I'm not going to lie, when I picked up this book, I had no idea what to expect. The character didn't hook me at first, the situation was quite strange, and I thought I had walked into a book I wasn't going to enjoy at all.

I truly enjoyed this book, so very much.

I loved the side characters. I loved how the romance ended up. I enjoyed the main character, though I obviously liked her more once she started to come into her own.

There's something so quietly lovely about this book, and the death notebooks that Clover kept, that is going to make me think about this book longer than I thought I would.

What a warm little book.

Thank you to Saint Martin's Press and NetGalley for a chance to read and review.

Oooooo this was a good one. Challenging and thought provoking in the best way. I loved getting to know death a bit better from each characters perspective. And yes, I will fully admit to getting weepy thinking about my own regrets when it comes to my grandparents because boy do I have them.

I loved the overall concept of this story, Clover’s background and underlying personality, and how that plays out with her life choices and how she interacts with other characters. It was uncomfortable in the same way that all growth is: messy, necessary, and satisfying.

In this end, I’d recommend this read, especially to those who may be struggling with grief.

I'm on the fence about this novel. At thirty-six Clover is a loner, a bit childish at times, and is a death doula. I had never heard of this before and actually had to research what a death doula is. The book is ok, just bland. It could have used a little more drama. Thanks to Mikki Brammer, St.Martins Press, and NetGalley for providing a copy of this ebook for an honest review.

Thank you to St Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this book prior to release.

This was such a unique concept : a death doula with very few friendships/relationships keeping track of all of her "patients" regrets and advice. As she spent the last few moments of their lives with so many people, she gained a great deal of wisdom about life, but yet failed to put much of what she learned into practice.

It took just a few pages for me to fall in love with the writing style of Mikki Brammer. She has such a great way of describing emotions and helping you get a depth of understanding for the characters.

Clover was such an interesting person with such a heavy past that I was left feeling so bad for her. While some of her decisions were pretty rough, you can't fault her too much based on her obsurd upbringing.

There were parts of this story I loved and some parts I could have done without. I did appreciate the ending and how things came together.

I think this will be a hit for those who liked Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. It gave me those same happy/sad vibes simultaneously. I don't think this will be for everyone and I don't personally relate to Clover but I know many will.

I'm so excited to read what she writes in the future!

This will be available on May 9th.

I went into this with significantly different expectations than the reality of what I got. I guess I was expecting that I would get something closer to a more literary experience than the eat pray love-esque rom com the author ended up giving me. I started tuning out at about the time the man stalking her was portrayed as romantic and at a certain point just subtituted in a mental image of Sebastian Stan any time he was mentioned. By the time we got to the low key homophobia I was actively rolling my eyes. And by the time we got the cliche as hell "death should affirm life" trope I was pounding at the bit to be done. Ended up not being for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a well written book about the art of dying. I loved how it tackled a more unique subject matter in a thoughtful and meaningful way. The one thing that bothered me was her age and “inexperience”. I think if she was younger, it would have made more sense. Regardless, I enjoyed the charters and the sentiments. It’s a great read!

The Collected Regrets of Clover is a beautiful, funny, heartwarming, and interesting debut novel. Clover is a death doula who seems to be far more comfortable with the dying than with the living. Through new relationships with the grandson of a client and a new tenant in her building, as well as an old relationship with her elderly best friend, she slowly learns to embrace life and stop living in the past and dwelling in her regrets.

This book is a breath of fresh air. The writing is descriptive and makes the characters come to life. I loved watching Clover grow and change throughout the book. Her journey is inspiring and exciting.

Clover Brooks is a death doula in New York City. This wasn’t her original career path, yet there’s a reason she doesn’t want people to die alone. Guilt, past trauma and loneliness have plagued Clover, until she decides it’s time for a change. Opening her heart to new friendships and love might be risks. However, her new client Claudia has her thinking that risks are better than regret. This leads Clover on a road-trip to help Claudia with some unfinished business. The Collected Regrets of Clover discusses love, loss and the fear of living an unfulfilled life.
 
Review
I was interested in reading The Collected Regrets of Clover because bereavement was the central focus of the novel. Loss is discussed and death takes place, yet it isn’t for shock value. Mikki Brammer wrote these moments to honor the character’s impact on protagonist Clover. As much as I connected with the message this story conveyed, it didn’t grab my attention until halfway through the book. Towards the end the pace and storylines picked up. Since the road-trip was the focus of the synopsis, I would have loved for it to have a larger role in the novel.

Publication Date May 9, 2023
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

hank you to @us.macmillin, #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for a digital ARC of #TheCollectedRegretsofClover. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

The concept of this book intrigued me. The protagonist - 36 year old Clover - is a death doula in New York. She makes a living helping people prepare for their death. Sounds like a heavy topic, but the author does a really good job of talking about preparing to die in a very honest and almost comforting way. And for me, that is the highlight of this book.

Yet, I almost abandoned this book less than 20% in. I just didn't connect with the characters in any way. I think Clover is meant to be quirky and socially awkward, but she's just sad. Her life has been negatively impacted by deaths in her own family. As a result, she lives a very lonely, isolated life by choice. The story unfolds predictably and Clover gets her "happy-ish" ending, but I just didn't care.

It looks like I'm in the minority with my opinion on this book. Overall, it was OK. Not sure I would recommend it.

A rare gem !
This book treat a difficult subject without being sad or too heavy. The writing is really excellent I could quote half of the book !! No stereotypes or cliché, so relatable. I really recommend it either you just want a good book or something on grief specifically.
I feel really grateful to have discover this book thanks to netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

Warning this book should come with a free prescription for Lexapro. I have never been so depressed while reading than in this book. There are types of "Sad Reading" that we all love, you know the ugly cry kind.Think Love Story, A Walk To Remember, Titanic, where you have a pint of Ben and. Jerrys (wait scratch that--Edy's Cookies N Cream) sweat pants, messy bun alone on a Friday night let it all out sister.
BUT this is the type of read that was just gloom and doom for 95% of the book, it was so morbid. I give this book two stars (I would give it 1) if it were not for Hugo. Clover the protaganist whole life has been surrounded by death and people (including her parents) who were incapable of love. I couldnt help but feel tragically sad for her. Her job a "death doula" -could have made for a cool quirky read as I thought i was promised-- instead the author took this down a deep cliff. I felt no passion from Clover. She was just a "dud", no emotion, no life to her. Honestly her dying clients seemed to have more of a life than our Clover.
Don't get me started on Sabastian, I immediately started waing red flags with his inability to know her coffee order (total cliche in a movies and books) His treatment of Clover again, was just what I am going to sum up as what a "Pompous Donkey" --so there.
I was hoping at the end there would be some happy ending in regards to Claudia/Hugo, however again the reader is left with another heaping pile of gloom.
I'm sorry I did not think this was charming in anyway, and frankly I can't wait to get y hands on the cheesiest Hallmark book that I can to pull myself out of this deep state of depression brought on by this book .

Thank you Netgalley and Mikki Brammer for this advanced copy read. I was not influenced for this honest review. These are all my own opinions.

PS DON"T YOU LOVE THE COVER???

TW: Death, Close Family Members

This novel has taught me a lot about how to deal with my own grief, how to support those who have lost someone important to them and how to be there for someone you love who is reaching the end of their life.

Clover tends to live in her own world, only speaking to clients of hers who are close to death, as her occupation as a Death Doula. Throughout the story, Clover learns from her books of Advice, Confessions and Regrets from clients who have passed - categorizing them throughout their last few days of life. I found that although Clover did lack certain emotional characteristics and experiences, I empathized with her. I appreciated her development throughout the book and her ability to "be cautiously reckless".

I found Mikki was able to write about the difficult topic of death, and make it simple throughout the dialogue and the messages that were conveyed. I laughed and I cried, and I felt like I became friends with Clover, Slyvie, Leo, Hugo and Claudia.

A very special thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy and the amazing opportunity to self-reflect and grow as a person, just as Clover did.

Good book if you can get through the first quarter of the book which is very morbid. The rest is easy reading and sorta funny as Clover tries to navigate her first friendships while being a death doula.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of THE COLLECTED REGRETS OF CLOVER by Mikki Brammer. I really enjoyed this beautiful story about making the most out of life and death. I'd never heard of a death doula, Clover's profession, but learning about it was really interesting. The best part was definitely just seeing Clover's character growth from being so isolated and grief-stricken to learning how to create a life she wouldn't have to regret when she died. The ending was so inspirational and filled with so many great little quotes: "Grief is just love looking for a place to settle," and "The secret to a beautiful death is to live a beautiful life," and many more. I loved it!

The Collected Regrets of Clover is a thoughtful and comforting book about living life. Clover Brooks came to know death early in life. First her kindergarten teacher dies while reading a story to Clover's class, then her parents die in an accident while on vacation. As a young child, Clover was raised in a NYC apartment by her grandfather who was a biology professor. Now thirty-six year old Clover is a death doula to comfort terminally ill people. Author Mikki Brammer provides readers with a good framework to discuss death and living, regrets and hopes. This novel is recommended for discussion groups and young adult readers.

〰️Review〰️

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer - 2/5 ⭐️
Book 17 of 2023

*Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC*

“A big-hearted and life-affirming debut about a death doula who, in caring for others at the end of their life, has forgotten how to live her own, for readers of The Midnight Library” [excerpt taken from St Martin’s Press).

If you’ve been following me for awhile, you’ll know by the above “for the readers of” what’s coming in this review. It’s rather unfortunate this entire story is solely about Clover. She is somehow self-righteous, inauthentic, and cloyingly obtuse all at once. Provided that she is a world traveller and a person who guides others to the end of their lives, one would assume she is empathetic yet that was rarely the case. Her character lacked perspective, resulting in Clover coming across as an underdeveloped, tiresome protagonist. While I am certain this is not a YA novel, it does comes across as such. I had to really dig my heels in to get through this and it proved that you can’t always judge a book by it’s cover; if so, this likely would have been much better.

The Collected Regrets of Clover is set to be published May 9, 2023.

I received an advance copy of The Collected Regrets of Clover, thanks to NetGalley. I was intrigued by the premise of this book and the role of a death doula in supporting people through the end of life process. The book was quick and easy to read and had some touching moments. However, the main character, Clover, fell flat for me. She came across as very immature and inexperienced, almost to the point where the book had the vibe of a YA novel at times. Clover was clearly still working through unprocessed grief from the death of her parents at a young age, and had never formed a true friendship or had a romantic relationship. It was heartwarming to watch her navigate her way through these new relationships for the first time in the story, but her character lost credibility and didn’t feel very believable as a result - the disconnect was too great between her professional career and her personal experience. I read the book quickly but was left feeling unsatisfied at the end due to these contradictions with the main character.

Nothing startlingly original here, but a well-told, gentle tale of a loss-ridden introvert opening up to life. Sad, hopeful and lovely

The Midnight Library is one of my favorite books so I knew that I had to read this one. It also questions the meaning of life/death and how your choices in life determine how your path runs.

Clover was a fabulous character! She is introverted and a little different, especially because she focuses on death and people who are wasting what little time they have left. Her life changed when she saw her first dead person. She was young and witnessed how her kindergarten teacher passes. That is when her path was chosen.

Her job is a death doula - what a fascinating thing this is. She spends time with people who are about to die and helps them through it. And death cafes...morbid but also interesting. People go here to talk about death and what they have experienced surrounding it. She likes to listen and absorb everything she can from their discussions.

When she meets Claudia her life changes. The journey this book takes you on is so thought provoking and enjoyable. I absolutely loved it.