Spoiler-Free Review

Happy Thanksgiving, book nerds. If you enjoy romcoms that are about more than just the romance, you’ll probably like The Love of My Afterlife.

What’s The Love of My Afterlife about?

The grumpy and prickly Delphie is dead – but there’s a catch. She can return to Earth and stay alive if she manages to find and kiss her soulmate in ten days.

This story was surprisingly full of heart.

When I started this book, I thought it would just be another 3 or 4 star romance I could use to grease the wheels and keep me from a reading slump. It turned out to be the first contemporary romance I’ve given 5 stars in quite some time.

Also, I read it in about 2.5 days.

The first half felt like your standard romcom fare. It was full of zany adventures and funny asides as Delphie starts her desperate journey to find Jonah, whom her “afterlife therapist” informed her was actually her soulmate. She only knows his name and what he looks like, and in a city like London, she’s completely at a loss for how she’s going to locate this mysterious man.

Delphie starts this story as a self-imposed “lone wolf” who has cocooned herself in the safety of loneliness (and rudeness) to prevent fear, embarrassment, frustration, disappointment, or being made fun of. But if she’s going to pull this off and stay alive, she’s going to need help. And so begins the real journey of this story: finding a community, embracing the ups and the downs of life, allowing vulnerability, letting go of past hurts, and ultimately, creating a life worth living.

And this is exactly why this book became a 5-star read for me. It ended up being surprisingly sentimental, poignant and hopeful for a story I thought was just a romcom. Delphie didn’t just need to find love – she needed to find life. Love was only one part of a balanced mix. By the end, I even teared up a few times at the wholesomeness.

Should you read The Love of My Afterlife?

If wholesome, heartfelt stories about life and romance are your thing, this definitely needs to be on your list. It’s overall low-angst and a little silly at times, with situational humor, much like popular romcom movies. But it has strong, relatable themes about life, death, grief, and community, making the total feel like more than the sum of its parts.