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Jan 15, 2012

Tammy rated it:

I won this book from Goodreads. (It was a Fist Read giveaway.) I was really excited & couldn't wait to read it! I am a big fan of memoirs.

The book is written by Natalie Taylor. Natalie is a 24 year old H.S. English teacher who loses her husband Josh in a tragic accident. The young couple had only been married 18 months when Josh passed away. Even more heartbreaking is the fact that Natalie was 5 months pregnant with their first child, a son.

I really liked the book in th More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2011

dreadana rated it:

I was a student in her 11-1 Honors English Class at BHS in 2008-2009, & I can say I had no clue what was going on in Mrs Taylor's world. I originally read it to see if I recognized the students / to hear what exactly happened (I heard rumors, I wasn't even 100% certain that her husband had actually passed away).

...seriously. Wow. It's like sitting down and talking to her. It's so honest, each page cut me to the bone. I usually have something negative or critical to say about the thin More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2012

J rated it:

Local book. Seemed to be getting decent reviews... disappointing. I suspect the good reviews were all friends and family who were guilted into supporting her out of sympathy.

I'm sorry her husband died, but this woman is not an author. She does not display any writing talent and does not succeed in making me care about her - despite her obvious tragic tale. In fact, I loathed her by the time this book was done. She behaved like a teenager in the worst sense with an annoying overuse of More...

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Jan 13, 2012

Alicia rated it:

Firstly, for those of you who claim that the book is too depressing, I have to wonder what you expected. This book reads a lot like the journal of a young woman who is navigating her ways through grief, rather than just a memoir. She is at times, whiny, ungrateful, entitled, but I think it is owed to her... I think it is a great testament to her strength that she openly admits that she is pissed off, frustrated with her relatives, and deserving of more.
The way the author ties in classi More...

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Oct 26, 2011

Albion is currently reading it

"It took me one day and most of an evening to read Signs of Life, the 2011 memoir by Albion College alum Natalie Taylor. It is that good. Natalie’s story is heartbreaking, courageous, and at times, laugh-out-loud hilarious.
It’s also true.

Natalie was a student of mine, a person I could never forget. Now she’s maybe the best high school English teacher ever, my current students from Berkley High School tell me. I believe it. Signs of Life is Natalie’s story of how sh More...

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Sep 15, 2011

Michelle rated it:

I'd describe this as...well, edgy chick-lit I guess. It's definitely a woman's book, it deals with feelings, emotions, relationships and children. But it is edgy in that it's modern, there's language that normal people use and Natalie has a distinctive way of writing. Plus it's warts and all. Some reviews of this book in Good Reads have criticised her whining and ungratefullness towards her family and in-laws, but I enjoyed that - that's real, to have a love/hate, appreciation but resentment More...

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May 29, 2011

Ciara rated it:

so, this is a year & a half in the life of a woman whose husband unexpectedly died in a freak skateboarding accident while she was four months pregnant with their first child. i mean, how can i mark something like that down on stars? that would be one of my all-time worst nightmares.

the book opens with natalie getting the news about her husband's death while she is vacationing in florida with her family. they all rush back to michigan, where they agree to suspend life support & donate More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 10, 2011

Liz rated it:

I probably spent half the book fighting back or wiping my tears and the author has a conversational writing style, so it's more like you're talking to her than reading her book. I found this book especially readable as the author is young, speaks frankly and writes openly.

I do NOT recommend this book for someone looking for help coping with grief. The author handled her grief in a very specific way which I don't think most people would, and this is not a "self-help" book More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 25, 2011

Jacqueline rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 14, 2011

Lynne rated it:

True story of Natalie, a 24-year-old, 5 months pregnant girl whose 27-year-old husband Josh dies after hitting his head while carve boarding (kind of like skateboarding).

The book covers the time of the accident and up to 16 months afterwards. She discusses a little about the actual accident and how she found out, but mostly about the funeral and after, and dealing with being a widow after only a year of marriage as well as the prospect of single motherhood. At her young age she does More...

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May 29, 2011

Jodi rated it:

I rolled my eyes when I saw the quote by Elizabeth Berg on the cover about seeing if you could stop after one page. I thought yeah right, but that was exactly what happened. I absolutely loved the raw honesty in this book. very quickly I realize Natalies husband would be very close to my age so that sucked me in a bit. in some ways to I did connect to her feelings of grief. I'm not a widow but I went thru a divorce at 26 so there was still a sense of loss and also the feeling of no one else my More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 09, 2011

Eileen rated it:

Have you lost a spouse to death? a child? a brother, a sister, a parent? We know in the course of our lives that we will face death and grief. We usually don't know when or how.

For Natalie Taylor, her husband's death in a skateboarding accident came 18 months into their marriage. She was five months pregnant.

How was she going to live on for their child? Would she be a zombie raising this beautiful boy? Would she hate the sight of him because he looks like his father?
More...

8 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 01, 2011

Jackie rated it:

A. MAZ. ING. I love this book. I love Natalie Taylor. I wish I could meet her and thank her for being so brave to write a book about something so horrible. I want to thank her for sharing her tears with me. I don't want to tell her things will be okay, because they won't. But I want to tell her that I will remember her husband, Josh, forever. And that seems important, because people can be forever if someone remembers them.

I am floored every time I realize that Natalie and I a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2011

Jamie rated it:

For more of my reviews, please be sure to visit my book review blog, Bookerella

I received this book free through Shelf Awareness (big thanks go out to them, the publisher, and the author!!). In this memoir we meet Natalie who, at the young age of 24, has lost her husband of 1 1/2 years, Josh, to a tragic accident. Her life has been completely flipped upside down and she feels like she can't do anything without him. With a baby on the way, she knows she needs to get it together, but More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 13, 2011

Kristy rated it:

Signs Of Life's cover states: "Sit down with this book. See if you can stop at page 1." Well, the beginning was pretty good. But after a while it just gets repetitive. No, I didn't stop.. but I wanted to. I was really hoping it would get better. Actually, her best chapter was her last. It was the most uplifting part of the whole book. Natalie never gives any real insight into her husband.. except he was basically the best person ever! And although I do feel for her.. I felt like she wa More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 09, 2011

Justaskmom rated it:

Most of us have dealt with the death of a loved family member or good friend. The fact that this remarkable young woman chose to deal with the shock of losing her soulmate/husband/father of the baby she is carrying by keeping a journal isn't unexpected. But what was astounding to me is the manner in which she used her favorite books to help her sort out her feelings. There was such pain and grief and worry, but she also found inspiration and humor in family, her students, friends. Then she work More...

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Apr 18, 2011

Maria rated it:

I would recommend this book to all mothers. I think we must consider that the things we fear do sometimes happen. It was difficult to read about the author's grief, but it was almost a relief to see her find her strength and her self again. It made me think a bit about what I would do if my like as I know it was suddenly taken from me. Far from being morbid, it actually released some of the fear to realize that I, too, would find my way.

In reading this book, I sometimes found that th More...

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Jul 22, 2011

Julie rated it:

Natalie Taylor wrote a memoir - it took us through the death of her husband and the first year after he was killed in an accident. He left her and her unborn son to take us through the grief process. It was at times depressing and other times enlightening. Some times it dragged on, much like the grieving process which can not be sped through. I was glad when the read was through ... wouldn't want to read it again and at the same time glad I read it as it had several profound observations of li More...

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Apr 24, 2011

Holly rated it:

I won this book through Goodreads as a first read giveaway and was excited to begin reading it. At first I had a tough time reading more than a chapter at one sitting. As the book progressed I seemed to be able to read more and more at a time. It was almost as if I was feeling what Natalie was feeling.

So at the beginning of the book I would get a heavy heart and not be able to read very much and then as Natalie began to feel better I was able to read more at a time.

The b More...

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Jan 31, 2012

Courtney rated it:

DELICIOUS! I couldn't put this book down. When I first opened it I didn't close until somewhere after the 100 page mark. On the first page you find a happily married 24 year old who is 4 months pregnant that finds out her 27 year old husband has just died in a sporting accident. The story is amazingly well written. The author is a high English teacher and as the months pass she draws on the works she is teaching in her class to illustrate a relevant discovery about her own life which both increa More...

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Feb 03, 2012

Kathryn rated it:

Summary: When Natalie was 4 months pregnant with her first son, she got the unimaginable news: her husband was killed in a tragic accident. A memoir of loss, new life, and love, "Signs of Life" follows the next 15 months of here life.

Why I Read This Book: I had heard quite a few people say good things about the book, so I invited the author to do a book club with us, and she accepted!

Review: I thought that this book was really well done. It was complex without More...

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Nov 06, 2011

Tracy rated it:

Natalie Taylor is 24 years old, pregnant and married one year. She writes of the year following her husband's death, just four months before their son is born. As an English teacher, she weaves in literary themes as well as her work with her high school English students as she grapples with her son's birth, the holidays, her husband's birthday, a single mom's group and a grief group where she is the youngest member by about 30 years. While I didn't totally relate to the fact that she lost he More...

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Jul 11, 2011

Jackie rated it:

I enjoyed this book more than I thought as the subject is about a young pregnant woman who loses her husband. Natalie's personality was much like any of my friends. I enjoyed her off-beat sense of humor and the conversations she has with herself are thing I could picture myself saying in my head. On a personal level the story of her struggle with grief and dealing with people who had trouble with dealing with people with grief was a nice insight. My co-worker had recently lost his wife and I More...

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Apr 22, 2011

Nancy rated it:

I won this book through Goodreads first editions and was excited to read it. I enjoyed reading about Natalie's journey through grief, though it did get a bit repetitive. I don't usually read memoirs, so not sure if this is typical of them, but I felt every other character in the story was flat. I also had a very difficult time keeping track of every person she felt the need to mention. The use of them with crazy nicknames as if she were chatting with her best friend was very confusing and I More...

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Apr 27, 2011

Donna rated it:

I received my copy through GoodReads First Reads.

Signs of Life is sad, poignant, and moving.

While reading this book, I really felt as though I caught a glimpse into the life of someone who felt like they've lost everything when they lost their other half. It was scary, touching, and very sad. Natalie does a really great job capturing the moments, the little things, and really painting an picture of what her life was became.

Really, that is the strength as well as wea More...

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Apr 19, 2011

Sarah rated it:

I really enjoyed this book. It was heartbreaking and honest, with a bit of humor thrown in once in a while. I have never really suffered grief of a death, but I have had a lot of traumatic things happen so I still do identify with her feelings. My only complaint is that she uses SO MANY names. I couldn't keep track and I kept trying to back and figure out what family member or friend each person was, but then I had to just give up and go along with it and not try to figure out who everyone was. More...

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May 28, 2011

Megan rated it:

I understand that this is written like a dairy and there was minimal editing, meaning that how she felt and what she wrote at the time is what was published. I almost feel guilty saying that I hated this book, but I really disliked it. It starts off very interesting but that wanes after the first chapter... to the point where I did not even want to finish the book, but had to force myself to get to the last page.

Natalie seems like an awful person. I understand that her husband has u More...

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May 23, 2011

Libby rated it:

I won this book through Goodreads first reads. I knew it was going to be a hard one to get through. Loss is hard enough, but reading about a young, pregnant woman losing the love of her life was incredibly difficult. I found myself putting it down time and time again not because I didn't like the book, but because I couldn't handle the story at the moment. The author does a great job of bringing humor into the situation and really opening up to the reader, so you feel as if you get to know h More...

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Jan 17, 2011

Cassandra rated it:

In the memoir Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor is a honest and gripping story of a young woman's loss of her husband Josh. Natalie who is a couple of months pregnant with her first child was on vacation, when she gets the unthinkable news that her husband just suffered a severe brain injury during a freak accident. Natalie makes it home to see her young husband is now pronounced dead and the thought her son will never meet his dad becomes all too real. Natalie shares her journey with coming to te More...

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Aug 05, 2011

Mrs. rated it:

Signs of Life is one memoir that will leaving you questioning your own strength and capacity to overcome a tragedy. Natalie Taylor's husband, Josh, dies in a freak accident when she is five months pregnant with their first child, a son. As Natalie recounts the struggle of coming to terms with the death of her husband and the fear of becoming a single mother, she becomes stronger through the support of her family and friends. As each month of the first year of her life as a widow unfolds, Nata More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)