry if you think this book is sadness pure, no, it’s not, there are bags of humour and Ms Silver’s words are light and chatty. The pace was absolutely right, showing without rush, but also without slow moments, how grief can impact a person, in both short and long term.

Yes, I think you can feel cynical, what with the whole magical element but while sometimes it really doesn’t work in a book, this time the author has created a perfectly believable alternative for Lydia. It felt… I don’t know, real? Yes, somehow real. Not too pushed, not too forced, not too far – fetched, simply being there and making me believe.

So, “The Two Lives of Lydia Bird” is about having to come to terms after your world has fallen apart and the fact how important unconditional support is, no matter wherever it comes from. I was completely immersed in Lydia’s grief and her idea of true love – it was beautiful. I fell for her immediately, it was impossible not to. It’s a beautiful, sensitive, heart breaking and at the same time uplifting novel. It’s a powerful and thought – provoking read and the dreaded second book proved itself to be as great as the first one (if not this little bit better!). It’s an emotional and moving that’s going to steal your heart, break it, mend it and break it over and over again, but in the end it’s going to give you hope and this overwhelming feeling that everything will be okay. Hugely recommended!

Well written but it was a struggle to both get into it and finish it. The story felt a bit orchestrated and I found that was quite frustrating. Many good review so probably just not for me.

This book wasn’t for me. I stuck with it thou and made it to the end. I found it very confusing with the switching from the present to the past and back again. The character of Lydia's two worlds, her awake world and sleep world put my head in a spin. and I wished her and Kris’s relationship had been developed more I felt like it was over too fast. On a positive, Josie Silver writes beautifully about the sensitive subject of how we all grief differently.. Loved the ending it was perfect. Heartbreakingly beautiful.