I absolutely loved this book. Full of humour, belly laughs and warmth. This book was the perfect holiday read. I laughed so hard that everyone around the hotel pool turned to stare at me. Highly recommend.

3.5 stars
TW; trauma from bullying, death, loss from sibling death
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to review. All thoughts are my own.

The Love of My Afterlife is a story more about self-development than the fact that the main character dies at the start. Sure, Delphie is definitely under a time crunch to secure her alive status again through the willing kiss from her soulmate, but the real gem of this story is about her coming alive again in other ways. Her childhood trauma has led to Delphie barely living in the present, with every day having the same bleak outlook. When she dies, she has to step out of the bubble she has placed herself in. The changes to her surrounding people leading to a loving found family, and romantic interests gained allow Delphie to reinvent herself, to try to be more than she was before she died. I liked the way the author infused this story with the hope of never being too old to find your people and your wins to live life to the fullest and I was satisfied enough with the growth Delphie's character went through in this novel.

That being said, I really disliked Delphie for the majority of the book. Whilst some of her behaviour made sense from the crippling pain of being abandoned by those who she adored when younger, she treated everyone, aside from Mr Yoon, so poorly that I couldn't relate to her. Couple this with really outlandish situations she's put through during her fight to stay alive, and I just never fully grew invested in her tale. British humour is never a favourite of mine to read, so some of my dislike for this book can be placed down to personal preference. The over the top dramatics and excessive waffling of characters (especially from Merritt) did no favours either.

Admittedly, I did like the predictable twist with the love interest, but I never believed in their romance, and mostly that was down to the way Delphie treated him. It felt like it built up well at some points, only to be overshadowed by something dramatic, which threw off any progression for me. I also found the ending very much like a tidy red ribbon around the package, and far too convenient which diminished some of my enjoyment.

I think I wasn't the right reader to truly appreciate this tale, but many others who enjoy a cast full of quirky characters and hilarity-infused situations romances will like this one.

It was okay! I just wasn't the reader it needed.

I was super hopeful that with the premise of the story that I would love it but it just didn't hit the spot I wanted it to. Whilst it flowed well and the writing was good, the plot points and the pacing of the story just didn't appeal to me. The story, for me, switched between slow and fast at different points and I would have preferred more consistency so certain parts didn't feel like it was lagging.

This was absolutely delightful! I have yet to read a book by Kirsty Greenwood that I didn’t enjoy.

Likeable quirky characters, this is a story with humour and lots of heart.

5 ⭐️

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an arc of this story in exchange for my review.

This book is adorable, it really is. Delphine is a bit too quirky for me, but I loved everything else.

This shouldn’t have been as good as it was, I really enjoyed it and found the whole thing to be highly entertaining.
The fact that I found the main character’s death so funny, and somewhat relatable, had me hooked. I was expecting a trope heavy, easy read romcom but somehow this went beyond that. I loved the characters, especially Mr Yoon, in fact I think that this particular “friendship” was the most heartwarming, and potentially most important, part of the whole book.
Magical, surreal and definitely a recommendation.

This book made me cry. (Sometimes that’s all I want to write in a review)

Delphie is one of the funniest characters I’ve met, in fact, she is entirely wholesome: I laughed, I cheered, I was livid and I cried with her through her ups and downs of trying to find her soulmate - whom she met in the afterlife and is given ten days to charm him. I loved seeing this new side of her where she knows she must accomplish her goal no matter what as it’s after all, a matter of life and death. In doing so, she finally learns how to live - to let people in, make friends, to find happiness, to try new things and to face her fears/trauma.

I could not put this book down; I just wanted more and more until I completely devoured it! I haven’t read anything previously from this author but I fell for her writing style, the banter and Delphie’s unhinged thoughts and schemes to meet her soulmate. If I would dare say, I think this book will be perfect for fans of Emily Henry!

Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC of this great book! All opinions are my own.

5⭑

Tropes;
- the good place vibes
- neighbours to lovers
- grumpy x grumpy
- one bed trope
- single pov

The Love of My Afterlife is the first book I’ve read by this author and I am incredibly impressed. This book was fantastic and a true romantic comedy - the amount of times I laughed while reading this!!!

If you loved The Good Place tv show (which I did!) then you will love this book too. We follow Delphie who has just died and goes to Evermore (the afterlife) where she meets her soulmate, someone who also just died and went to the afterlife. However, he is suddenly brought back to life and Delphie feels robbed of experiencing her first love.

Her afterlife coach, Merritt, agrees to bring her back to life so that Delphie can track down her soul mate and must get a kiss from him in 10 days so that she doesn’t have to go back to Evermore.

This was such a unique book and a very fun read. I loved Merritt as a side character, she was full of energy and made loving romance books her entire personality (same girl, same!). She continued to keep an eye on Delphie and would interrupt her in at the most inappropriate times.

I also loved Delphie. She was such a relatable character and I just loved her so much. There is not one negative thing I have to say about her or the book.

This was a truly such wonderful read. I genuinely loved this book so much, that I already know for a fact it will make my top 10 books of 2024 list.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Firstly, a massive thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I ADORED this book. It was my first Kirsty Greenwood which feels sacrilegious as I really enjoyed the writing and I am now going to read her other books.

This story was a refreshing plot concept but sprinkled with the romance tropes we all love. I was hooked from the first page and it's not a spoiler to say our protagonist Delphie dies in first few pages because that's the catalyst for the plot!

Delphie was a great FMC and the journey she goes on in 10 days is fun to read. It's sad when we learn how she got to point in the life she did just before she died with bullying aftermath and family neglect, but dying is probably best thing to happen to her as she starts living and the next 10 days we see her blossom into the person she really is including the found family/friends she gets along the way.

As for the side characters: Cooper, the moody neighbour, and reluctant helper for our Delphie (swoon). Mr Yoon, the elderly neighbour (so cute). The helpful and lovely librarian with Aled and random encounter Frida (double trouble), as well as many of the other character interactions, really made this story burst full of life. Also I'm always a fan when one of the characters, in this case Merritt the Afterlife Therapist, is a book nerd and speaks our language (hilarious).

I won't say more because spoilers but I'd highly recommend!

Wow, what a fab read. I was hooked from the first page, the whole concept of this book was really enjoyable, the perfect rom-com.

Delphie was such a great MC, I loved seeing her story develop and her character grow throughout the book. The support characters are all so good, I enjoyed each and every one of them, they were like perfect sub-stories, each one so gorgeously developed.

This really was such a fun read, it had me laughing in several places (is it bad that I laughed at the opening scene?), the emotions always felt so raw and real in this book. It was such a gorgeous take on life and death.

Thank you to Penguin, Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for a copy of this arc.

I loved this book so much! Funny, tender, warm-hearted and oh so romantic, I cackled and sobbed my way through it in one sitting. Kirsty Greenwood is a romcom queen!

Delphie meets the one in the afterlife, who then disappears, and is offered the chance to return to life if she finds him in ten days. She jumps at the chance to return to earth and find her soulmate but soon realises in a city of millions this will be harder than she anticipated.

I am going to start off by saying how much I loved this book! My favourite rom coms are uplifting, have great characters and have a quirky, unique premise and this had all of these in abundance. Having read a not so good romantic comedy recently it was so refreshing to read one done right. I felt a range of emotions while reading, laughing out loud at times while having tears in my eyes at other parts. The genre crossed over slightly into fantasy/sci fi and was done in a clever, very compelling way. I was drawn to the concept as soon as I read the synopsis.

The characters, main and lesser ones, were fantastic. I felt connected to them all and especially loved Delphie. I was desperately rooting for her and charmed by her personality and quirks. I also loved all the relatable references to things that I know and enjoy scattered within the story. It’s so rare that I read a book that is one of those ones that sit on my favourites shelf, that I always recall as special, but this will definitely be added and is my top of the year so far. This is the first Kirsty Greenwood book I have read but she is automatically one of my go to authors now and I’ll now be looking at her other novels. I can’t wait to get everyone buying this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

We meet Delphie as she chokes on a microwave hamburger and dies... really! What follows is a heart-warming, funny tale of love and life, as Delphie, having met her dream man as he temporarily appears in the afterlife, returns to earth with just ten days to find him and kiss him, a la "Ariel and Eric".

I adored Delphie, and loved the relationships she develops with the host of quirky characters in the book. I also loved how the book unashamedly embraces all the classic tropes of a love/hate relationship, as she finds herself thrown together with her irritating (but dashingly handsome) downstairs neighbout. Therefore, while none of the twists are particularly “twisty”, it is a lot of fun and a super cute, easy read.

There is a lot of humour throughout, and I would certainly read more by this author.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

You know those books that, as soon as you finish you just want to pick straight back up again. You want to get that feeling back you had whilst reading, even knowing it will be impossible the second time around? That's how I felt after reading The Love of my Afterlife. It's a book that's laugh out loud funny, heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure and I absolutely adored it.

Delphie is someone I pretty much instantly empathised with. She's a bit of a loner, no real friends, family that lives in a different country, the person she has the most contact with is her elderly neighbour Mr Yoon. It's a solitary way to live, yet when she finds herself dead, Delphie has an overwhelming urge to return, she feels she isn't done yet and, thankfully, she is given the chance. 10 days, 10 days to find her so called 'soulmate' and get a kiss. That's all she has to do to ensure she doesn't end up back in the afterlife. But life's never that easy right? 10 days seems like such a long time, but when your soulmate seem's to disappear at every turn and people start turning up in your life, complicating it with friendship and feelings, Delphie will have to decide whether saving her life is worth ruining the connections she has just started to make.

The Love of my Afterlife is a story that really shows the importance of human connection. At the start we meet loner Delphie, more than happy in her own company, or so she thinks, but as the story progresses and, as she looks for her soulmate, she starts to find other people drawn into her life, her next door neighbour Mr Yoon, her colleagues at work, the man from her local library, a dog walker and her grumpy but sexy downstairs neighbour. Every one of these characters becomes important to Delphie and her character growth, whether she wants them too or not, and Greenwood uses them to throw plenty of spanners in the works, and also to add some tension, heartwarming scenes and a little heartbreak too. Mr Yoon wsa my absolute fave btw and I defy you all not to fall in love with him, but I also had a soft spot for Merrit, the person who first greets Delphie when she dies.

Is it a bit saccharine? Getting a second chance at life... literally... with new beginnings, new friendships and romance. Maybe, but it just works. Greenwoods humorous writing style and her quirky characters bring a fresh take and, even though it was predictable, she still manages to throw a few twists in (that one at the end broke me) to make us wonder whether Delphie will ever get her happy ending. I also loved the idea of an Afterlife therapist, someone there to make your journey from alive to dead that bit better... albeit Delphies didn't go quite to plan. I laughed, I cried, I winced at Delphies awkwardness more times than I would like to count, but it really was just a fun story and I found myself so invested in Delphies second chance that I polished it off within a matter of hours.

Now for the juicy bit, the romance. We know pretty early on who Delphie is going to end up with, but that doesn't stop Greenwood from giving us the best slow burn, enemies to lovers vibes, and once the romance kicks off boy does it get steamy quickly. Greenwood adds plenty of tension, as well as some humour in parts all thanks to Delphie only having 10 days to save herself, and I really enjoyed seeing these two people who struggle with human connection, albeit for vastly different reasons, find their person. I also just adored all the different connections Delphie makes in her last 10 days. How she goes from being almost a family of one, to being surrounded by people who care about her. It really does just warm your heart to read, and certainly adds to the drama surrounding Delphies time frame.

If you love romance's that will grip you from page one, unique stories that wont always follow the path you're thinking and one's filled with a bunch of quirky characters you will absolutely fall in love with, I can't recommend this one enough. Greenwood has become an author I will absolutely be keeping my eye on, and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next.

Kirsty Greenwood is a new author for me, so I went into this book with no expectations. The Love of My Afterlife is an easy going and quirky story about Delphie, who dies eating a microwave burger only to meet her soulmate, Jonah, in the Afterlife waiting room. Subsequently, after making a deal with her Afterlife Therapist, Merritt, she is returned to Earth in order to find and receive a kiss from Jonah. If she fails – she will cross over as intended.

And so ensues a somewhat comical, at times cringeworthy, race against time. I think this story was quite obvious in which direction it was going to go but it didn’t make the reading of it any less enjoyable. My one bug bear was that the story seemed to lose pace somewhere in the middle, and I felt it was being unnecessarily dragged out but then the ending felt a little rushed.

All in all a fun and different , well written read. Perfect for the sun lounger this summer!

Ok - if I'm honest I though thisbook would be perfectly fine but nothing to really shout about. Perfectly enjoyable easy reading rom-com. How wrong was I! I loved it. There was so much more to it than that - it was clever, funny and really emotive. 100% recommend. To use a phrase I totally despise - it really did give me all the feels!

The most charming romcom I have read in a long time, I completely ate this up 100% recommend! I went through the emotions whilst reading this it made me laugh and also cry. I loved it so much.

Going into this I didnt expect to love it as much as I have.
This reminded me of Rom com movies I love to watch. In fact I would watch an adaptation of this.
I loved seeing the relationship develop between Cooper and Delphie grow. While also seeing Delphie step out of her comfort zone and learn to really live life. Not just existing.

I don’t know what I expected when I requested this ARC from Netgalley, however, it certainly delivered!

How to describe this book - well, it probably fits best within the romcom genre, however, with a twist. Our heroine, Delphie, leads a really boring, non-descript life. No friends, no family, when not at work she spends her time at home, alone. But then there is an unfortunate accident which results in her death. In the afterlife waiting room, Delphie is made an offer to return to her life, but there is a catch.

I enjoyed the humour, the light-heartedness of this book. The daft things that Delphie goes through to reach her goal, results in her making friends and a life along the way. Of course, there is the obligatory brooding love interest, but the characters she meets along the way all fill her life in different ways, and you see Delphie growing as a person throughout the book.

Charming, adorable, quirky, all words I would use to describe this book. A perfect light read or, with the nicer weather coming up, holiday read!

I have been sooooooooo excited about this book!! It's my first Kirsty Greenwood book but I will definitely be checking out her others.

It is instantly glorious. So uplifting (regardless of the subject matter); it's fun, funny, mesmerising, and just absolutely beautiful.

Delphie is a fabulous main character, and I felt so much of me in her from the get-go. She's so normal and everyday, we could be er or we know her. She's a bit of all of us I think. We also have Merritt, Delphie's afterlife therapist. She's dialled up to 100mph, is a bit tactless, over the top, almost a caricature, but she is unforgettable. And then Jonah, the handsome stranger who seems to be too good to be true at first, but he makes for an interesting adventure for Delphie.

Other characters include Cooper, her quite rude but mysterious neighbour, Mr. Yoon, another neighbour who she helps care for, and new friends Frida and Aled. They're all fantastic. In my experience, you normally get at least one character in a book who is surplus, or not as developed as the others, almost as an afterthought, but Kirsty has clearly spent time building up these people and making them the stars of their own story.

Merritt I loved; she is obsessed with love stories, which is sort of the catalyst for the whole story I suppose, and whilst I like a good rom-com, I'm not obsessed. But let me tell you, I was OBSESSED with this one. I was rooting for Delphie throughout and would have done anything to make this a happy ending.

It is a very original (at least to me) synopsis. At first I thought it would be similar to Becky Hunter's recent book, Meet Me When My Heart Stops, in terms of falling in love with someone after death, but that's the smallest of connections.

It isn't a spoiler to say that the main character dies early on - I mean, without that there'd be no story. I will say though that the way Kirsty first describes the afterlife, it sounds so calming and fun that I actually really hope that's what's waiting for us.

I read it in less than a day, it is so addictive. It does bring tears to your eyes, it's so beautiful. It has to be one of the most uplifting, gloriously life-affirming books I've read in a very long time and I can't wait to recommend it to everyone!