This was so amazingly beautiful, with such heart warming messages that everyone should take into their life.] Going in I had never heard of a death doula before, but I thought this was such an interesting occupation and the premise is really unique. I loved the character of Clover and seeing her grow throughout the book and I also loved seeing the people she met along the way. Instead of being incredibly depressing as it could have been, I actually found it quite uplifting and I enjoyed seeing an insight into Clover's notebooks and "seeing" peoples last words and how you should use this in your daily life to live happier. Another thing I really enjoyed reading was about Clover's travels and how she learned about different cultures views on death, it was incredibly interesting for me. I can't recommend this enough whether you want an interesting read or something with a strong resonating message.

This is an absolutely lovely book.
The main character Clover is a death doula who feels safe caring for the dying, and struggles emotionally with living her own life. She is really only engaging with the world through the dying. As she cares for those people.who are dying Clover records their regrets and advice in notebooks, She meets a man Sebastian who engages with her and then asks her to care for his grandmother Claudia who has a short time left. These and other relationships enable Clover to review her own life and lead to her discovery that life is for living.
The books themes of living and dying resonated with me and they were handled with beautiful writing.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

A, thoroughly enjoyable book full of lessons to live by. Despite the subject matter this is definitely a light easy read. We follow Clover, a lonely and closed-off young woman working as a death doula in New York City, who collects advice, regrets, and confessions from her dying clients but struggles to live her own life to its fullest. Over the course of the book we see her come out of her shell and begin to let others in, with heartwarming results. At times some of the characters could feel a bit stereotypical or plot points overly sentimental, and while that usually bothers me a lot it really didn't in this book - a testament to the sweetness of the story.

What a lovely read this was. So many feelings, so many opportunities and Clover bundles them up and saves them for the dying. A heart of gold and full of love, it’s a book which makes you realise we would all love someone like clover in our lives, but I hope I’m not dy8ng when I meet her. Recommend.

I liked the title of this book and reading it did not disappoint me. Clover the main protagonist was a death doula. Don't let that put you off. The book is very sensitively written and turns the taboos of death into something more peaceful and there is a lot more in the book besides this. Clover was good at her work, as she spent time with the dying. However her own life was challenging, orphaned at a young age Clover was brought up by her grandfather, though they had a close meaningful relationship Clover found it difficult to navigate her way in the world. She was lonely and awkward. It is when working with a new client things started to change.
The book is about love and about people who may be considered different, a book I would recommend to others for many different reasons..

What a beautiful story
Mikki Brammer really captures such an atmosphere regarding adult loneliness, life's complexities and so much of the realities of death and grief. Despite the subject this is not at all a depressing or sad read, I found it uplifting with a theme of finding your passions, purpose and love of living. The characters were so loveable. This is a book I long to read again and to encourage everyone to buy

4 STARS!

I requested this book on NetGalley because I fell in love with the cover (don't judge me), which means that I went into this book blind. I'm a bit sad that the cover has changed because the first one was amazing, but this one is great too. But let's talk about the story now.

Clover is a death doula. Clover had experienced death at a very young age when her kindergarten teacher died right in front of her. The following year, her parents were killed in a boating accident and she was sent to live with her grandfather, who became her hero and role model. However, even as she grew older, her fascination with death never faded. Now she is 36 and she goes to death cafés, where people talk freely about death and face the subject without being judged. She never goes to the same cafés because she doesn't want to be asked questions about her life and her work, she just wants to talk and listen to other people's experiences on a subject that is so familiar to her.

The reason so many people die with regrets is because they live like they're invincible. They don't really think about their death until right before it happens".

She has never been close to anyone, she was considered a freak at school, no one wanted to stay around her and she was treated like an outcast, so at some point in her life she decided not to get close to anyone so she wouldn't suffer.
All the people in her life are people who have very little time left to live, she's afraid of surrounding herself with living people who might judge her and treat her badly, keeping everyone at arm's length to avoid rejection.
At a death café she meets Sebastian and through him, Clover meets Claudia who has stage four pancreatic cancer and only 2 months left to live. She also befriends her new neighbour, Sylvia and she feels like she has a friend she can count on. Thanks to all these new people in her life, she will learn not to be afraid of life and to trust people again.

"Don't let the best parts of life pass you by because you're too scared of the unknown."

You wouldn't say that this is the first book by this author, I read it in one day because I was so into the story and I wanted to know more.
I didn't read the blurb before I read the book, so when I found out what the protagonist did for a living, it hit me hard. I actually put my Kindle down and thought "I can't read this story, I can't read about death". I kept going and I have to say that the subject was faced in the right way and it wasn't a heavy read (but not a light read either, don't get me wrong).

I can honestly recommend this book, it was a moving and immersive read and it is different from the books out there lately, which is obviously a great thing.

Expected publication date: July 6, 2023

The perfect slice of uplifting, heartwarming joy that we all need in our modern world. Just pick this stunner up and thank me later :)

I didn't know what to expect from this book, but I really enjoyed what I got. Well written, poignant and full of warmth.

I absolutely loved reading “The Collected Regrets of Clover” by Mikki Brammer. I completely fell in love with Clover.

Clover is a Death Doula in New York City and for a variety of reasons leads a very closed-off life. She does an admirable job helping people have a dignified death on their terms and also records in three books their Advice, Confessions and Regrets. She sometimes lives out the regrets of some of her clients. She took a five-week Nepali class after one of her clients regretted having never learnt Nepali, his wife’s native language.

She lives with her pets in the rent-controlled apartment that she grew up in with her grandfather. Her only friend is Leo, an octogenarian, who also lives in her building with whom she plays mahjong with weekly.

A new neighbour moves into the building who doesn’t take no for an answer and forms a friendship with Clover, pulling her out of her comfort zone. At the same time, she crosses paths with Sebastian, a young man, grappling with his grandmother’s imminent death. He hires Clover to assist his grandmother, Claudia’s, death. Claudia and Clover get along famously and it is Claudia’s biggest regret that Clover tries to put right before Claudia dies.

I loved how hopeful this book is. I love Clover’s awakening and how it is never too late to start living life to the full.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers Penguin General Viking for making this book available to me as an e-ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I can’t wait for Mikki Brammer’s next book!

The Collected Regrets of Clover by @mikkibrammer

Three words to describe this book: Refreshing yet bittersweet.

This book is the perfect example of the power of character creation. From the moment the author introduced Clover, I knew I was invested in her journey and the people she encountered along the way. The characters had such a wonderful range of personalities, and I honestly think more books could be written on some of the older characters...I need to know more about Leo and Patrick please dear author!!

I feel like readers of Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon would like this book, but even if you weren't a lover of that, please give this book a go. It will leave you reassessing your thoughts on death, reminding you of how precious life is. whilst also giving you a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Expected publication date is the 9th of May but you can pre-order now :)

The cover indicates a distinctive novel with a different voice. My prediction is that this will be a huge hit. Clover Brooks is a death doula, who spends time comforting those close to death and helping them find closure. She meticulously documents their regrets. Occasionally, after they've died, she lives out the thing they always wanted to do.
Clover has never had a boyfriend and avoids emotional entanglements. Her best friend is a man in his 80s, a friend of the grandfather who brought her up.
Clover is asked to act as the doula for an elderly woman not thought to be aware of her imminent death sentence. Through Claudia she discovers a lust for life that makes her realise she is sleep walking through life. Claudia's last regret, that she never reunited with a man she fell in love with on Corsica, inspires Clover to try to find closure for Claudia before her death.
A thought provoking and believable novel where romance plays a secondary part to stigmas around how we deal with the dying. Published on 6 July.

What an amazing book!
Surprisingly joyful in small and unexpected ways Clover brings warmth to dying people as she helps them navigate their final hours.
Clover herself is just a beautiful character and her relationship with Leo, her Grandfathers friend, is a joy to read and her blossoming friendships with Sylvie and with Sebastian are so utterly descriptive of that feeling of trying to make a new friend as an adult!
With every page turn I could picture this being a phenomenal film (but as always you should definitely read the book first!)

This book was a beautiful story about the important lessons that death can teach us about living our lives to the fullest. I loved Clover’s story and I was rooting for her the whole time.

The Collected Regrets of Clover is a very similar story to Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine about a woman who has lived a secluded life and essentially is prised from her shell. Whereas Eleanor was a lowly office worker though, Clover is a death doula, someone who helps others have a "good death" by helping with the final days of her clients (yes they really exist apparently). She was orphaned as a young child and spent the rest of her life living with her grandad, who also died a few years ago, something she has failed to move on from (despite her job).

My problem is that anyone in such a responsible position inevitably has to have a huge rapport with people and will have a regular churn of emotional exchanges and experience lots of difficult moments which she would have learned from. Plus she'd have to be able to demonstrate her emotional maturity in order to obtain work. That didn't really square with someone living such a limited and sheltered life. Essentially the character in the years not covered by the novel basically did nothing.

The book is a bit gooey and over-sentimental and nearly all the other characters are so nice and kind and all want to mentor Clover through life's travails. There is a complete lack of bad guys. Any kind of interaction with a male character produces a response like "my entire body was tingling". If that's your sort of thing then you might enjoy it, but I found it a bit repetitive.

It's supposed to be an inspirational book about living life without regrets, but I think that there are better novels I have read that cover the same ground such as The Midnight Library.

Where do I start? What a fantastic book. Clover is a death doula and this is about her life and one particular job with an elderly lady called Claudia. Clover was brought up by her grandfather after her parents death when she was 6. She is introverted and lives a quiet life in the flat she shared with him, reading books and spending time with her pets. Her only friend is Leo, an elderly gentleman she plays mahjong with, who was her grandfather's best friend. Clover is introduced to Claudia through Sebastian, her grandson, who is finding his grandmother's imminent death hard; not least because his family don't talk about death or dying. This is Clover's story as much as Claudia's and is about how she learns to navigate new relationships and let people in. When she sets off on a quest to find out about Claudia's long lost love she has no idea how it will change her life. A well written story with relatable characters, told beautifully.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and author for the preview of this wonderful book, I loved it!

Clover helps people die a better death. She keeps journals of their last words of wisdom, regrets and advice. She tries to follow some of it, but really she has closed herself off from the world to prevent from being hurt. We find out about Clover's past and her life with her grandfather. When she starts working with Claudia her life really does start to open up. The story is not about death, it is all about living without regrets. Beautifully done, warm, rich and full of great characters.

A book that is sad, makes you think a lot, yet warms your heart? This is how I would describe 'The collected regrets of Clover'.
Clover is a death dula living in New York City. The story is written from two perspectives. One, Clover as a young girl who grows up with her grandad, and has a strong bond with him. The other is Clover as an adult, who works as a death dula and tries to manage her life.

Throughout the book, the story of her childhood evolves, as well as her life as an adult. What I loved about this book was how clear M. Brammer has written the storyline, and how well the character develop. It was so easy to enter Clover's heard, and to connect with the character. Given that a lot of people choose a profession that is somewhat influenced by their own experience, I loved how Clover's own past made her to the 'current' working Clover in the novel.

Another brilliant part of the book was how relationships and forming relationships was part of the book. There were several themes across the book, but what moved me was the relationship Clover had with her granddad. The kindness her granddad treated her with, and how this influenced her as a character was simply heartwarming to read. Derived from this theme, the book went on to cover more themes of friendship, love and self-doubt, all of which were covered in a way that made me think about my own life. The ability as an author not only to make one connect with character, but also to reflect on ones own life is something I highly value, and which is why I ended up loving this book so much.

Overall, this book was a beautiful yet sad story that also addresses themes one does not necessarily pay enough attention to nowadays. If you want to read a book that helps you to reflect on your own life and decisions in form of a fictional story, this one will be your perfect read.

What a delightful story. Clover is such a lovely character. Constantly giving without taking and yet, as is the way with people like that, she seemed so lonely. I loved how the story progressed and it certainly felt like Fate was playing its part. It’s such a gentle story, but there’s a message within its pages for us all. The ending was perfect and wrapped the story up beautifully. Can’t recommend it highly enough.

This was a fabulous story. I’d never read something that involved a death doula and Clover’s character felt so authentic and genuine. She’d had a tough time of it but was so likeable and I really really wanted her to succeed at living life. I loved all the other characters too, and genuinely shed a tear on some occasions but I don’t want to ruin it for others so I won’t give anything away. But I really would urge you to give it a try. I’m still wondering what Clover might be up to now, which is always a sign of a good book!