Life After Life (Todd Family, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

May 20, 2013 Mmars rated it liked it

Finished this a week ago and I continue to think about it. Although I have not had a Deja Vu moment since, and such moments have always been rare, I wonder. Have I lived this life before? And how about premonitions? That feeling that someplace isn't safe so you go the opposite direction. One would never know if they've saved themselves from danger. But there is that "I knew I shouldn't have done that" statement when we don't listen to intuition and things go wrong.

Well, that's what this book is ...more

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Jul 04, 2013 Kammie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical

I don’t even know where to begin with this one. You know those books that you check out from the library, only to finish and automatically want to go buy your own copy? Yeah, this definitely fits in that category. I’m not sure I was even near the last page before I was telling friends to pick up a copy as soon as possible.

There are some novels I read where I am just utterly amazed at how such a story could be crafted by one person. Even though I was aware of all the hype surrounding this book, I don’t even know where to begin with this one. You know those books that you check out from the library, only to finish and automatically want to go buy your own copy? Yeah, this definitely fits in that category. I’m not sure I was even near the last page before I was telling friends to pick up a copy as soon as possible.

There are some novels I read where I am just utterly amazed at how such a story could be crafted by one person. Even though I was aware of all the hype surrounding this book, I was still a little surprised by how quickly I was pulled in. Every description I had read beforehand had been fairly brief: the main character, Ursula Todd, repeatedly dies, only to come back and live her life over and over again. My intention of reading a couple chapters somehow turned into consuming almost half of a 530 page book in one afternoon. I wasn’t expecting the layers upon layers of rich storytelling. The plot, much to my delight, continues to circle back in the cleverest of ways. The characters (especially the Todd family) are wonderful and fully realized. Atkinson delivers so many brilliant lines that are perfectly placed throughout the story.

My biggest worry was that the constant reboots would become repetitive. Atkinson instead finds a way to add detail to each life without feeling the need to repeatedly hammer in the plot. I often enjoy novels that don’t care about hand-holding and instead make the reader keep up with them, which is exactly what Atkinson seems to do. (I suppose Game of Thrones has served me well by training me to keep track of more characters and/or plot lines than I ever thought possible.)

I now feel bad about letting Atkinson’s Case Histories languish in my TBR list for the past few years. If it’s half as clever as Life After Life, I’m in for a great read.

I’m still mulling over details now that I’m done and coming up with more questions as I do. I can’t recommend this enough. I’d love to be able to discuss it and get other readers' interpretations.
...more

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Jul 08, 2013 Susan rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, historical-fiction

This book has an interesting premise, but the working out left a little to be desired. The protagonist Ursula Todd is born (and dies) again and again. Each time, something slightly different happens to head off the disaster that took her life the time before. Often, that something is a vague apprehension on her part, a half-remembered sense that she should avoid a particular event. As she gets older in her successive lives, she finds herself in a position to make a choice that might affect the f ...more

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Nov 13, 2013 Dionisia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, library-books, fantasy, historical-fiction, europe, ebooks, friendship-area-book-club

A 3-star or 4-star read depending on what angle you squint at it.

I hope you weren't on the lookout for your next uplifting and jolly read. The many lives and deaths and deaths and deaths and deaths and deaths and deaths....of Ursula Todd. I feel as if I've just been on an incredibly scenic trip to nowhere in particular.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Sep 07, 2013 Katie Herrick rated it liked it

I took me a long time to get into this book--to be fair, I was listening to the unabridged version rather than reading--and I realized I was more interested in the historical descriptions of the time period than I was the concept of the book. That said, it was interesting to think about how the smallest of changes would make your, and those around you, life different. The history and the vivid description of everyday life kept me mesmerized.

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Jul 31, 2013 Jayme(theghostreader) rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-books-read

This is an interesting book. It is about the main character Ursela Todd. She leads multiple lives where she lives and dies. It starts in the year of 1910 and the latest date is 1947. It is like watching the movie "Clue". You are never sure what ending you get. I did like the main character. I had compassion for her. She seemed like the odd sheep out. I felt she never had good taste in men. I felt events just happened around her instead of the other way around. I like her siblings except for Maur ...more

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Jun 27, 2014 Marie (UK) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014-reading-challenge

I really looked forward to this one but the Jury is out as to whether i really liked it or not. It was a very easy read and a fascinating concept. The repetition of languages around darkness fallen helped build scenes. BUT i got bored particularly around the war years. I stayed with it but felt there was too much going over and really got lost when instead of going back to war torn London she ended up married to a German with German citizenship. The book reminded me of The Time Traveler's Wife ...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Stacy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, ebook, 2013, library-read

This book was AWESOME! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves non conventional novels. If you were reincarnated each time you died back into the same life, what would you do differently? It's like groundhog's day to a great extent. Great book!!!! ...more

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