It feels wrong to criticize a book that is largely about the grieving process for being too long and occasionally disjointed when that’s what the process itself is like, but here I am, saying those are my main issues with this book.

It started out strong, with our main character Lydia’s loss of her fiancé fresh and raw, and the premise of her visiting a parallel life with him when she took her sleeping pills was intriguing at first. But then it felt more and more like a repetitive cycle of her awake life vs her asleep life and the shift in her actually starting to heal was too slow in coming. I liked Lydia and her overall journey, I just felt for the sake of narrative flow that it could have been a shorter book.

I was really excited about this book, but found that it was slower to start than One Day in December. However, by midway through, I was hooked, and had trouble putting it down. A beautiful romance about love lost!

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC. Gosh, what a sweet book! The book starts out with Lydia finding out that her fiancé was killed in car accident. She spends half her time grieving during the day and half her life dreaming (with the help of sleeping pills) of what her life would be like if Freddie had lived. It is a wonderful story of how to cope with loss in your own way. #thetwolivesoflydiabird #josiesilver #march2020

Josie Silver writes lovely books. I loved One Day in December and while this one is slightly more melancholy at first compared to that one, it's still engrossing and ultimately uplifting. I liked how the parallel stories show growth in the protagonist's grief healing process. I experienced a loss a few years ago and found it cathartic to read about (I've had enough time to find it that way, I am not sure if I would feel the same if I had read it sooner). There's a good amount of romance and humor and lightness in it to keep it moving along without being completely pulled under by grief. Fans of Silver's One Day in December or of One Day by David Nicholls will enjoy this one.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Though initially the book had me feeling like it would go the traditional cookie cutter multi universe route complete with a typical happy ending, it actually didn’t do that...and I am not saying how it ends, just read it and see. The writing was lovely, the characters even the supporting ones were very well developed and were incredibly relatable. I haven’t been in those shoes, thank the lord but I did lose my mom a month after I got engaged and I’d be lying if I said I never imagined what my world would be if she hadn’t passed on, Lydia loses her fiancé within the first chapter (so that’s not a spoiler) and the parallel lives she lives had me going right back to the place of memories of the first year after my moms passing. The question of what if is a universal one and this book does a lovely job exploring it from every angle.

I struggled with this book. I had difficulty discerning what was real time and what was dream time and the switching back and forth. I figured out the ending long before I arrived at it. It just doesn't resonate with me. This one wasn't for me.

I’m not sure quite why I disliked this book so much early on. I received an advance copy to give an honest review and whether it was the topic of a young woman whose fiancé is killed in a car crash and has enormous problems continuing on with her life, or the confusion of her sleeping pill induced dreams where her lover is still alive and life goes on as if there has been no dreadful accident. At any rate, for me it was never magical or special the way I had hoped from the description of the book. It was simply sad until things changed and I suddenly found I absolutely loved the book - possibly an all time favorite. It’s kind of like all your favorite movies and books all rolled into one feel good story that actually has enormous power. Lydia is always aware that she is constantly putting herself in real danger with her dependence on the sleeping pills that can transport her back into life with her fiancée. She actually grows to prefer her sleep state to reality where her family is urging her to move on with her life. All of this is set in a British town where everyone knows everything about each other. In reality, it was almost always a threesome of friends since childhood - Lydia, Jonah and Freddie. Lydia somewhere deep inside still blames Jonah for the accident that killed Freddie. Jonah is also having his own troubles moving on. Both loved Freddy but in different ways; all were close friends since childhood with vastly entwined lives.

None of the characters were especially real for me early on. Much of this may be the very British personalities and traditions. I found myself just wanting to be finished and able to move on to a more interesting book until I truly warmed to the book. Early on, I think the wallowing in self pity was the most trying part of the book. Lydia’s mother and sister actively try to pull her out of her misery but Lydia comes to live for her pill induced world with her dead fiancé. In that world, her life can continue on to marriage, a future, her dreams fulfilled just as she’d imagined, but it is, of course, not real. She is well aware that she may be addicted to this sleep world and her grip on sanity. As time moves on, she goes back to her job and even decides to adopt an elderly cat but her fantasy filled dream life is what keeps her going. Gradually her relationship with Jonah begins to improve as they are more honest with each other.

Her dream world allows time to pass with Freddy and other friends and relatives appear in the dreams. One of my favorite parts is Lydia waking up in snowy Paris with Freddie. Very romantic and well done. Her real world and dream world begin to morph and change just as she is changing. Unfortunately the real world must intrude into her dream world. In one world her sister is pregnant but in the other, the baby is lost. From this point on, the book just keeps getting better and better. I would highly recommend this book as a fun, unique read.

What an interesting unique read. I thought the plot line was unique and the two story lines played out in way I hand't read before. I loved the characters. About half way through I knew where the story was going, but I really enjoyed the journey. I felt it was a bit long, but still ready the book in a weeks time. Thank you.

I received an ARC of this novel from Ballentine Books via Netgalley in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own. After reading One Day in December also written by Josie Silver, which was my favorite book last year, I was really looking forward to the next book she wrote. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird, was a very creative and unusual book which tells the love story of Lydia and Freddie, which was cut short when Freddie dies unexpectedly. They had been together forever and Lydia can't imagine her life without Freddie. When Lydia is offered sleeping pills to help with her insomnia, they actually allow her to "see" her life continuing with Freddie. At some point, Lydia has to make a choice-move on without Freddie or stay locked in the past with him.

This story was at times heartbreaking and unbelievable. It dragged in the middle a bit and that is the only thing that prevented me from giving 5 stars.

Id forgotten the premise when I started this and was immediately filled with dread to spend a whole book with this grieving woman. Man, I'm glad I did though! Its a story well told and I adored Lydia and following her path thru her horrible loss.

Such a heartbreaking story. Told in alternate perspectives, Lydia awake and Lydia asleep after the death of her beloved fiancé, Freddie.
This book was utterly heart wrenching and I just can’t imagine being in her position. Lydia is craving seeing Freddie so much, all she wants is to be in that alternate universe.

Josie Silver has done it again.

Round up to 3.5.

This is a lovely book, with a true “dreamy” quality - causing it to feel as though it went on just a bit too long. All of it was enjoyable, but felt perhaps over-experienced. Hard to describe. It’s fairly clear early on where things will go, and how it will end, but the author does throw in a few steps to throw you off the scent.

I truly enjoyed the story, I just can’t picture telling anyone “you have to read this.”

Josie Silver has done it again! She has written a unique love story that you become totally immersed in from the very beginning. She loses her fiancé Freddie in a car accident and is unable to get on with her life until she is persuaded to start taking sleeping pills. Two different worlds are presented and the reader quickly becomes involved in both of them. I love the author’s unique perspective presented in this book. Highly recommend! #TheTwoLivesOfLydiaBird #JosieSilver #NetGalley

A delight that stole my day :)

This book was unputdownable for me. I enjoyed how the two timelines worked as Lydia processed her grief.

I only wish that the Jonah storyline had unfolded a bit earlier in the story. I would have loved for something to happen with them in the Asleep time line or to see that the marriage to Freddie had failed and she'd ended up with Jonah anyway. I was waiting for half the book to see their romance unfold and it all happened in like the last 2% of the story.

Hopefully there will be a sequel or companion story?

i read the two lives of lydia bird in one gulp. lydia and jonah were friends from childhood until free spirited, bigger than-life, freddie came along and they were both pulled into freddie’s orbit. until freddie was no longer there.

Why is it when I read a great love story I immediately want to equate it with a comparable movie? Other genres can exist on their own without the endless need to tie it to a movie so why must we with love stories? I give up so will continue... There is a movie I loved and have NEVER gotten over & it starred one of my favorite actors of all time, the irreplaceable Alan Rickman. If you haven’t seen it - well you simply must find it... Truly, Madly Deeply. This story took me back to my love for that film. Thank goodness I don’t know Josie Silver as she would say you talked more about the film than my book! How about this—I feel I, not Reese Witherspoon discovered Josie—I received such an early advance copy of One Day in December and loved that story so much it made me forever devoted to whatever JS writes!! I love this too!! Also if you haven’t read One Day in December don’t let the month in the title throw you as truly it’s a delicious read all year long! xo President of the Josie Silver Fan Club ✨❤️ #fridayreads

I would probably give this 2 1/2 stars. I liked Lydia's story and her family plus her friendship with Jonah. However, the "two lives" part didn't make sense and wasn't ever really explained.

I requested this book on @netgalley because I loved #onedayindecember. I didn’t really even read the blurb because I rarely get approved for romance books. Once I got approved and read what the book was about, I was NOT interested. It sounded like a strange sliding doors + a melancholy study in grief. I started to read it though, and was instantly sucked in by Silver’s witty writing. Her characters are fleshed out and believable; their dialogue real and charming. I ended up liking the somewhat ~magical~ plot, even if it did move a bit slowly at times. Lydia Bird is an excellent and endearing protagonist, and I enjoyed reading about her two worlds.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for an ARC. Sadly, this was just ok for me. After reading the author’s 5 ⭐️ debut, I couldn’t wait to read her followup. But this story was boring. I loved the characters and I love the author’s writing but the story was boring, especially when Lydia was “asleep.” I found myself skimming. But I’m not giving up on this author and hope her next one is more on par with her debut.

I was really looking forward to this book based on the description, because my husband died last year and I thought I would find it an enriching journey. Sadly although I kept with it for a long time I just couldn't keep reading any further. The main character did nothing but wallow in her grief for her dead husband, drink and pop sleeping pills, and have fantasy dreams about him being alive again -- what are we supposed to learn from that? If indeed there was to be any character growth it was way too long in happening and I gave up. I gave it 2 stars because the writing style was good, but in truth it felt like a 1 star. (Sorry!)