thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and to kirsty greenwood for the advanced reader copy of "the love of my afterlife". when i first saw this book, i saw it being marketed as for fans of "the good place", and that is definitely what drew me in. unfortunately, what made me give the book a lower rating is the lack of character development and the rushed plot. i really did feel for delphie though-- greenwood did a stellar job at describing her emotions on such a profound level. while the quirky writing and atmosphere may not be for everyone, it is definitely worth a shot.

I love and hate that she is finally living her life after she got a second chance. A very short strings attached second chance. Really love the chemistry with her and her neighbor. The humor is so good and love the hilarious antics.
It is so fun as she tries to fulfill her end of the deal but just keeps ending up with her neighbor the handsome author.
But in the end that twist and then all that followed. I was not expecting that.
Definitely enjoyed the happily ever after and second chance at life. Also her second chance and adventures merged parts of her life starting new friendships and romances in her wake. So that's always a fun outcome.

Thank you berkleyromance for the gifted copy

It's been a while since I read a book that made me belly laugh.

Love of My Afterlife had me clenching my stomach from laugh induced cramps. There were so many scenes where I vividly pictured the main character Delphie attempting to navigate her time sensitive mission and I just lost it. There is a scene involving poetry reading... once you get to it, you'll know what I'm talking about. Absolutely hilarious.

Apart from the humor, this book had a unique concept that I had a lot of fun with. It allowed for comedic antics and unexpected turns that kept me entertained all the way through. I'm honestly sad that I don't have more pages to read.

I really liked reading about Delphie finding her way into a new walk of life that didn't involve hiding herself from the world. She found strength in herself that she didn't have before her first brush with death and it was loads of fun watching her become the person she was meant to be.

My one critique is that I wish we had more page time with Delphie and her love interest. There could have been more development there that would have made this a 5 star read.

Despite that one thing, I love love loved this book and highly recommend it!

4/5

A recently deceased woman meets "the one" in the afterlife waiting room only to find out he shouldn't be there.

If you enjoy shows like The Good Place, this one is for you! I was so intrigued by the concept of this book - talk about a unique meet cute!. Meeting in the afterlife waiting room! Unfortunately for Delphie, it's not as simple as happily ever afterlife when the man of her dreams is sent back to the land of the living. Luckily, she convinces her spirit therapist to give her a second chance at love and life. If she can find this man and get him to kiss her, of his own accord, in ten days time... she will have everything she wants - a second chance at life and love.

I absolutely LOVED Delphie's journey. She was such a closed off person initially and my heart grew right along with hers as she stepped outside of her emotional walls to form friendships and let people into her life. It was easy to see that she was so guarded due to the relationship (or lack there of) she had with her mother. So it was especially gratifying to see her surround herself with people that loved her, valued her and wanted to be there for her.

This book made my heart happy. It just felt like a big ol' hug and put a smile on my face. It dealt with big topics like death, grief, family, friendship and love in such a heartwarming and often funny way that it never felt heavy. Highly recommend!

Magical realism is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I typically read at least a couple every year -- and they usually surprise me (in a good way)! I really loved how this story begins. The whole concept was super fun and very unique!

Some of Delphie's decisions while she's chasing after her soulmate drove me crazy -- and I was expecting to be more in love with the main characters' romantic connection. However, I actually found myself more interested in the side plots. I really loved the found family, and the plot twist really got me! This was such a fun book and definitely worth the read.

A little late to the party with this feedback but I had SO much fun with this novel.

I pretty much couldn’t stop reading once I picked it up. Only work got in the way, and then I stayed up till like 11pm one night binging it.

I cried!! This one made me SO emotional. I loved watching Delphie realize how much she needed a community and how much she missed out on. Her character development was some of the best I’ve seen in a while!!

The romance was surprising but in a good way. Based on the synopsis I genuinely thought that’s where I the plot was going to go, but I was pleasantly fooled! Even with that plot twist at the end I did NOT see that coming. Absolutely baffled I did not pick up on that.

Either way, this was one of the goofiest romantic comedies that I have ever read and it was…god it was laughable. Every time Delphie’s plans went wrong and the most batshit crazy shit happened to her…it was so entertaining.

Pick this one up if you need a good laugh or a good cry!

This was everything. It had me giggling in the beginning, swooning throughout, and nearly crying by the end. This was one of the best character developments in a romance book that I have read in a long time. At times I found Delphie to be unlikeable but I was rooting for her so hard and having her grow into herself the way she does was truly wonderful. For me the star of the show was Merritt and her story was so freakin special too (IYKYK). Oh and sweet Mr. Yoon, what a treasure. This story wasn’t what I expected but I loved truly every single moment. This is magical realism romance done right and so freakin well. A prickly loner type as the star of a romance isn’t what I would normally expect for the main character but man, did it make the story hit extra hard.

Thank you Berkley for the e-arc

5/5 stars

Thank you Berkley Pub for the advanced reading copy!

SYNOPSIS -- Delphie just had the most embarrassing moment of her life... good thing it was the last moment of her life, too. After choking to her death on a microwavable burger, she's shocked to wake up in heaven's waiting room and even more shocked to be staring into the eyes of a man that is certainty her soulmate. When a romance-obsessed afterlife therapist offers Delphie the chance to return to Earth to find this man and, possibly, stay alive, she takes it. With only 10 days to find her soulmate in a city of millions, Delphie has to approach her second chance at life completely differently than she did her first.

I LOVED this book. Magical realism + romance is a perfect combination in my mind, and this book is the reason why!! There is something so beautiful and, dare I say, ~magical~ about a little bit of cosmic intervention in romance. Delphie was an amazing character to follow along; she was flawed and real and raw at times and so relatable. There were certainly some very, very cringe moments in her search for Jonah, but that just made her even more real.

I can't quite explain it but this book healed something in me. As a person generally scared of death, this brought levity to the concept and added a delightful twist that, despite being fictional, made the reality feel so much less scary. Love is around us in so many ways that we become immune to or blind to, just like Delphie, and watching her notice all of this love around her throughout the book was a beautiful experience.

I truly loved this book. The romance was believable and sexy. Each character brought something important to the table and watching Delphie's character develop was so satisfying. Her hijinks were entertaining and there were moments in this book that held so much beauty and warmth, I cried. Honestly, no notes.

Thank you to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for my #advancedreaderscopy of #theloveofmyafterlife
this book was a huge surprise, I got it in the off chance it might be as quirky as some of my fave KDramas with grim reapers escorting you to your final destination.

It did not disappoint!

Tropes:
Found Family; our main character might as well have been an orphan but by the end of the book she has everyone in her orbit close as she begins to live life every day ..it wasn't just Cooper she made friends along the way that continued to show up for her .
Her elderly Mr Yoon was my fave ..there were some tears she'd when she realized she was all he had too.By far my fave book of found family in 2024.

✨️Set in LONDON
✨️ The Good Place vibes with a nod to Beetlejuice
✨️ Love Triangle ..DONE SO WELL
✨️ fake dating: absolutely loved Cooper's mom
✨️ one bed
✨️ a heist! Cooper turns out to be a true crime writer
✨️ Lots of fun as she tries to find "her soulmate"
✨️ Fans of The Dead Romantics will love this

Delphie has the best growth as a character. She has been surviving , day to day and now she learns she has been throwing her life away and wants to live.She bargains her way back because her angel 😇 advisor lives for HEA in romance books , she has to find Jonah her "soulmate with help from her downstairs grumpy neighbor. She saw Jonah for two minutes before Merritt her angel advisor says oops.. hes only unconscious he's going back. Merritt looks at Delphie and says " Im giving you 10 days to find him and get him to kiss you"
The plot twist at the last day just before she ran out of time on the 10th day 👨‍🍳💋 I loved how every character seemed to step out of a rom com: we had quirky co workers who loved to dress up in cosplay, a librarian , a dog walker who is dying to be her partner in crime. Just loved every second of this book.

Also read via PRH audio via complimentary audiobook and free book from Berkley (thank you!).

3.5 stars. This author's imagination is so entertaining. I immediately loved the world of the "afterlife" she built, it was vivid and seamless. I know the FMC will come off as annoying to some but I had a lot of empathy for her. Delphie lives a quiet life and an overarching theme of this book is her figuring out what is worth putting yourself out there for (friendship and possibly love) and what's okay and healthy for her to keep.

She was bullied relentlessly in school (referenced in present time no major flashbacks) and by the end that aspect when a different way than I thought and overall this book felt very healing. The last 30% is incredible and the reflections by the end even just the last few pages bumped this up for me from 3 to 3.5 and honestly had more romance than I was expecting!

The major downside for me for this book was how much better (in my opinion) it could have been. Delphie gets a second chance at life and is on a mission she must complete in 10 days or else she's back to the afterlife. I felt a lot of this mission was filler and chance for cheap jokes. I don't really like when everyone is in on the joke including the reader except for the main character whose first POV head we are in. It just made me feel even more sad for her honestly. I was 2x speed through 20-50% of this for sure.

Overall I would recommend this book. This is a somewhat elevated version of Midnight Library almost (more romance, less magical realism/other lives thing) and I think it will resonate with many people. I just think this author could have elevated it even more!

i really liked the premise of this and it's something i could see being adapted and would be fun to see on screen. ultimately it felt a bit too long for me and i started losing interest, but i liked the little twist spun in towards the end. i'd read more by this author for sure. thanks for the eARC!

I opened this book while floating in a pool on a giant inflatable pizza. I did not leave the pool until I finished the last page. I was burnt to a crisp and waterlogged. I could not have cared less.

The Love of My Afterlife is funny, inspiring, sexy, and just so great.

What a delight this book was! Greenwood did a masterful job of telling a completely unique story full of well-developed characters. Looking forward to reading more of her work!

The premise to this was so fun, but that's really where it ended for me. I found the writing style to be really annoying and not at all as funny as it thought it was (like very millennial humor I guess?) I also just wasn't rooting for our FMC at all, I just didn't really care much about her.

Love of My Afterlife is delightful, joyful, and just plain fun. Delphie is just everything. She made me feel every emotion she was feeling. There was so much humor and heart throughout. I can tell this is going to be a feel good re-read for me.

I was very intrigued by the title of this book and it definitely got me! Drawn in from the very first chapter and did not disappoint!! It gave me all the emotions and kept me coming back for more! I honestly didn’t see it right away but man am I glad it happened the way it did. No spoilers but READ IT! Just… LOVE ❤️

All the stars for this incredible book. It had that perfect combination of romance, emotion, banter, steam, and magical realism, and it made me both laugh and cry.

Even when she realized she was choking on a microwaved hamburger, Delphie never thought she’d actually DIE. But even worse, she can’t believe she’s in the afterlife wearing a nightshirt. And wouldn’t it figure that she meets the handsomest man at that moment…and he seems smitten with her?

Apparently the man, Jonah, isn’t supposed to be dead yet and is sent back to life, leaving Delphie bereft. Could she have already lost her soulmate? But the romance-loving afterlife counselor wants to see Delphie get her happily ever after, so she makes her a deal. Delphie will get sent back, but she has 10 days to find Jonah (whose memory will be wiped) and get him to kiss her. If she can, she can have her life back.

Ten days isn’t a lot of time when you don’t know someone’s last name or how to find him. But as she starts asking for help, suddenly she realizes how empty her life has been, and how being kind to people leads to possibilities she never would have imagined.

Along the way, Delphie must deal with some unresolved issues from her childhood and keep caring for her elderly neighbor. At the same time, she makes friends in unexpected places and realizes all she was missing before she died. Can she find her soulmate before her time runs out again?

This was such an amazing story, with a really terrific cast of supporting characters. I’ll definitely be thinking of this for a while! Thanks so much to Berkley and NetGalley for the free copy!

4.25 ⭐️ I loved it, simply adorable ! This had the best banter and made me laugh entire book! The chemistry is great, the story, the characters all of it ! It reminded me a lot of the movie Last Christmas in a way (but without the really sad bits) just how what happens when you start living a full life and build a community around you ! Just JOY

Love of My After Life is the story of a woman who dies choking on a hamburger patty and is given 10 days to get her life back if she kisses a certain guy she had a minute of chemistry with. Except she doesn’t know him and has to find him in those 10 days. Guys, this book was so good. It was hilarious and had me laughing out loud so many times. It was behind heartwarming and turned me into mush. It wasn’t just a sweet romcom but it was the story of a woman who was living life as a shell, alone, without joy but who found herself and a community. What a charming book. All the stars for this one.

Love of My Afterlife is the hilariously charming tale of Delphie from the moment of her death. As the story unfolds, we realize that Delphie hasn’t had much of a life. A quest from a pushy afterlife therapist sets Delphi on the path to her own salvation, and jumpstarts her life to one worth living.

In order to complete her quest, Delphie is forced to engage with a delightful set of side characters, most of whom kept us giggling It’s a story of adventure, of self-discovery, but also one of terribly hilarious mishaps and a slowburn dislike-to-lovers romance that had us listening on well past our bedtimes.