BOOK REVIEW: “All the Perfect Days” by Michael Thompson

Charlie Knight is a family doctor in his little hometown, where his life consists of treating the common cold, injured knees, and high blood pressure. One ordinary day at work, something unusual happens. The room turns dull and grey, a sudden pressure builds in his skull, and a number pops into his mind. After this happens a handful of times, he realizes the number is the amount of days that patient has left to live. When his former girlfriend moves back to town, Charlie accelerates his plans of moving to the big city. After all, what would he do if he found out her number? He’d never be able to look at her the same. Is it possible for him to do any good with this “gift?” Alter their lives somehow to help them live their best lives? Or are we all destined to fate regardless of which path we choose?

I found this book deeply moving! It’s one of those books that makes you take a long look at your life and question if you’re really living it to the fullest. No matter what Charlie does, he finds that the way someone spends their time has very little to do with his input. Intervening can also have serious consequences he isn’t prepared for.

If you’re a fan of books like “In Five Years” by Rebecca Serle, “The Invisible Life of Addie Larue” by V.E. Schwab, or “A Day Like This” by Kelley McNeil then this is something you would really enjoy!

It definitely has a sort of deep, contemplative, serious type vibe but in a good way. I loved that it had clean language, and no spice, which makes it appropriate for all ages! Readers should be aware of a few trigger warnings:

💜 Miscarriage
💜 Epileptic seizures
💜 Substance abuse

I will be thinking of this one for awhile, mulling it over in my mind! I rate this book as 4 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for my honest unbiased opinion.

I love the writing in this book and the idea that if you could see the number of days somebody has left to live, what would you do. However, Thompson is such a good writer that I had a lot of panic and anxiety reading this book because of a lot of the things going on in my life. That’s obviously not a negative or a criticism of this book but a show of just how powerful the writing in the story is. I would definitely recommend taking a look at trigger warnings before reading this book, but be prepared to cry in the best possible way.

dr. charlie knight suddenly has a gift (a curse?)…he can see the number of days those around him have left to live. for most, the number is comfortably high, but for others, the number is jarringly low. he grapples with the desire to tell them to go out and LIVE vs. the strong pull he has not to interfere with fate. it was interesting to see which path he chose when it comes to the numbers, particularly when it involved those he loved.
he was able to make a few connections with those who have also experienced this phenomenon and their advice helped him to work out what he felt was best with the information he had.
i wish the story dove further into the lives of malcolm, abbie, gen, and even charlie himself. a lot of the big events that lead to the culmination seemed rushed and the story remained very surface level to me. instead of featuring so many characters, maybe a certain few could have been more developed?
overall, it was a decent read. it allows the readers to consider how they might handle this scenario and discuss what they would or would not do with fellow readers. (reminded me very much of nikki erlick’s book, the measure.)

thank you to sourcebooks landmark for providing this book for review consideration via netgalley. all opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read an ARC of All the Perfect Days by Michael Thompson, in exchange for my honest review.

Spectacular! Emotional, engrossing, thought-provoking, speculative fiction with a bit of suspense!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and loved that bits and pieces of Charlie's relationships with his mother and Gen were sprinkled throughout the book so that we had to pay attention.

I highly recommend this book, and look forward to reading more by Michael Thompson.

This book felt like a solid 3.5-4 stars for me.

The book follows Charlie, a doctor in a small town, who has decided that he needs something spectacular in his life to happen, so he has accepted a job in a bigger city working in an ER. Shortly before he is set to move two things happen:
1. His ex, Gen, shows back up in town and lives in the duplex next to him
2. He starts being able to see the number of days someone has left live - but only if he is caring for them from a medical stand point

We follow Charlie has he tries to figure out how to deal with this unwanted knowledge, how he navigates his feelings for Gen and her moving in next door, family issues, and ultimately, grief and death.

I always enjoy books that have magical realism in them, so I knew I would probably like this book. I did find the first half not as interesting as the second half. And there were a few times I was reading and got a little confused and felt like the book kind of jumped ahead to the next scene , but that could've just been me and maybe others will follow right along with no questions of what just happened. Overall, the writing was easy to follow.

This book does deal with death and grief, so if that is something you are sensitive to or can't handle, then this might not be the book for you. I didn't find the book to be a particularly happy book, there were happy parts, but there were also a lot of sad and reflective parts.

This book really made me stop and think how I would handle knowing how much time someone had left to live, or how I would handle knowing that someone knew how many days I had left, and if I knew how many days I had left, what would I do with my time.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the eARC of this book.

Cleverly written, this is a story of Charlie Knight, a 34-year-old physician who was treating an elderly lady for arthritis. Suddenly he felt pressure inside his head and stumbled over. He was able to get up and the she agreed to keep this episode a secret.

That’s when he noticed that everything changed when his brain was jostled. Charlie was now seeing numbers and could predict how many days would be left in his patient's lives.

Is it possible to see the future? This isn’t the first book that has focused on a character with the extraordinary ability to forecast the last day of living. Yet, it’s the first story of a doctor with the count-down of a patient’s days, months, or years that are left in their life. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know this information that was now coming to him.

At first, I thought what a great gift it would be as now he could better treat people with ailments. However, there were complications.

The beginning of the story took some time trying to sort out the main characters. But a few chapters in and I was hooked. It was one of those thought-provoking concepts of “what if” this was possible. There was family drama with his parents, unexpected twists and the possibility of a romance. The ending put a smile on my face.

My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of May 21, 2025.

Amazing novel to actually reflect on love and your life. It's not what i'm used to reading normally these days but it was amazing to stop a bit to read it. Wonderful.

This book is great for fans of Rebecca Serle’s Expiration Dates or The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. They all have a hint of magic/the extraordinary in them. The theme is similar- what is fate? Is life predestined? Is knowledge always a good thing? If you are a fan of a cozy, existential, somewhat sci-fi romance, then this is the book for you. 3.75 stars. Thanks to net Galley and Sourcebooks for this eARC in exchange for my review.

A thoughtful and interesting read. If you knew how many days someone had left in their life, would you tell them? Would you want to be the bearer of that burden of knowledge? There were a few disconnected bits that didn't feel like they needed to be a part of the story, but overall was a good book. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

What a lovely book with an original premise. Really makes you think about what you'd do with the same information. I loved the writing style. The main characters had such depth, and the emotion just flowed right off the page. You really feel for Charlie and what's he's going through with the knowledge he unexpectedly and unexplainably receives. I would definitely read more by this author. Highly recommend.

This is an exciting premise! Dr Charlie Knight reluctantly returns to his hometown and begins working as a Dr. in a family general practitioner’s office, but has a plan to get out of town that’s quickly approaching. As he starts planning, his former flame returns to town and something very strange happens while he’s with a patient — leading him to wonder if he has a neurological disorder. When meeting with a patient, a number materializes in his mind, and he soon realizes that number is how long they have left in their lives. Thompson’s story follows the pressures and stress that holding onto that kind of information takes on Charlie and how he manages his patients and his interpersonal relationships. While the story has some magical realism to it, the characters are relatable and you want to root for Charlie. The characters are likable, aside from Charlie’s mother — who I feel like Charlie forgives easily.

This one is worth putting at the top of your TBR.

All the Perfect Days by Michael Thompson initially had me feeling a bit confused. The story started off in a way that left me unsure of where it was going, and it took a little while to fully engage with the Charlie and the plot. However, as I continued reading, I began to appreciate the intricacies of the narrative and the emotional depth of the story. Thompsons writing style grew on me, and I found myself drawn to the unfolding journey of Charlie. By the end, it turned out to be a really nice read with heartfelt moments and a satisfying resolution. While it may take a bit of time to get into, it's definitely worth the patience.

Charlie Knight is a small-town doctor with aspirations to leave for the big city and the excitement of the ER. He accepts a new job offer in the city, and just as he plans his escape from all that is familiar, two things happen:
1. His ex-love, Genevieve Longstaff moves back to town.
2. He receives a gift / curse which enables him to see the number of days a person has until they die.

But Charlie’s plans cannot be deterred by the ill-timed return of Gen and his plans for a new life (no matter how he feels about her). And at first, Charlie sees his new ability as a gift, as a way he can better support his patients. But actions and interventions have consequences and before long Charlie begins to view his ability as a curse. Knowing someone’s fate is a heavy burden, especially when it’s the woman you love.

All the Perfect Days explores the idea of fate, and whether it is predetermined or if our actions have the power to change our future. It explores the question of what we would do differently if we knew when we were going to die. All the Perfect Days leads the reader to self-reflection; I particularly enjoyed the use of magical realism to tackle the serious subject of death.

Thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks, and author Michael Thompson for an advanced reader copy.

love when i go on goodreads to write my review and mark it as read that i see the title again and am like ‘ah!! this is so perfectly suiting the story!”

a lot i loved about it. it was well executed of having the reader deprived of a secret event that happened in the past. it was the right timing when it’s introduced.

When I first started reading this book, I assumed it would be just another love story—some turmoil in the middle, followed by a happy ending. But I was quickly proven wrong. I finished it in about a day and a half, which doesn’t happen often for me. The suspense was masterfully woven throughout, keeping me intrigued, especially regarding the protagonist’s strained relationship with his mother. That aspect of the story was a powerful way to highlight a significant global issue, though I wish it had been explored in greater depth. A little more insight into the mother-son dynamic would have made it even more compelling.

I also loved the touch of the supernatural. As a big Outlander fan, I never thought I’d be drawn to elements like time travel or the ability to see how many days someone has left on earth, but this book handled it in an intriguing way. I do wish the "power" had a bit more flexibility—perhaps allowing for a greater than 50% accuracy or some blurred lines, like the 18 days make it until her grandmother passes so that it may not always be accurate, but has a connection to a family member or close friends that are family. It felt like the story wrapped up a little too quickly, and I found myself wanting more, especially about Mary Ann—her story left me with lingering questions.

Despite my small critiques, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC, in return for my honest review:

I loved the premise of this book. If you could see the number of days someone had to live- what would you do with that information? Would you tell them, in hopes they live what remains of their lives to the fullest, or would you keep the information to yourself, in order to avoid causing them stress or other unintended consequences? I enjoyed the speculative nature of this book and watching our MC navigate that question within his own professional and personal relationships, but there were a couple things that fell flat for me. I do wish we got further closure on a few things, especially Charlies relationship with his mother, but I suppose that the author may have left some things unanswered intentionally, as that is a major plot point in the book, that the nature of life and death is sometimes you don't have get all the answers. I do think the romance aspect of this could have been better, I had trouble connecting with the characters as a couple as their past was not explained until the last quarter of the book and in my opinion their connection was lackluster.

I liked this book a lot! It was sad in some parts but overall a really enjoyable read. Definitely needs a warning about some of the content

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, in return for an unbiased review.

This book's premise had so much potential: Like Nikki Erlick's "The Measure," in this story a doctor in a small town suddenly gains the ability to see how many days left a person has before death.
Unfortunately, the story went nowhere, and the constant coy hints about big backstory reveals were a lot of nothing. I didn't feel that any of the characters were believable, or acting in a believable manner (particularly Charlie's mother and Gen).

This premise sounded interesting to me- similar to a few other books I've read (Here One Moment is the most recent one that comes to mind), but different, and it did not disappoint. A thought-provoking novel about life, death, and what you might want to do differently if you knew the end. This is my first novel by Michael Thompson but it won't be my last; I enjoyed his writing and his characters and his unique storyline. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second Michael Thompson book I’ve had the pleasure of reading through NetGalley, and I’m incredibly impressed by the consistency of his writing.

The characters are realistically flawed without pushing past the point to where you can be sympathetic of their struggles, and with the stakes as high as they were in this novel, caring about each person Charlie encounters is paramount.

The story was excellently paced, though that could be in part due to the fact that I read it in a single day. Plot points were hinted at and revealed throughout the book in a way that kept you reading, rather than frustrating you with the lack of information.

I can’t wait to see what this author comes out with next!